Back pain - osteopathy

Martina Feichter studied biology with an elective subject pharmacy in Innsbruck and also immersed herself in the world of medicinal plants. From there it was not far to other medical topics that still captivate her to this day. She trained as a journalist at the Axel Springer Academy in Hamburg and has been working for since 2007 - first as an editor and since 2012 as a freelance writer.

More about the experts All content is checked by medical journalists.

Some patients were able to get their back pain under control with the help of osteopathy - although the scientific proof of the effectiveness of the method is still pending. Read here what exactly osteopathy is, how an osteopathic treatment works and how back pain patients can benefit from it!

ICD codes for this disease: ICD codes are internationally recognized codes for medical diagnoses. They can be found, for example, in doctor's letters or on certificates of incapacity for work. M54

healing Hands

Osteopathy is one of the manual therapy methods that are often used for back pain. The term comes from the Greek: osteon = bone; pathos = suffering, illness.

Osteopaths do not only deal with health problems of the skeletal system such as back pain, but also understand osteopathy as a holistic therapy concept that focuses on the whole person: body, mind and soul.

Four basic principles

Osteopathy is based on four principles:

»The human being is a unity: All parts of the body, the mind and the soul are connected to one another and are interrelated. There is a life energy that flows through the entire body.

»Structure and function influence each other: Bad posture, for example, can gradually lead to anatomical changes, injuries or scars limit the function of tissue.

»The body can regulate and heal itself (self-healing powers): Ideally, all parts of the organism work harmoniously together, the immune system fends off diseases, injuries heal again and irreparable damage is compensated. In healthy people, all processes are in equilibrium (homeostasis). If this is disturbed, it can lead to complaints and illnesses.

»A healthy blood circulation ensures the function of the body and its tissues. If it is disturbed, damage is possible. Treatments stimulate healthy blood flow and clear blockages.

In an osteopathic treatment, the focus is on the patient, not the disease. An osteopath has the entire organism in view, uses and mobilizes the body's self-healing powers and improves its function by manually treating a body structure.

How pain and illness arise

Osteopathy, which is used to treat back pain, among other things, is based on a special understanding of illness. There is constant movement in the organism: the heart beats, blood and lymph circulate, signals buzz through the body via the nerves, undulations in the stomach and intestines help digestion.

If this flow of movement is hindered at any point (e.g. by external influences, injuries or inflammation), pain (e.g. back pain) and illnesses result.

Osteopathy as a blockade breaker

Osteopathy tries to detect and remove movement restrictions and blockages in people with back pain or other ailments. The therapist does not heal directly, but rather by stimulating the body's self-healing powers. The osteopath uses his hands alone (manipulation). Medicines and medical instruments or apparatus are not used.

Right therapist

• The term "osteopath" is not legally protected in Germany, and training is not legally regulated. Only doctors and non-medical practitioners are allowed to make osteopathic diagnoses and perform treatments after acquiring additional qualifications.
• Physiotherapists and masseurs can also train to become osteopaths, but must then pass an alternative practitioner examination.
• The training takes place at private osteopathy schools. The Association of Osteopaths Germany e.V. (VOD) maintains a list of doctors, alternative practitioners and physiotherapists who have completed a qualified five-year training course to become osteopaths and are continuing their education on a regular basis.
• Some osteopaths bear the D.O.® brand as the highest quality feature: They have also created and successfully defended a scientific thesis.

Gentle treatment

At the beginning of the osteopathic treatment there is a detailed discussion with the person to be treated. Then the osteopath uses his hands to look for restrictions and tensions in the patient's body that are causing the back pain (or other complaints). If he has found "blockages", he releases them with gentle, calm hand movements, whereby the affected body structures are stretched and moved. This should bring the "life energy" back to flow and restore the body's balance (homeostasis).

A trained osteopath works his way from the symptoms to the source of the complaints, which are not always identical. For example, an inflammation of the kidney pelvis can restrict the mobility of the lumbar spine, which the cervical spine tries to compensate. In the long run, this can lead to disc problems in this area.

The osteopath then primarily treats the reduced mobility of the lumbar vertebrae as the source of the problem.

In osteopathy there are no fixed (schematic) treatment processes - each patient is treated according to his or her individual needs and the respective functional disorder. How the osteopath does this will vary from session to session. The current physical and mental condition of the person to be treated is decisive.

Duration of treatment

Osteopathic treatment usually lasts between 45 and 60 minutes. In the case of acute problems, up to three sessions are sometimes sufficient for an improvement; in the case of chronic complaints, it can take longer. In the beginning, the treatments usually take place on a weekly basis, later every two to three weeks.

Possibilities and limits

Osteopathy is used - alone or as an accompanying therapy - for many ailments and diseases, both in adults and in children. Examples are back pain, lumbago, joint problems, menstrual cramps, heartburn, painful adhesions as a result of operations, headaches and birth-related skull deformations or blockages of the cervical spine in babies.

On the one hand, the limits of osteopathy are where the body's self-healing powers are no longer sufficient to make the person concerned healthy. This applies, for example, to broken bones, infections, cancer and mental illnesses. On the other hand, sensitive structures should not be (excessively) manipulated.

In addition, osteopathy should not be used on babies and young children, or should only be used with great caution.

Note: If you are interested in an osteopathic treatment, you should first seek detailed advice from an experienced therapist.

effectiveness

In some studies, osteopathy has shown beneficial effects on back pain. In an investigation, she was able to alleviate the patient's symptoms just as well as pain relievers, exercise and physical therapy - and all of this without any side effects. Nevertheless, according to some experts, the effectiveness of osteopathy for back pain has not yet been sufficiently proven.

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