If our bodies were a garden, most people coming to receive osteopathic therapy tend to have arrive with quite a few weeds. Our bodies respond to the stresses we put under it, usually pinning our pain or dysfunction down to specific areas. However when left for too long, these strains tend to overcompensate, the weeds begin to spread, and other areas of the body get dragged into the mess. Today I explore the importance of continuing osteopathic treatment, just as you would continue to weed a garden, so that the mechanical strains can be removed and your body can build your health.
Mechanical problems can usually hide under the carpet for many years before we are forced to seek therapy to even it out. A baseball player can throw thousands of pitches before they need elbow and shoulder surgeries. A gardener may go about it for years before putting something in their back out. A secretary can send thousands of e-mails before experiencing pain in the wrist, shoulders and neck. The problem is not that our bodies can’t handle the stress, it is that we are not doing enough opposing motions to keep the channels open so that we can heal properly from these repetitive tasks. This is where Osteopathy comes in.
Our blood is the water, carrying the fertilizer, herbicides and pesticides in order to keep the weeds out and our tissues growing healthy. The more repetitive the movements, or the larger the physical or psychological stress, the more our tissues tighten up. The tighter we are, the less room we have for circulation, which leads to a longer recovery time from our day to day activities. The better the structure, the better the circulation, the better our health, the more we can get out of our lives.
It’s common to expect that we can get out of pain as fast as we got into it. With osteopathic treatment, pain relief can often be secured as early as after the first session. However, often we are dealing with structures that have been overcompensating for quite some time. Although the symptom changed, the underlying cause of it tends to return. If the weeds have been left to grow for too long it normally takes a few times in order to clear them out and allow the good plants to grow. The same is true for osteopathic treatment. Once the restricted areas have been treated a few times, the blood takes over, providing the adequate water and nutrient needs for the growth of healthy tissues. Here is where our bodies truly begin to change and our old points of weaknesses become strong again.
The early American osteopaths often said that osteopathy never failed in restoring a person to health, so long as the person didn’t come too late to osteopathy and that they were given enough time to be treated. Similar to planting a seed, the results may not be seen right away. However, once the ball begins to roll down the hill, it is hard to stop. Restoring proper circulation to nerves, both in the spine and throughout the body, can heal even the most degraded tissues if given enough time. There is no equal to Osteopathy in terms of mechanically removing the cause of your dysfunction, so that your body can do the rest.
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Here is a story of Chinese bamboo, and how we don’t see the changes happening below until its roots foundation has been built. Only then does it sprout and we see the positive effect of proper care has had on its growth. The same can be said for the course of osteopathic care and other changes to better our health. https://www.mattmorris.com/how-success-is-like-a-chinese-bamboo-tree/