Osteopathic Spinal Solutions – Complementary Medical Treatment

Spinal stenosis is one of today’s most prevalent medical conditions that call for osteopathic spinal solutions. Osteopathic doctors have used an effective complementary therapy (after surgery) called osteopathic manipulative therapy.

This condition happens when excessive soft tissue or bone narrows the openings in the bones (spinal canal) of the back. This causes irritation, squeezing and pinching of the nerves from the spinal cord. It is also found in any part of the spine, the lumbar and the cervical areas.

Cause

In many people, this causes pain, numbness and weakness in the legs, feet and buttocks. If not treated, this can lead to nerve damage and maybe paralysis. Basically, this comes with the aging of the spine and accelerated with wear and tear.

Along the way, the cartilage of the back joints also deteriorates. Bony growths (spurs) also develop. The combination of all these cause the narrowing of the openings for the nerves.

OMT (osteopathic manipulative treatment)

This is one adjunct to other medical therapies used in the management of acute and chronic pain. Studies have indicated that manipulation in algorithms for back pains and other musculoskeletal conditions have alleviated the condition.

The treatment is the manual application of forces to the body to restore maximal pain-free movement of the body’s musculoskeletal systems. Since this is a complementary therapy with its own unique system of practice, OMT has methods and vocabularies different from traditional medicine.

Pain

The most common reason patients seek manipulation is the pain in the condition. Other reasons include psychological issues, wellness, athletic performance and other medical problems. Some of these problems are outside the scope or malignancy.

The reason for treatments is also important in that misdiagnosis and delay or appropriate treatment is also an important complication.

Some relievers

In conventional medicine, prescription medication might include anti-inflammatory medications, steroids, and for shorter periods and limited applications, narcotic pain medications.

However, many people are also responding well with physical therapy. Steroid injections are also administered by pain specialists which helps temporarily. If the symptoms are still strong, surgery (decompressive laminection)

If symptoms still persist with conservative measures, surgery can be considered. The most common surgery is a decompressive laminection, which removes the bone and thickened tissues that are squeezing the nerves.

Prescription medications may include a stronger anti-inflammatory medications, steroids, and, for short periods, narcotic pain medications. Many people have good results with physical therapy or chiropractic treatments. Steroid (cortisone) injections performed by pain specialists can help.

If symptoms still persist with conservative measures, surgery can be considered. The most common surgery is a decompressive laminection, which removes the bone and thickened tissues that are squeezing the nerves.

Osteopathy

As a philosophy of medical care, osteopathy makes the combination of the patient’s needs with the current practices of medicine and its specialties. The emphasis is on the interrelationships between structure and function, including the acknowledgement of the body’s self-healing mechanism and abilities.

This is particularly true in that most osteopathic spinal solutions are aimed at reducing and eliminating in the end the restrictions to proper body structure and function. This would clear the restrictions on the body’s self-healing mechanism.