What is manual therapy?
Manual therapy is a therapy implemented with hands, and has existed for millennia, and has become modernized through continuous clinical research. Manual therapy practitioners use only their hands to mobilize/manipulate related joints and perform soft tissue treatments to reduce pain caused by muscle spasms and tension and joint dysfunction. Manual therapy allows the patient to move more naturally without pain, increases joint mobility, and reduces muscle tension.
What are the advantages of manual therapy?
- The recovery process is very fast in manual therapy.
- The treatment period is also very short compared to other techniques.
- Very effective results can be obtained from the first session. While pain and stifness are reduced, mobility is greatly increased.
- Since the success rate is much higher than other techniques, it is the most frequently demanded physical therapy method.
- The absence of side effects of manual therapy is one of its important advantages.
Which diseases is manual therapy suitable for?
Manual therapy, which has been successfully applied for years, is particularly effective in the following disorders:
- Herniated disc (lomber or servical)
- Flatback syndrome
- Back pain
- Fibromyalgia
- Shoulder, elbow, and wrist joint problems
- Sacroiliac joint dysfunction
- Knee joint and meniscus problems
- Ankle sprain
What is osteopathy?
Based on anatomical and physiological principles, osteopathy is accepted as a diagnosis and treatment method by WHO (World Health Organization). Osteopathy is a discipline and a holistic approach that works on the musculoskeletal system, internal organs, nervous system, and circulatory system, including the spine and fascia, and aims to make them work in harmony.
While each system should work in harmony with each other, a malfunction in one disrupts the general functioning of the body, and dysfunctions occur. Osteopathy stimulates the proper functioning of movement, circulation, nervous system, and organs, activating the body's self-healing potential and treating dysfunctions.
There are three different approaches to osteopathy:
- Parietal Osteopathy. It covers the treatment of joints, bones, muscles, ligaments, and fascia groups.
- Visceral Osteopathy. Our internal organs (visceral) do not hang in the air, they hang on our spine. Problems in the internal organs may occur as reflected pain in the neck, upper back, and low back, that is, the entire spine, as well as shoulder and other joints. Osteopathy treats disorders in visceral structures such as digestion, respiration, circulation, reproduction, and eliminates the pain and problems they cause.
- Cranial Osteopathy. With sensitive and light touches on the skull, the tension created by stress in the head and the whole body is removed. Pressures on the cranial nerves are relieved by using sutures with skull joints. The flow of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) is normalized.
Osteopathy practices are performed by physicians and physiotherapist osteopaths trained in this field.
Conditions in which Osteopathy is Effective
- Low back, neck, and upper back pains, and hernias
- Migraine and tension-type headaches
- Posture disorders such as scoliosis and kyphosis
- Post-operative pain and adhesions
- Stress
- Chronic fatigue
- Sleeping disorders
- Neuralgia
- Respiratory problems
- Sports injuries
- As a supplement in the treatment of hormonal disorders
- As support in chronic neurological diseases
- Circulatory problems (blood and lymphatic system)
- Movement and functional disorders
- Gait, balance, and coordination disorder
- Fibromyalgia syndrome
- Joint stiffness, arthrosis
- Joint, spine, and rib blockages
- Jaw joint problems (chewing problems, bruxism, crepitation in jaw movements)
- Visceral osteopathy as supportive therapy in constipation, diarrhea, indigestion, flatulence, abdominal pain, spastic colon, ptosis, and urinary incontinence
- Craniosacral osteopathy in swallowing disorders, vomiting, and head deformity in infants
- Allergic and chronic diseases
- Acute pains
- Rheumatic diseases