I’ve labelled this blog Myotherapy & Osteopathy because they work so well together. I personally get a Osteopath treatment every 1-3 months and I get a Myotherapy session every 2-6 weeks depending on how much training I’m doing and if I have any niggles from old injuries. Many of our current patients use both Myotherapy & Osteopathy for their treatment plan as well; alternating between the two modalities on a month to month basis or more regularly if they have a an acute pain or injury. It’s about figuring out what works for you and listening to your body or trusting your therapist to guide you if you are not yet completely in tune with your body. Here are some of the ways Myotherapy & Osteopathy work so well together.
Joint and Muscle
The literal translation of ‘myo’ is muscle and the literal translation of ‘osteo’ is bone so one would think that Myotherapy is more about the treatment of muscles and Osteopathy is more about the treatment of bones or joints. Fortunately the body is a network of connective tissues where muscles, tendons, ligaments, nerve and joint are all somewhat effected by one another which means which ever modality you choose you are going to get some relief. However when you combine the two modalities for an injury, pain or condition it can be even more powerful!
Traditional Osteopathy is quite gentle and uses various techniques to allow all the muscles and tendons to relax around the joint freeing up movement and reducing pain. They take a whole body approach and look for imbalances in the body to explain why the injury or pain occurred in the first place. Myotherapy overlaid on this technique can reduce trigger point and taut bands of muscle related to the joint. It can look at antagonist muscles (opposite action) and synergist muscles (same action) that might have contributed to the injury or pain and like Osteopathy will look at the full body posture and try to identify if their are imbalances that may have contributed to the problem in the first place. Myotherapists are trained in corrective exercises and will offer some strengthening, stretching or self treatment advice as part of the treatment to help correct the imbalance over time.
The take home…
Even though Myotherapists and Osteopaths can positively effect both muscles, joints and all related tissues; Osteopaths have more tools in their toolbox to effect joints where as Myotherapists have more tools in their toolbox to affect muscles. Therefore if you use both techniques and get your Myotherapist and Osteopath communicating your outcomes will be better and quicker!
Please note all practitioners here at Waverley Myotherapy Clinic and more than happy to work in conjunction with Osteopaths, Chiropractors, Naturopaths, Nutritionists, Massage Therapists, Personal Trainers, TCM practitioners and so on! We can correspond with them via phone, email or letter at no extra cost to you.