Tuesday 29 April 2014

Hippocrates: 'In therapy, first do no harm'

As Hippocrates - often considered to be the father of Western Medicine - wrote (circa 400 BC):

In therapy, first do no harm.
Life is short, art is long, the occasion fleeting.
Experience decietful and judgement difficult.

Thinking about this - seems very appropriate for describing good Osteopathy, and good Acupuncture.

In physcial therapy, our technique must be gentle, considered and measured, and never harsh or invasive (do no harm) and our approach and treatment refined, gentle, and conservative (no harm) rather than radical or excessive.  This is the hallmark of good technique, and a good osteopath, or acupuncturist.  Even in manipulation - if called for and appropriate - we only 'tweak' the joints, when they are ready, and only after appropriate and proper articulation, prepartion, and work on relevant surrounding' soft-tissues' (muscles).  Never 'bashing' or 'crunching' joints in the attempt to get the release at any cost (harsh technique). This is uncalled for and unnecessary - as John Littlejohn (the 2nd father of Osteopathy, who studied with Still, and took Ostoepathy to Europe) replied when questioned about manipulation.

I also like the second part of Hipprocrates comment:

Life is short, art is long, the occasion fleeting.
Experience decietful and judgement difficult.

A very good description of the attitude I take when approaching diagnosis, Osteopathic and Orthopaedic evaluation, physical therapy and manipulation.

http://www.christchurch-osteopathy-acupuncture.co.nz/osteopathy/principles.html

http://www.christchurch-osteopathy-acupuncture.co.nz/acupuncture/acupuncture.html

Of course, Physical Therapy (perhaps together with Herbalism) is perhaps the oldest form of medicine and Health care, and I'm certain that Hippocrates was familiar with massage and manipualtion.  We know this was practiced even before his time - and that the Egyptians and Mesopotaneans used massage and manipulation.  After all, Osteopathy is a fairly recent word (coined by Andrew Still in the 1860s).  The tradition of Physical Therapy goes back much further, to the very beginnings of civilization.

http://www.christchurch-osteopathy-acupuncture.co.nz/osteopathy/history.html

Saturday 19 April 2014

The effectiveness of both Acupuncture together with Osteopathy - in the same treatment

Further to yesterdays post about Acupuncture & Massage Therapy for lumbar disc herniation, a new study:  http://mikeinmanosteopath.blogspot.co.nz/2014/04/acupuncture-massage-therapy-for-lumbar.html

This study found that Acupuncture combined with Massage therapy was more effective for treating lumbar disc herniation (LDH) than coenzyme B12 injections combined with physiotherapy.

For more on this study please see:
http://www.healthcmi.com/Acupuncture-Continuing-Education-News/1291-acupuncture-massage-for-lumbar-disc-herniation-new-study#sthash.uUlyMHp5.dpuf
One wonders what the effectiveness of both Acupuncture combined with Osteopathy and/ or manipulation - in the same treatment - would be. Pretty good I would imagine. And of course, one cannot help but wonder if any such studies have been conducted.

There are no doubt many studies on the effects manipulation (e.g. numerous research into the effectiveness of chiropractic manipulative medicine for low back pain, e.g. http://www.spine-health.com/treatment/chiropractic/spinal-manipulation-and-chiropractic-research), and the effects of Acupuncture (e.g. http://umm.edu/news-and-events/news-releases/2005/study-analysis-shows-acupuncture-effective-for-treating-chronic-low-back-pain as single interventions, both for low back pain, and also for disc injuries ( disc prolapse or herniatons). E.g. please see: http://online.liebertpub.com/doi/abs/10.1089/acm.1997.3.55

But so far I have not heard of any studies on the combined effects of Acupuncture given with, later in the same treatment Osteopathy and manipulation.

Such a treatment protocol would be fairly standard practice here at Christchurch Osteopathy Acupuncture - certainly for low back pain. And the results from this approach are generally very good.
For more on this please see:
http://www.christchurch-osteopathy-acupuncture.co.nz/acupuncture/whatAcupunctureTreats.html


and
http://www.christchurch-osteopathy-acupuncture.co.nz/osteopathy/backPainPosture.html

Friday 18 April 2014

Acupuncture & Massage Therapy for Lumbar Disc Herniation - results from a new study

Acupuncture & Massage For Lumbar Disc Herniation


A new study - found that Acupuncture combined with Massage therapy is more effective for treating lumbar disc herniation (LDH) than coenzyme B12 injections combined with physiotherapy.

The acupuncture group achieved an overall effective rate of 96.7% and the injection therapy group had an 80.0% effective rate.


The injection group received intramuscular injections of 1.5 mg cobamamide (coenzyme B12) and oral administration of 840 mg Pagosid (Devil’s Claw) once per day.

For physiotherapy, the group received lower back traction three times per day and heat physiotherapy of low to medium intensity on the lumbosacral region for 20 minutes per day.

After the treatment, 20 patients in the acupuncture group fully recovered, seven showed marked improvement, two showed moderate improvement and one showed no improvement.

The overall effective rate of the Acupuncture group was much higher than that of the injection group.

According to the JOA scale and Visual Analogue Scale (VAS), the acupuncture group also significantly outperformed the injection group.


See more at: http://www.healthcmi.com/Acupuncture-Continuing-Education-News/1291-acupuncture-massage-for-lumbar-disc-herniation-new-study#sthash.uUlyMHp5.dpuf


Also:

http://www.christchurch-osteopathy-acupuncture.co.nz/acupuncture/whatAcupunctureTreats.html

How Wolves Change Rivers

To see this  fascinating You Tube Video of 'How Wolves Change Rivers'  (submitted by Osteopath )

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysa5OBhXz-Q


for more, from this interesting site -  also see

http://sustainableman.org/


e.g. this one:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysa5OBhXz-Q

and many others.

Enjoy

Mike
www.christchurch-osteopathy-acupuncture.co.nz

Thursday 10 April 2014

recently updated Christchurch Osteopathy Acupuncture facebook page

Please see the recently updated Christchurch Osteopathy Acupuncture Facebook page for recently added photos.  There are also some new links about both acupuncture, and mindfulness-meditation, and its benefits for health and reducing stress.  If you like the page - please click the like button.


https://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Christchurch-Osteopathy-Acupuncture-Ltd/138554599651599

Friday 4 April 2014

osteopathy - whole body- whole person

Remember that Osteopathy treats the whole body, the whole person - not just isolated symptoms.
As Andrew Still (the founder of Osteopathy) would have put it - Osteopathy sees the body as a unit, the unity of mind, body and spirit