Few things can slow you down or prevent you from playing your favorite sport like chronic pain. Whether you've tried traditional medical treatments or you're looking for a more natural approach to pain management, osteopathic manual therapy can be just what you need.

Here are just a few of the ways that a licensed osteopathic manual therapy treatment professional can alleviate your pain to get you back in the game. 

Lower Back Adjustments

The aim of osteopathic manual therapy massage is to physically manipulate the musculoskeletal system. The goals of this manipulation can be breaking up scar tissue, stimulating blood circulation, or addressing misalignments.

Scan and Assess

One of the most common sources of chronic pain for athletes is the lower back. Osteopathic manual therapy treatments for chronic lower back pain normally start with X-rays, a consultation, and gently manipulating the area.

When you visit with an osteopathic manual therapy treatment specialist, it's important to be honest and descriptive about your lower back pain. The more information you can share with your provider, the better the treatment they will likely be able to provide.

Magic Hands

Osteopathic manual therapy treatment for lower back pain is likely to involve a variety of massage techniques. For instance, your osteopathic manual therapy provider will use their fingers to knead along your spine, hips, glutes, and other core muscle areas. As they manipulate these areas with their fingers, you are likely to experience relief, pleasure, and slight discomfort. It's critical to communicate with your osteopathic manual therapy provider as they work on you to make sure the pressure level is just right. Too much pressure and you can experience pain and bruising, too little pressure and the treatment will not be as effective.

Neck and Shoulder Pain

Other common sources of chronic pain are the neck and shoulders. Osteopathic therapy treatment specialists can pinpoint the source of your chronic neck or shoulder pain to give you lasting relief.

Stretching

Many osteopathic therapy specialists will treat neck and shoulder pain by stretching the musculoskeletal areas connected to the neck and shoulders. These stretching modalities will look and feel like a cross between yoga and physical therapy. For instance, your osteopathic therapist might have you stretch your shoulder with a stretching rope to open your chest to relieve pressure on your shoulders. They might also use a tool like an E-stem (electric stimulation) machine to initiate gentle contractions in your muscles to activate nerves and stimulate blood flow.

Contact a local osteopathic manual therapy service, such as Functional Osteopathy, to learn more.