That about does it.
Osteopathy
My vet is in training for osteopathy; she did use some of the techniques while helping my horse recover from a fall. She did some stretches in the direction he was âinclinedâ to go. I think that is where it differs from chiropratic manipulationâŠI am VERY uninformed, and as I said, it is new for my vet as well.
That all being said, my horse seemed to love it! Also, if you want more info. I can check with my vet. Let me know!
I swear by it for myself, but no knowledge of a vet who does it. Canât see why it wouldnât wrok on horses too.
I have NO idea how it works - it appears to be voodoo- you lie there and the Dr. touches you lightly and you feel energy zinging around and get really thirsty, and then you feel great.
Osteopathy isnât any one particular techniqueâit is a philosophy of medicine where the alignment and function of the musculoskeletal system is felt to have a measurable impact on all body functions. Manipulation of the musculoskeletal system, then, is felt to be something that can benefit the function of other systems as well.
As opposed to what you can arguably (!) call âtraditionalâ or allopathic medicine, osteopathy (the human kind) distinctly includes philosophical principles in its âmission statementâ as opposed to purely scientific ones:
The mission of the American Academy of Osteopathy is to teach, advocate, and research the science, art and philosophy of osteopathic medicine, emphasizing the integration of osteopathic principles, practice and manipulative treatment in patient care.
So itâs sort of a blend of hard science and art/philosophical aspects of medicine, which has appeal to a lot of people. Most DOâs I know, however, are very much skewed towards the âscienceâ side and nobody I know whoâs a DO actually does any manipulation, prolotherapy, mesotherapy, etc. It is and can be an integrative field, but often it is notâit is another route to medical school, and beyond what is taught a practitioner can choose to emphasize or de-emphasize the less mainstream aspects, depending on their individual beliefs.
Are there osteopathic schools of veterinary medicine?
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Back home a lot of horse owners swear by this guy. I never had a change to get him to work on my horses.
http://www.thewholehorse.com/osteopathy.html
Heâs even got his own institute with courses for veterinarians, apparently also available in the US.
http://www.vluggeninstitute.com/index.php
Itâs seems much harder to find an equine osteopath then finding a chiropractor.
Personally for myself I can only use osteopaths, I went to a chiropractor once and had to ask him to stop as I couldnât bear it. I canât have my back massaged either, too painful. But osteopathy has always worked well.
How is it different from chiro?
As you can tell totally ignorant here.
I think the shared philosophyâthat the spine and musculature is integral to normal body functionâis very close to the same between the two.
Traditionally (and a LOT OF THIS is very much subject to interpretation) the field of âchiropracticâ has dealt primarily with joint and muscle pain, movement problems, aches and pains, etc. By contrast, osteopathy is a broader field that treats disease and disorders of all the bodyâs organs, still keeping that âalignmentâ (if youâll pardon the pun) with the proper function of the spine and skeleton as a general principle of good health.
A lot of chiropractors are out there practicing medicine of a sortâclaiming that their treatments can affect things like blood pressure, thyroid function, menstrual cycles, etc. etc. etc. But a chiropractor is not a licensed physician, while an osteopath is. (assuming theyâve finished their schooling, gotten licensed, certified, etc.) Chiropractors go to chiropractic schools, osteopaths go to medical school. The curriculum is vastly different between a chiropractic school and an osteopathic medical school. The curriculum is only a little different, however, between osteopathic and allopathic medical schools.
So to me the difference between an osteopathic physician and an allopathic physician is very small, and the difference between an osteopathic physician and a chiropractor is much larger. But both in the latter group have as an underlying principle the proper alignment of the spine and skeleton as a necessity for normal body function. Osteopaths, unlike chiropractors, use other treatments besides manipulation to treat diseases. Chiropractors that are too big for their britches often branch out into other therapies, but they are no more or less qualified for this by right of their chiropractic training than anyone else.
A funny quote from one of the DO websites:
[When I was a student of osteopathy in the UK, I used to attend meetings of complementary and alternative health practitioners. And it was easy to tell who was who. The naturopaths would be wearing flowers and beads, while chiropractors would come with their suits and ties. Osteopaths were somewhere in between.
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thanks dw. that helps a lot.
I made the mistake of asking my osteopath (at my first appointment) if there was any similarity to chiropractic and I think it took every bit of wherewithal to not throw me out of her office!
She is unique in that she only does the manipulative work - and itâs hard to call it manipulative because she basically holds something (like your feet, or your arm) with a very light pressure and there is no movement.
I would be very interested if there was an osteopathic vet.
My vet is an osteopath and she has worked wonders with dogs and horses, both. She treats the whole animal, not just a specific spot. Sometimes with the more serious cases, she has to see them a few times, but she has never let me down when it came to issues. I had one dog that had been slightly lame for 2 years; couldnât figure out the problem at all. I discovered this vet and took her to her, she did 4 sessions with her and the dog has never had a bad step since. It has been nearly 2 years.
I know of a racehorse that was acting sore but no one could understand why, so Dr Kim took him over and eventually he went back and won races. Itâs fascinating to watch her work, she holds clinics sometimes and will bring in her mentor, Yannick [from Texas]. Amazing to watch.
I got to see Yannick work over the winter a bit. He did a little clinic and it was arranged so that it was actually held at the vet clinic too, so they could do whatever followup work he suggested. It was a fascinating day and by the end of day 1 there were as many vets and interns out there watching as anything else. There were a couple of things that heâd find by whatever means he finds things - palpation, movement, temp, intuition? - that the vets questioned, but when they did their OWN diagnostics, it just confirmed he was right. Quite interesting!
Yeah, Yannick has quite the way to him, Iâm glad you got to see him; Dr. Kim is the same way, itâs amazing to see her work and the results that she gets. Sometimes you wonder just what the heck sheâs DOING but it always comes out just fine :D. Iâm surprised there arenât more osteopaths for animals out there, considering the results.
I can tell you a story we learned in osteopathy school. Andrew. T. Still, the founder of osteopathy, lived in a time and place (1800s, Missouri) where horses were still very common, so he had lots of experience with them and even treated them osteopathically. One of his treatment methods for horses was apparently as follows: He would tie the horseâs tail to a tree with a short rope, and then smack the horse on the rump to startle it so it would run. When the horse got to the end of the rope, the tension would yank on itâs tail, creating a traction force down the spine and pulling all the vertebrae back into alignment. I canât speak to itâs truth, but itâs an interesting story.
Thatâs about all I know about horse osteopathy, but if youâre interested in human osteopathy, thereâs a great infographic called âWhat Is Osteopathy?â here: https://downtownwellness.ca/What-Is-âŠhy-Infographic
Excellent. Has worked well with my horses. The vets that I have used who do it learned from Yannick, but I have not had such good results with him. I donât care for his âstall sideâ manner.
Iâve heard similar things about Yannickâs stall-side mannerâŠI opted not to go when he was nearby last spring.
We have done chiro and osteopath work on my geldingâŠI found CST work most intriguing and having a more pronounced immediate effect. And Sure Foot pads⊠crazy!
Near hear there is a ânewâ osteopath on the blockâŠhis videos are pretty cool, Iâve debated using him as he is closer than others. http://www.dirkhambloch.com/what-is-manual-therapy.html
