Achoooo!!! - an osteopathic approach to the common cold.

It is that time of the year when many of us have patients presenting at our clinics with the common cold. Although they may arrive for a different matter, with the patient's permission, it is a chance for the osteopath to treat some of the less-known conditions that osteopathy addresses.

At the back of the throat sits a ring of lymphoid tissue – the pharynx, the adenoids and the tonsils. They serve as the first line of defense against infections of the mouth and throat. The main virus that causes the common cold is the rhinovirus.

On examining the patient with a cold, the osteopath may find that the posterior pharyngeal muscles are inflamed, the hyoid bone is restricted, the cervical lymph nodes are enlarged, cervical vertebrae are restricted and there is hypertonic cervical-erector-spinae.

The aim of osteopathic treatment is two-fold:
a) To improve fluid drainage to and from the throat.
b) To boost the immune system.

In conjunction with a general osteopathic treatment, the osteopath should focus on a number of relevant areas. The clavicle and first rib, between which lie the left and right thoracic ducts, must move freely so that drainage from the head and neck is not restricted. The same applies to the thoracic outlet. The diaphragm is also important in intrathoracic pressure and fluid dynamics. Furthermore the osteopath should address sternocleidomastoid (SCM) making sure that it is relaxed and not restricting sound fluid drainage from the throat by either local hypertonia or pinching the thoracic ducts between clavicle and first rib.

To boost the immune system the osteopath can apply the lymphatic, splenic and pedal pump.

Local soft tissue work to SCM and articulation with gentle muscle-energy to the pharangeal muscle can be executed in the following way:

With the patient lying supine, the osteopath stands to the side of the patient and clasps the hyoid between two fingers (it is worth explaining to the patient the procedure in advance). Gently, the osteopath articulates the hyoid bone laterally and asks the patient to swallow. The osteopath will feel a gentle tension increase and relaxation around the hyoid and this produces an effective, accurate stretch to the surrounding musculature.

Gentle inhibition can be applied to the sub-occipital muscles and cervical-erector-spinae.

The osteopath can finish with some gentle effleurage around the ears, eyes nose and throat.

The order in which these techniques are used is up for debate but there is some logic in beginning with the peripheral areas first to create pools for fluid to drain into.

The osteopath may wish to advise the patient to rest and to reduce intake of complex and artificial foods, sticking mainly to boiled vegetables in the first 24 hours.

In conclusion, the osteopath applies skilled hands to knowledge of anatomy and physiology, creating an optimum environment for the body to combat the virus, bringing symptomatic relief, reducing pain and hopefully speeding the recovery.

www.osteopathy4osteopaths.blogspot.com

 

 

Tags: cold, common, pharyngitis

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Permalink Reply by indikate on November 21, 2011 at 10:38am

When you have cold symptoms it is important to up your antioxidant intake. During such an episode the fundamental chemistry is biased towards oxidative stress with the production of O+ (free rads). Vit c is a very effective electron donor and therefore turns these free radicals into O2. Also if you have high levels of vit c then you are likely to have adequate levels of intracellular glutathione. This will more than likely prevent the sequelae mentioned eg ears, sinuses etc. As you can see it is a bad idea to drink unfiltered tap water when you are ill as the chlorine makes it oxidizing thus pushing the above chemical reaction to the left (ie more O+)

Permalink Reply by Small Fry on November 21, 2011 at 10:47am

Yes but why does one person get a complication to an illness and another not, even if they both have the same lifestyles?  Nutritional status is just one field in osteopathy, we also undestand things other disciplines don't.  And I'm asking about the things that can be changed, when so often the medical side of our training points us towards the things that (supposedly) can't be changed.

Permalink Reply by indikate on November 21, 2011 at 3:31pm

The point I am trying to make is that electron donation is the key to health for the physical body. Maybe try this if you are comfortable sensing the subtle rhythyms of the body; find a patient with a poor diet, monitor the quality pattern and vitality of their subtle physiology (manually), improve their diet incorporating antioxidants and feel how their "physiology" changes. I find this gives me more juice to work with

Permalink Reply by Small Fry on November 21, 2011 at 4:29pm

I am totally in agreement, but there is another layer to this.  You can't just pour vitamin C into a corpse and bring it back to life.  How the body distributes resources and coordinates its functions are central to the effect and effectiveness.  And in life, oxidative stress will manifest in different people in different ways.

 

This is why I think that practitioners working with supplements have to use such heavy doses.  They are often compensating for poor absorbtion and poor distribution.  If a tissue is 10% deprived of the blood it needs for its function, for all I know it may need many times more of a given nutrient in the blood that is actually getting there, because now that tissue is not just lacking, it is now going into all kinds of compensations.  Deficiency, local as well as global, is a major source of stress.  So is toxicity, when accumulation of waste is present.  Again, the channels of elimination may only need impaired a fraction to cause a huge problem.  Antioxidants and chlorinated water are huge, I agree, but they are the tip of the iceberg.  Osteopathy is about making use of the resources within the body also, helping the body to call upon them in the right way.

Permalink Reply by indikate on November 21, 2011 at 4:44pm

In no way am I suggesting such a one handed approach. I am merely highlighting one aspect of biochemistry. It is indeed the tip of one iceberg. The above which you mention are familiar osteopathic principles but the biochemistry I mention is not generally well known so I was offering it as one single idea in a sea of ideas

Permalink Reply by Small Fry on November 23, 2011 at 9:30am

Strange, I thought I'd done that.  But I'll try and put it another way...

 

We've all been taught from an early age that a cold is caused by a virus - an evil little thing that gets inside our cells, causes harm and hijacks the replication mechanism to make more of itself.  The deeper thinkers amongst us will have realised that the symptoms of a cold are functions of the body, not of the virus - the immune system's response to protect us.  Suppose your body doesn't respond to a virus - no immunity, no response, no symptoms.  The virus exists in you unchecked.  Think of the all the things viruses are supposed to cause if they get the better of us.  And there's your answer.  At this level I'm not talking anything mystical.

 

On the other hand, this is not the only paradigm we can consider, by any means.  But I'm really not about to go into that here.  Let's just keep it on the common ground that cold symptoms are a function of the body with the general purpose of maintaining and restoring health.  Hopefully this is not an alien concept(?).

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