This is where osteopathy comes in. The gentle form of manual medicine primarily serves to maintain and restore movement in the body. This makes it ideal for keeping age-related problems at bay. The most noticeable age-related changes are in our musculoskeletal system, i.e. the structures that we need to stay upright and move around. If the calcium content of the bones, the elasticity of ligaments and tendons and the overall muscle mass decrease, the joints also deform due to decades of stress. These changes are initially normal consequences of a very complex aging process.
However, if they throw the body out of balance, problems can arise. For example, if you “trained” yourself to use a protective posture due to an injury at a young age and therefore put significantly more strain on one knee than the other, normal, age-related wear and tear and additional wear and tear due to the protective posture add up. Knee osteoarthritis, i.e. the degenerative disease of the knee joint, is then the likely result.
Osteopathy can intervene here in two ways:
As a preventive measure, it helps prevent the development of knee osteoarthritis. A precise osteopathic examination reveals the protective posture that promotes osteoarthritis. The osteopath can use his own manual techniques to break down the protective posture. Without any negative consequences for the patient, because interestingly, the body usually maintains its changed posture even if the injury that caused it has long since healed. If the protective posture is eliminated and the knee is no longer overloaded, it can recover and, at best, osteoarthritis will not even develop.
But even if knee osteoarthritis has already been diagnosed, osteopathy can help alongside orthopedic and physiotherapeutic treatment. The principle is the same as with prevention: the knee must be relieved so that the osteoarthritis does not progress or only progresses slowly. At the same time, the osteopath must ensure that other joints are not overloaded, such as the other knee, the hip or the lumbar spine. To do this, the osteopath examines their mobility and, if necessary, treats them using his manual techniques. In this way, he can restore and maintain mobility and ensure that the knee osteoarthritis does not lead to problems in other areas.
Our internal organs are also subject to the aging process and lose mobility and performance over the years.
For example, the elasticity of the lungs decreases, its blood vessels become fewer and the alveoli become larger. At the same time, the chest stiffens and makes chest breathing more difficult. This reduces overall lung performance. The result: our body can no longer absorb as much oxygen and is therefore no longer as resilient. The lack of mobility also makes the lungs more susceptible to infections, which can more easily take hold in the respiratory tract.
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