Going through any surgery- big or small can be very stressful on someone’s life! It may be traumatic, an emergency, lifesaving, cosmetic, or about to give you a brand new lease on life! Being discharged from hospital, you can be left to your own devices waiting "for the body to heal". It's at this point that we find people can get a little lost and sometimes become a little flat! We commonly see people who are:
still be experiencing some pain post surgery
experiencing pain in other areas of their body post surgery
disheartened with their progress
feeling like they need more direction post surgery
struggling with their prescribed exercises post surgery
The good news? Osteopaths are well placed in the health care system to help manage pain post surgery and provide advice on recovery and exercise post surgery. Want to know more? Read on!
Osteopathic treatment may be able to assist in pain and functional outcomes post surgery. The body of evidence that osteopathic treatment may be beneficial post surgery is still growing but there has been some studies investigating osteopathy post major abdominal surgery, osteopathy post Coronary Artery Bypass Surgery, and post Caesarean section (among others referenced below) that have had positive outcomes in pain and function of patients.
how can osteopathy help post surgery?
Osteopaths are guided by the concept “The Body is a Unit” which recognises how one area of the body may affect another part of the body- in this case post surgery.
Here’s a great example to picture how one area of the body affects the other is:
Imagine a full body lycra suit- if you were to pull a bit of that lycra (fascia) around the belly button and add tension to the fabric- you can imagine that that this tension may stop you from having full range of motion at your lower back, anterior chest, even your neck and shoulders.
What is fascia?
Fascia is made up of sheets of connective tissue that is found below the skin. These tissues attach, stabilize, impart strength, maintain vessel patency, separate muscles, and enclose different organs.
Osteopaths may also look at areas in the body where compensation may occur post surgery: a patient may be recovering after a knee replacement- they may be weight-bearing more on their other leg to compensate and start to get pain somewhere else such as the same hip from hitching up that side when they are walking.
WHAT’S THE PLAN GOING FORWARD?
We understand that you can feel fragile and uncertain post surgery- but we want to guide you in your recovery by: treating and assessing the body as a whole, stretching and strengthening the area. Our goal is to getting you back into doing the things you love and feeling confident through the process!
If you or someone you know may benefit from osteopathic treatment post surgery the team at Summit Osteopathy would love to help!
Written by Osteopath Emily Nelson
References
Zhou, Y., Chin, J., Evangelista, A., Podger, B., Wan, P. J., & Lomiguen, C. M. (2022). Inhibiting the Musculoskeletal Pathological Processes in Post-knee Replacement Surgery With Osteopathic Manipulative Treatment: A Systematic Review. Cureus, 14(1).
Roncada, G. (2020). Osteopathic treatment leads to significantly greater reductions in chronic thoracic pain after CABG surgery: A randomised controlled trial. Journal of Bodywork and Movement Therapies, 24(3), 202-211.
Probst, P., Büchler, E., Doerr-Harim, C., Knebel, P., Thiel, B., Ulrich, A., & Diener, M. K. (2016). Randomised controlled pilot trial on feasibility, safety and effectiveness of osteopathic MANipulative treatment following major abdominal surgery (OMANT pilot trial). International Journal of Osteopathic Medicine, 20, 31-40.
Putignano, F., Bidin, L., Belfiglio, B., Bordoni, F., Seghini, P., & Cavanna, L. (2016). Osteopathy for Post-Mastectomy Pain Syndrome (PMPS) in early breast cancer (EBC) patients: a pilot study in an Italian Oncology Unit. Annals of Oncology, 27, iv105.
Liedler, M., & Woisetschläger, G. (2019). Influence of postoperative adhesions after caesarean section on chronic lower back pain–A pilot study of osteopathic manipulative treatment. European Journal of Osteopathic Research, 1(1), 38-46.