A Conversation with Emily Lou, Manual Osteopathic Practitioner

This article summarizes a conversation ElizaBeth shared with Emily Lou for the Exploring Healing Arts Podcast, and is written by Emily.

The audio conversation  can be found here.

From Emily:

My formal education taught me to be a Physical Therapist (1986), a Hellerwork Practitioner (1996) and a Osteopathic Manual Practitioner (2020).*  I’ve worked in hospitals, various clinics, industrial warehouses, oil companies and in volunteer clinics in Seattle, WA and Arequipa, Peru.  I am currently in private practice in Mountain View, CA called OMPIA (Osteopathic Manual Practice International Academy). www.ompiaclinic.com.  My education and experience give me a unique perspective on healing. The philosophy of Osteopathy ties it all together and serves as a scaffolding for creating healing treatments.  The philosophy is summed up in the following principles (as taught in Canadian School of Osteopathy – Manual Practice in Canada)

1 – The body is a functional unit.  This means everything is connected and what affects one part of the body has the potential to affect the rest.

2 – Structure governs function.  Structure and harmony within and between parts affects how well they work.  Alignment is part of this.

3 – The body has an inherent ability to autoregulate.  If everything is functioning well, the body heals itself.  A lot of my work is removing these blocks or hindrances to this ability.

4 – The rule of the artery is absolute. This refers to the importance of all fluid flow.

The goal is reconnection to an individual’s self-healing or autoregulatory system so it can take over.  Evidence of this system working is the PRM, or primary respiratory mechanism.  This is an inherent consistent rhythm in the brain and central nervous system that is always present in a state of health.  It is transmitted through the fluids (cerebrospinal fluid) and membranes (dural) and can be felt throughout the body.  It is Primary because it underlies and controls all other physiologic mechanisms in the body , Respiratory because it is involved with the exhange of gases/electrolytes at the cell level and Mechanism because it manifests throught the articular arrangement of the skull bones. 

In addition to feeling for subtle changes in the PRM, I use standardized tests that are recognizable and reproducible, for instance, range of motion and strength testing.  Patients are encouraged to identify details of functional limitations so they can recognize any changes.  

Anyone who seeks more ease in their body can benefit from an osteopathic manual treatment.  Most of the time, we are working with established patterns in the body.  Chronic pain and sometimes “acute” injuries (aside from being trauma related) are related to these patterns.  With the principles as a guide, hands-on techniques like cranial and visceral osteopathy, myofascial release, musculoskeletal techniques, and recognition of a mind-body connection are applied. Movement coaching and exercise are given to increase specificity to functional goals. The work is typically gentle enough that a person has a chance to reject the change if necessary. 

Sometimes, since the body is so interconnected, a person’s system may take a few days to integrate after a visit.  There may or may not be soreness, fatigue or discomfort and hydration is helpful.  The ability to adapt more effectively and quickly is actually one of the goals of treatment.

*An OMP is all hands-on and is different than a US trained Doctor of Osteopathy (DO), who is a physician, can write prescriptions and order tests but typically does less hands-on treatment.