Here we discuss and demonstrate the cues which allow for identification of connection of lever and fixed point when interfacing with a patient. Attention is provided to long and short lever as well as engaging the direct and indirect barrier.
We have done an overview of the concept of lever, wedge, screw previously. Here we take another look at the use of levers with discussion of short, long, and mixed leverage. The aim is to provide some examples of how these concepts look in action, especially in ways that may be semantically unclear.
Building on the conceptual demonstration of Lever, Wedge, and Screw we take a moment to further demonstrate the concepts of using a long lever. Please enjoy the video below.
Within osteopathic manual therapy, there is discussion surrounding the concepts of lever, wedge, and screw based on their mention in the writing of A.T. Still. I have written about the concepts previously and now have chosen to use video to demonstrate the concepts in a broad fashion. Please enjoy.
Osteopathic manual therapeutics are based on mechanical principles. They are often discussed poorly within the profession however they do form the basis of the concept that governs the manual aspects. These concepts hold true in other manual professions as well. These concepts are present in heavy industry, engineering, math, and anywhere else you look.
As I grow in my Osteopathic journey, and really my life, it is interesting to note how many things are directly in front of us and easily accessible yet seemingly unused. One such case is the very basic anatomy of the spinal cord and the vertebral column. When looking back through posts I have made on this site I have always made specific use of the term vertebral column as I do not consider the spinal cord as synonymous with it and I definitely do not consider the term spinal column accurate or useful. As we go through this short journey I will make it clear why! Continue reading
There is an art to connection
Amidst my mountain of homework (which is surprisingly enjoyable as I truly love Osteopathy) I have managed to shake off a few cobwebs and get some writing motivation. As many people involved in this profession my mind never stops running especially where it relates to exploring the whys and hows of things. Language seems to be a major issue when attempting to understand anatomy as well as applying adjustive corrections to a body because it is easy to get lost in words when one should focus on the anatomy that is literally at hand. In this ramble I want to express some of my thoughts on articulation. So please stick with me! Continue reading
There are 3 scalenes – anterior, middle, and posterior. Simple enough. Why should you care? We are going to take a walk through some positional anatomy to figure out why really knowing about the scalenes is important. Continue reading
In my past as a Kinesiologist I was constantly bombarded by the term “core”. I never bought in to the general idea that seems to pop out of that which SEEMS to be core=abdominals (or, to some people, abdominals and lumbar musculature). At the time I was of the idea that anything that connected to the vertebral column at any level had to be considered part of the “core”…this, to me, meant that any exercise was a “core” exercise and the only question was which portion of the movement was the focus. Now that I have taken up my Osteopathic studies I find, through anatomy, that I was pretty much on the ball. For the purpose of this piece I am going to focus on the connections from the arm to the abdominals, however, it should be noted that the body is legitimately ONE connected unit and that there are no breaks in the connection. Continue reading
I am looking to get on a bit of a roll here…as long as I don’t get exhausted again I should be able to manage it! Robert Johnston (the Principal with Principles) speaks about his myogonal theory to students of the CAO and there are certain muscles that have a lot of functional anatomical connections which end up being very important to an Osteopathic Operator. Within Mr. Johnston’s myogons, the lower/base myogon is very much affected by the psoas. My goal right now is to highlight some of the major functional anatomical conections with the psoas and start to speak about why using the psoas is so powerful in treatment. Continue reading
Classical Osteopathy in Ontario 