A 55-year-old woman presented with abdominal complaints, which had been diagnosed by an internist as spastic colon and for which he could offer no further treatment. Having treated a family member of hers for abdominal complaints the previous year, she came to me with this issue.
A spastic colon, or irritable bowel syndrome as it is also known, involves pain in the abdominal area. Since medical examinations often reveal no abnormalities, no appropriate treatment is readily available. As osteopaths, we refer to this as functional bowel problems; the pain simply indicates that the intestines are being overstimulated by something—possibly something outside the abdominal area itself.
An osteopath examines not only the abdomen but the entire body. This includes the musculoskeletal system, the internal organs and their relationships with blood vessels, lymphatic vessels, and nerves, as well as the skull, including the meninges, cerebrospinal fluid, and nerves. The goal is to identify where disturbances exist that lead to complaints in the body. The osteopath looks for the underlying disorder in reduced mobility, as the intestine has relationships at a local level within the abdomen, but also via the nerves with the central nervous system, extending all the way to the brain.
In this patient’s case, overstimulation from the nervous system played a significant role. A lingering social conflict had burdened the emotional center in the central nervous system. Treatment of various parts of the nervous system and mobilization of a section of the spinal column led to a much less sensitive abdomen, as evidenced during an evaluation several months later. Better insight into the origin of these complaints, along with a reassuring effect, likely also provided a positive contribution.
