You’re like a string

What happens to a string when you twirl it?

Twirling a string reveals fascinating physics. First, the string shortens as fibers wind tighter. Keep twirling, and it begins to kink and loop – the torsional energy becomes so high that folding becomes more favourable than staying straight. Continue further, and the string plies – folding back onto itself. This creates a doubled section thicker, stronger, and more rigid than the original.

How does this apply to the human body?

Myofascial tissues follow these exact same principles. The fibrous networks of muscle and connective tissue behave just like that twisted string. Through the act of living, like driving a car, the body takes on wear and tear to varying degrees.  As the normal relationships between some structures become abnormal, like twisting strings your body’s fibres develop torsional loads that create restrictions, bundling, folding – essentially “kinks” in your body’s fabric that you might experience as trigger points and pain.

So how do we unwind these patterns?

In the philosophy of Osteopathy,  we think like engineers and work like mechanics, using precise levers, vectors, fixed points, and forces – compression, tension, torsion, oscillation, etc. Rather than rubbing, scrubbing, and digging into kinks, we understand the anatomy and physics involved in a lesion pattern through assessment.

As layers release through treatment, whatever tissues and movements stay most restricted reveal the core lesion pattern driving everything. This is like archaeology – the body holds all kinds of artifacts.  Osteopathy’s skill is piecing together the truth based on the evidence.

What makes this approach so effective in healing?

Classical Osteopathy works based on natural principles of physics and human anatomy.  As I assess the unique person on the table I’m guided by the way your body moves and responds.  By unwinding the string it loosens, relaxes, and straightens out.  Based on the same principles, I find how you’re wound and I unwind you.  Your body’s self-healing mechanism takes over once obstacles are removed. That’s how Osteopathy helps facilitate long-lasting changes.  Over time, movement returns, constitution and vitality improve, tissues heal, and the neuromuscular system can finally let go of protective holding patterns that act like the twisting force on a string.