If you didn’t know otherwise, you’d think that the world of healthcare was populated only by extraordinarily handsome millennials in active wear who’ve done a hammy or have a weak core (it doesn’t exist), or strained the piriformis. All of which need to be fixed by exercise at the gym, more exercise, a very particular diet, and more exercise.
In reality, there’s a lot of older people around who need mechanical medicine, but too many health care providers don’t actually hear or listen to them.
Of course they’re in pain, of course they can’t stand straight, they can’t walk or sleep well, and that’s because they’re OLD. Give them some analgesia, always statins, a bit of finger wagging and book them in for repeat of the surgery that didn’t work last time. After that, put them in the Chronic Pain basket.
Well I’m here to tell you that old people are a joy to treat. They are funny, erudite, brave and absolutely brimming with life. Their bodies can and do respond beautifully to intelligent care.
Two weeks ago we saw an octogenarian who was too embarrassed to leave the house, because she was on a walker. She felt humiliated. An ex RN, she was vibrant and had been active, but a hip replacement was recommended and she slowly went downhill with pain all over. She’d seen a physio for months but contractile exercise was the only care offered.
And no one had touched her, and she said, no one heard her.
We heard her, and you can be assured we touched her. We offered mobilisation of her joints, not more contraction. That’s because sprained or injured myofascia contracts, and stays in spasm. Healthy myofascia can respond to what is required.
I can’t convey how easy it was, and what a pleasure it was, it to treat her pain. A fibular head mobilisation, pelvic balance, a gentle hip mobilisation, adductor stretches, a lumbar spine stretch and gentle traction of the foot, ankle, knee and hip. The next week she danced in. No walker, no nothin’. She had put on her socks with ease and tied her laces. Yes, it’s the simple things that matter.
Today we saw a septuagenarian, another ex RN. She too had had surgery, four years ago, on her foot, and was left with an inverted foot to walk upon and constant pain. The suggestion was more surgery (as if!!! she exclaimed).
She was amazed at the two of us as we palpated, assessed everything related to foot function. And that, BTW, is the foot itself and everything to the north. We explained our findings and the logic of the treatment we delivered.
She said no one had ever actually physically examined her in the time since the surgery to see which parts were tender, stuck, sore or just abnormal. Not the surgeon, GP, physio or even the podiatrist.
We did. And she walked out straighter, no foot pain, no lope to her gait, and hopeful, as we are, that she’s found some solution. Maybe it won’t last, but it’s the best result so far and we will see her each week for 6 weeks, to change her myofascial pattern.
And lastly, an older man who suffered incontinence after prostrate surgery. How do you live like that? It’s a frequent result of that surgery. We were able to release the terrible strain from the surgery in his thoracic spine, lumbars, pelvis and in particular the pelvic floor, and he returned the next week reporting his incontinence was no more. Whoever would have thought? As an ex RN myself, we were taught that it was inevitable following a prostatectomy. Well, it seems not.
It’s an enormous pleasure to treat people Osteopathically and so enrich their lives. (And ours, too.) Mobility is the key to healthy older years … don’t I know it! … so restoring mobility is a joy to offer and help sustain.
Sure, as we age, we lose intrinsic mobility, but so often, too often, the concerns and complaints of older people are dismissed. Please, don’t accept that. If you want, call us for a chat first if you need to know what’s possible and what is not. If it’s a long term issue, a GP can order five sessions with an Osteopath subsidised by Medicare.
Please, do send older family members and friends along to us. No active wear required.
