Overview of Osteopathic Manipulative Treatment: Articulatory Procedure – Sacral Dysfunctions
The sacrum, which is a part of your spine, plays an important role in various bodily functions. It helps support your body when you move, sit, or stand by distributing weight. Not only that, but the sacrum also helps control several organs in the lower part of your body.
Inside the sacrum, there are sacral nerves. These nerves control things like digestion and bladder function. For a long time, medical experts believed that these sacral nerves operated under the parasympathetic system, this is the part of your nervous system that is responsible for ‘resting and digesting’. However, new research suggests that these nerves might operate under the sympathetic system, which is responsible for ‘fight or flight’ reactions.
Some experts believe that the sacral nerves are actually more complex and can’t be simply categorized as operating under either the parasympathetic or sympathetic system. Regardless of which system they operate under, these nerves are crucial for controlling parts of your digestive, urinary, and reproductive systems.
The sacrum is often overlooked when doctors are trying to understand why a patient has problems with their automatic bodily functions or lower back pain. So, if you’re struggling with these problems, remember to bring the sacrum into the conversation with your doctor.
Anatomy and Physiology of Osteopathic Manipulative Treatment: Articulatory Procedure – Sacral Dysfunctions
The sacrum is a large, triangular-shaped bone at the lower end of your backbone. It consists of five smaller bones that are separate while growing, but they fuse together in early adulthood. This bone is connected with four other bones – the five vertebrae of the lower spine, the tailbone, and the hip bones on either side via the sacroiliac joints. The sacroiliac joints allow lots of motion and can be felt by touch.
Nerves that come from the sacrum provide feelings and control to the lower parts of your digestive and urinary tracts as well as your sexual organs. Therefore, any issues with the sacrum can potentially hinder the function of these organs. One way to treat such issues is by using Articulatory techniques (ART), which are gentle, repetitive movements performed by the doctor to increase the range of motion in a joint.
One such technique, sacral rocking, is a specific exercise that works with the natural movement of your sacrum while you breathe. The sacrum tilts backwards slightly when you exhale and forwards when you inhale. The doctor accentuates these movements with gentle pressures to restore the normal movement of the sacrum in all its connections, without causing strain on the connecting tissue and other surrounding structures.
Why do People Need Osteopathic Manipulative Treatment: Articulatory Procedure – Sacral Dysfunctions
Sacral ART, or sacral rocking, is a technique used for treating a condition called somatic dysfunction of the sacrum. The sacrum is a triangular bone at the base of your spine. Somatic dysfunction refers to a problem in your body that affects your wellbeing and function. Basically, when you have an issue with your sacrum, this technique can help.
Sacral rocking is especially helpful for people who have pelvic-related conditions, such as menstrual pain (dysmenorrhea) or constipation. The process of sacral rocking is simple and doesn’t require much from the patient, other than laying face down for a few minutes.
The practitioner places their hands on the sacral bone, and uses specific movements to improve the condition. The technique is not about sliding hands on the surface, but about creating harmonious movements to bring about positive change. This session ends when the practitioner feels that the affected tissues are showing some improvement.
The technique also aims to improve how the sacrum interacts with the lower spine (L5) and could improve what is called craniosacral mobility – the movement of fluid around the brain and spinal cord.
Other benefits relate to the sacroiliac joint, which connects the sacrum to the pelvis, that can cause pain when there are issues. Sacral rocking can improve the interaction of these components, helping to reduce pain.
Moreover, the area around the sacrum is covered by a layer called the “thoracolumbar fascia”. When this layer has tension dysfunction, meaning it gets stiff and creates distress, it can lead to pain. Sacral Rocking can help to reduce that tension and improve the overall symptoms.
Lastly, the technique can help soothe the stresses of the endopelvic fascia, sacrospinous and sacrotuberous ligaments (ligaments in your pelvis), the urogenital diaphragm or triangular ligament, and the long dorsal sacroiliac ligament. All these are different regions related to the sacrum in one way or the other.
All in all, Sacral ART or sacral rocking serves as a helpful technique to manage certain pain and issues related to the sacrum and pelvis.
When a Person Should Avoid Osteopathic Manipulative Treatment: Articulatory Procedure – Sacral Dysfunctions
OMT, short for Osteopathic Manipulative Treatment, is typically a safe treatment method, but it does carry some risks. There’s a technique used in OMT known as sacral rocking. However, it’s important to stop this immediately if it causes discomfort or pain. Furthermore, sacral rocking is not recommended for everyone. Some conditions may actually make it more harmful, and in these cases, it should be avoided altogether.
These situations include a type of cancer called vertebral malignancy located near the lower back or sacrum, an infection or inflammation, and a condition called cauda equina syndrome, which affects the bundle of nerve roots at the lower end of the spinal cord. Other conditions that could cause problems are diseases that affect the spinal bones and any condition causing instability of the bony joints.
Equipment used for Osteopathic Manipulative Treatment: Articulatory Procedure – Sacral Dysfunctions
The only piece of equipment you need for an osteopathic manipulative treatment (OMT) is a special table called an OMT table. Osteopathic manipulative treatment is a type of treatment where the doctor uses their hands to diagnose and treat your condition. However, if there’s no OMT table available, don’t worry! This treatment can also be done on any regular medical examination table.
Who is needed to perform Osteopathic Manipulative Treatment: Articulatory Procedure – Sacral Dysfunctions?
Sacral rocking is a procedure that only requires the doctor to perform. Because the doctor will need to touch a sensitive part of your body during this process, you might feel more comfortable if someone else is present. That’s why you’ll be given the option to have another person, like a medical assistant or a nurse, in the room with you.
Preparing for Osteopathic Manipulative Treatment: Articulatory Procedure – Sacral Dysfunctions
Before a doctor starts a procedure, it’s essential to fully talk it through with the patient. This conversation includes the pros and cons of the treatment. It’s crucial for the patient to know exactly what the doctor is going to do. And, they must give permission before the procedure can start. Also, the doctor should make sure the patient is at ease while lying on their stomach.
Once this is done, the doctor will then check the movement of your sacrum (a triangular bone in the lower back) using their hands. This is important so they can compare how the sacrum moves before and after the treatment. This process is part of a method of treatment called Osteopathic Manipulative Treatment (OMT), which involves using the hands to diagnose, treat, or prevent illness or injury.
How is Osteopathic Manipulative Treatment: Articulatory Procedure – Sacral Dysfunctions performed
The doctor will ask the patient to lie face down on the table. The doctor will then place the top part of their right hand on the lower back (specifically, the S1 bone) and let their fingers rest over the tailbone area. The doctor’s left hand is put on top of their right hand, with the top part over the S4-S5 bones (also in the lower back), and fingers pointing towards the patient’s head.
Next, the doctor will ask the patient to take a deep breath in. As they breathe in, the doctor will gently move their hands in rhythm with the natural motion of the patient’s lower back moving backwards. When the patient’s breath is completely in, the doctor will gently apply some pressure with their left hand to help the lower back extend a bit more.
The doctor will then tell the patient to breathe out, and will follow the motion of the patient’s lower back as it flexes. At the end of the breath out, the doctor will apply a tiny bit of pressure with their right hand to help the lower back flex a bit more.
This breathing, moving, and gentle pressuring process will continue for about 2 to 3 minutes, or until the doctor feels that the tissues in the lower back area have loosened. The doctor will then check the motion of the lower back once more.
Possible Complications of Osteopathic Manipulative Treatment: Articulatory Procedure – Sacral Dysfunctions
Sacral rocking is a completely safe method. Like any treatment that involves physical manipulation by doctors, patients should be aware that they might feel a bit sore the next day.
What Else Should I Know About Osteopathic Manipulative Treatment: Articulatory Procedure – Sacral Dysfunctions?
The sacrum is a crucial part of your body that provides essential support for the way you walk and move. Problems with the sacrum are often linked to lower back pain and can potentially disrupt the normal functioning of organs in the lower abdomen and pelvis. This includes organs like the urinary tract and intestines. What this means is that issues with the sacrum might cause symptoms like constipation, difficulty controlling urination, and erectile dysfunction.
There’s a treatment approach called osteopathic manipulative treatment (OMT) that can help rectify problems with the sacrum. By correcting these issues, OMT can help optimize the way the sacrum works and improve the communication between sacral nerves. OMT is considered safe, effective, and efficient for treating sacral issues. One specific technique within OMT is called sacral rocking. This technique enables the sacrum to move normally with your breath and can be beneficial in fixing any restrictions in this movement.
From a nervous system perspective, there are connections from the muscle that controls your breathing (diaphragm) to the tongue and the pelvic floor. If these areas aren’t working as they should be, it could create additional issues. Accordingly, after addressing the sacrum, it’s important to check the condition of the tongue and diaphragm. If the main problem is the sacrum, fixing it might also improve these connected areas without further intervention.
If we address issues in the sacrum area, it can affect the entire system and help manage functions of the body controlled by the nervous system. This is because the sacrum area is rich in both sympathetic and parasympathetic nerves.
Finally, it’s worth mentioning that treatments on the sacrum can even help manage head and skull-related symptoms when it’s not possible to directly work on the affected skull area.
