126 Pearl St, Fort Collins, CO 80521, US
Appointments: (970) 229-1617
VISCERAL MANIPULATION
I have a deep respect for the organs of the body, and visceral (organ) manipulation is a treatment technique I use widely in my practice.
~Janet Potts
VISCERAL MANIPULATION
Visceral Manipulation (VM) is a hands-on, connective tissue release technique that focuses on evaluating and restoring the movement, and thereby the function, of the internal organs such as the kidneys, spleen, liver, lungs, uterus, etc.
How long do your adjustments hold?
In addition to providing relief of digestive symptoms, visceral manipulation can provide relief of musculoskeletal pain with longer lasting correction of spinal misalignment. Because of their anatomical attachments, restrictions in the connective tissues of the organs can cause the spine, pelvis, and ribcage to be misaligned. If an organ is the primary site of reduced motion, then treating the secondary spinal misalignment will usually provide only temporary restoration of alignment and relief. Therefore, previously unresolved alignment and pain issues can be understood and relieved with VM.
VM Evaluation
The VM evaluation relies on the palpation of normal and abnormal motion of the viscera and their extensive connective tissues. A palpation/leveraging technique called general listening is used to evaluate where the primary connective tissue or joint restriction is. Through this technique, the distinction between pelvic, spinal joint or cranial motion restrictions vs. visceral restrictions is made. In essence, the whole body is being evaluated for the cause of the symptoms because restricted motion in one area can manifest as symptoms in another area.
The connective tissue matrix of the body is continuous—literally, from head to toe. Think of this: while wearing a shirt or sweater, take hold of an area of the shirt over your abdomen. Bundle up the shirt and pull down. Look down at the shirt and notice how the local area pulls on other areas. This is what can happen to the connective tissue matrix inside of you. The body “hugs” where the primary restriction is. These areas of thickened tissue create areas of greater mechanical tension, which in turn, pulls on surrounding tissues creating “lines of tension.” Magnified by motion, thousands of times a day, this irritation paves the way for the dysfunction progressing to other structures.
Because of the connective tissue anatomy, interesting cause and effect connections have been made—for example, between a kidney restriction and sciatica, or a liver restriction and frozen shoulder. VM is often the missing link in a variety of recurring symptoms.
What Causes Visceral Restrictions?
Jars to the body from falls, sports, car accidents, pregnancy, C-sections, and infections all can affect the organs. Surgeries including laparoscopic procedures affect the internal environment of the cavity in which the procedure is performed. It is the air and gas that the tissues are exposed to that can create these connective tissue restrictions. Think about the cellophane wrap used in your kitchen. What happens when you crinkle it up, leave it on the counter and expose it to air?
Falls and jars to the body (even if they happened years ago) affect the organs because of the kinetic forces involved. These kinetic forces, if they are of significant quantity, are transmitted or “injected” into the tissues over a short period of time. These forces travel along different axes and pathways unique to that particular event. Cadaver studies have shown that the kinetic energy from these events are stored primarily in the elastic connective tissue. (See Sam’s story below)
VM Treatment
Following the general listening evaluation, treatment is then applied to the area where the body’s priority for treatment is. Treatment consists of precise, often gentle, manual forces to release the connective tissues and restore normal mobility to an organ. Once the organ’s motion is restored, the body’s own innate health mechanisms engage to improve the functioning of that organ, dissolve the connective tissue stress lines, and restore health to the system.
Who developed VM?
Jean-Pierre Barral, a French osteopathic physician and physical therapist, developed Visceral Manipulation. Early in his career, Dr. Barral worked as a physical therapist at the Lung Disease Hospital at Grenoble, France. Here, Dr. Barral was introduced to the visceral system and made the connection between structural alignment and the connective tissues of the viscera. He made these connections working with Dr. Arnaud, a master of cadaver dissection and a lung specialist. Barral later became a doctor of osteopathy. With the help of Dr. Serge Cohen, a Grenoble radiologist, changes in the viscera before and after manipulation were researched and documented. They employed x-ray fluoroscopy and ultrasound to record changes in position and motion, as well as fluid exchange and evacuation. Dr. Barral has written several books on VM including: Visceral Manipulation, Visceral Manipulation II, Urogenital Manipulation, The Thorax, and Trauma-An Osteopathic Approach.
What can VM help?
Structural improvements observed with VM include:
Whiplash, sports injuries,spinal misalignment, sciatica, headaches, etc.
Physiological improvements observed with VM include:
GI reflux and GERD
Migraines
Insomnia
Digestion and elimination disturbances; bloating and constipation
Fatigue
Blood pressure irregularities
Abdominal and pelvic pain/dysfunction
Endometriosis, fibroids and cysts, effects of menopause
Bladder incontinence
Prostate dysfunction
An Excerpt from Janet's Book:
SAM'S STORY
The story of Sam illustrates the effect of long-term storage of the kinetic memory. Sam was an inactive, 50-year-old accountant. He came to me for neck pain and digestive disturbances. On his second visit, I positioned him for release of a visceral restriction in his stomach. How do I do this? As part of the release, the primary restriction is put on tension by placing the patient’s head, arms and legs in the position of greatest connective tissue tension. The position the client then assumes is often the position of injury if it was of a traumatic physical nature. The body is illustrating the way the kinetic forces entered the body during that particular insult.
The position Sam’s body assumed was an unusual looking position, appearing as though he were arching, up and over, backward. I then asked him if the position reminded him of anything. In a raspy voice he said, “I can’t swallow.”
Later, after I had performed the release, he told me that when he was nine-years-old he was running down a hill. Unbeknown to him there was a wire strung between two trees. The wire caught him in the throat and flipped him over backward. He stated, “I’ve not been able to swallow right ever since.” The swallowing problem went away after that session.
The point of this story is that this specific restriction was uncovered in our second session and had been there for more than forty years. The only indication he had that this inertia was affecting him was the swallowing problem had remained. What he didn’t realize was that it may have been contributing to his recent symptoms of neck and digestive pain. The reason it “showed itself” in our second visit, most likely, is due to the fact that the release of this inertia was the body’s priority for further healing at that time.
An Excerpt from Janet's Book:
RESTORING MOTION, RESTORING HEALTH
I have a fascination with the organs of the body, and Visceral (Organ) Manipulation is a treatment technique I use widely in my practice. French osteopath Jean-Pierre Barral, the developer of this technique, has shown that each of our organs has a specific, uniquely characteristic—three dimensional, slow, low-amplitude, inherent motion that is maintained throughout life when in a state of health. This motion he called visceral motility.
Based on his clinical research, Barral found that the migratory sequence that an organ undergoes in fetal development is the same characteristic multi-axial motion that the organ expresses throughout life. The migratory motion of the organs remains inscribed in the tissues and visceral motility oscillates between an accentuation of the embryologic motion and a return from that position (see diagram). So, whatever underlying, formative force is behind the creation of life is continued throughout life and expressed as this motion. Thus, motion is life—generated by our life force.
In addition to this motility, an organ also has to be able to move in space relative to the other structures around it and in response to external forces. This motion of an organ is called organ mobility. External forces include trunk movements, the mechanical motion of the diaphragm with respiration, cardiac motion and peristaltic motion. Thus, organs, when they are in a state of health, have motion—both mobility and motility. It requires a skilled sense of touch to feel the mobility and motility of an organ.
One of the most unusual places to think of losing motion in the body is in an organ. Kidney restrictions are one of the most common places I find restricted motion in the body. The connective tissue sleeve (cellophane wrap) of the kidneys directly attach to the spine, pelvis and lower ribs. Structural restrictions of the kidney often create back pain, hip pain, or foot pain.
My first clinical experience with releasing a kidney restriction was profound. It opened up a whole new paradigm for me in understanding why some clients didn’t hold their adjustments (for example, they go to a chiropractor or physical therapist over and over, only to have the bone or joint ‘go back’ to its problematic position) and how treatment of an organ can improve other aspects of health.
Katy was a twenty-six year old woman who had been in a car accident two years earlier. She had suffered a head injury and had multiple injuries and areas of pain in her body. A majority of her pain was in the region of her left lower ribcage. The armrest on the door of her car directly impacted this area of her body as her car was broadsided. I found the space between her lower two ribs was narrowed significantly. I attempted to mobilize the ribs to restore normal mobility and spacing. After three visits, which were largely unsuccessful, I mumbled “Well, what else is over here? Your kidneys are over here.”
Katy then pressed back from her prone position and for the first time stated, “I’ve had a chronic urinary tract infection ever since my car accident. It burns whenever I pee, and there has been blood in my urine. They can’t figure out why.”
I then proceeded to very gently restore the inherent motion of the kidney. When I went back to the dysfunctional ribs, they audibly “popped.” Further palpation revealed that the ribs were moving normally and had proper spacing.
Katy called me later that day and said, “It doesn’t burn when I pee now.” A week later she had a repeat UA (urinary analysis) and there was no blood in her urine for the first time in the two years since her car accident. By restoring the motion to her kidneys, not only did Katy’s pain disappear, she no longer had blood in her urine. I was convinced of the value of restoring motion to our organs.