The Treatment of Osteopathic Diseases - Essay Example

Discuss the assessment, treatment, and management of a 21-year-old athlete and a 65 retired teacher. Majority of medical practitioners always face the challenge of age in determining the right treatment to adopt especially when age and occupation of the patient are vital factors worthy of consideration. This is because age and occupation determine how active the body of the patient is. For instance, the teaching is significantly different from athletics. This implies that the extent of injury or sickness may well differ hugely. This paper will discuss the assessment, treatment, and management of a 21-year-old athlete and a 61-year-old retired teacher in light of osteopathic principles. 21-year-old Athlete Many youths today participate a lot in sporting activities like football, volleyball, netball, skating, rugby or athletics among others (Gilliar 2012). Sporting is not just play; it is also a way of improving the body’s fitness, coordination, and gives the individual a chance to interact peers, which is a good way of spending leisure. Nevertheless, injuries sometimes occur with some being mild while others being serious. In fact, a recent report revealed that more than 3.5 million youths get injured during sporting activities in the U.S. annually (Gilliar 2012). Most of the victims are treated in hospitals, clinics, emergency rooms, or in ambulatory surgery centers. This implies that doctors, nurses, and therapists must be aware of what is required of them to prescribe the best treatment and management for the injuries suffered by the youths. Most of these injuries are said to be overuse injuries, resulting mainly from muscle weakness, musculoskeletal inability, muscle inflexibity and musculoskeletal malalignment. Some of the overuse injuries common among young athletes result from the application of improper biomechanics, alteration of training techniques, use of improper equipments, and increased frequency during training (McKone 1997, p.16-22). Assessment Assessments are basically carried out to determine the risk factors which are likely to put the athlete at risk of getting injured during the sporting activity, whether intrinsic or extrinsic. The assessment also helps understand the athlete’s physical strengths and weakness. The assessments that must be conducted for the young athlete to determine his or her level of fitness here include speed. Speed is very important in athletics and as such must be examined thoroughly to ensure that any risk factor is detected early enough and treated in time (Brett and Thomas 2011). The next thing that must be assessed is the young athlete’s muscle strength and weakness. This will help determine whether or not the athlete will be able to endure and remain strong throughout the sporting activity. Once the strength has been assessed, the other aspect that must also be assessed to ensure maximum fitness during sport is the flexibility of the athlete’s muscles. This is because some young athletes tend to develop injuries associated with muscle pools because of inflexibity of the muscles. This form of assessments would ultimately be helpful in offering the right treatment at the right time; possibly before the start of the sporting activity (McKone 1997, p.16-22). Treatment It is common that one or more of the sport-related injuries may affect a young athlete. Nevertheless, with the help of an osteopathic manipulation tool, the athletes have nothing to worry about because the tool is useful in preventing, as well as treating sport-related injuries. It does this by ensuring that the musculoskeletal system of the athlete’s body is properly aligned and properly balanced to prevent any injury during the sporting activity (Eisenhart, Gaeta and Yens 2003, p.418-420). However, in case of an injury, a manipulation technique is applied to address injuries, by improving the homeostic mechanism and the relationships between the functions and structures of the body. An athlete, for instance, may end up spraining or twisting his or her ankle during sporting. This may end up causing pain on the athlete’s foots, ankle, hip, legs, pelvis, or even head and back of the individual. The most common injury in this case is the fascia, which tends to develop when there is a twist on the ankle. When such occurs, it can properly be treated using proper osteopathic manipulation medicine (Brett and Thomas 2011). Management Proper management is noted to be an effective means of preventing sport-related injuries in athletes. There are a number of proper management techniques that can be employed by an athlete so as to avoid being injured whether during sporting activity or during training. One way of doing this is through diagnosis by an osteopathic physician, who is supposed to perform regular checks on the patient and provide early treatment on all musculoskeletal abnormities. Athletes should avoid using improper equipment, instead ensuring that they use the right equipment for exercise. The athlete can also avoid sport-related injuries by enhancing their sporting techniques. The athlete can also manage himself or herself by exercising the opposing muscles as well as stretching their muscles before and after exercise. Finally, the young athlete can manage himself well by performing exercises at the right time and for the right duration as noted by McKone (1997, p.24-29). 65-year-old retired teacher Old age is a vital factor when considering the right treatment to offer a patient. It is noted that as people become old, they tend to develop certain ailments especially muscle pain, joint pain, back pain, and asthma among others. The most common pain among old people is osteoarthritis, caused by wear and tear (Brett and Thomas 2011). The symptoms of osteoarthritis include: pain and stiffness, aches, and swelling of the joints, among others. For instance, one of the osteopathic principles holds that the joints of human beings can undergo wear and tear in case of an imbalance between the muscle tensions (Chaitow 2011). Nevertheless, research indicates that this mainly affects those with the history of muscle overuse, those who are obese, those with postural imbalance or those who are inactive as is commonly the case with retired persons. Assessment Based on the problems, it is imperative that old people should be assessed on risk factors to ensure that they are free from such pains and to detect the risk factors that may lead to such pains in the near future. This is because treating such pains in old people like a teacher aged 65 may not easy to treat. Therefore, those who are suffering from back pain, injuries, or joint pains are advised to see an osteopath physician for diagnosis and treatment (Stone 1999, p.44-47). Treatment In treating such pains, osteopaths usually prescribe massage, stretching, and exercises that ensure joint movements. However, this is usually tailored in accordance with the patient’s regime. For instance, gentle massage applied in treating such ailments in old people help in relaxing the skin and muscles thereby relieving pain and improving blood circulation in the body. The good thing with this form of management is that it enhances the body’s ability to transport nutrients in the body thereby enhancing the health status of the old (Licciardone, Brimhall and King 2005, p.43-46). Management Old people are always advised to see an osteopath regularly for early diagnosis so as to help manage pain at its early stages. In addition, the old are advised to try maintaining a balance of body posture as this is one of the risk factors to such pains. Finally, it is advisable for one to keep doing exercises which involves stretching of legs, arms, and other body parts as this reduces the pain as well as the risk factors (McReynolds and Sheridan 2005, p.59-63). Conclusion It is beyond doubt that anybody can, in one way or another, suffer pain be while engaging in a sporting activity or sitting. For instance, it is apparent that youths who engage in sporting activities are very prone to injuries causing a lot of pain on their bodies. Nevertheless, irrespective of the injury, an osteopathic manipulation medicine can help in relieving the pain and treating the injury. This is so considering that it is based on the principles that help in relieving pain in the rest of the body as opposed to just on a segment of it. As such, osteopathic medicine should be made available to anyone whenever someone needs the services of an osteopath. References Brett, P., & Thomas D.O. (2011), Young athletes and sport injuries. Osteopathic Center for Children. http://www.healthy.net/scr/article.aspx?Id=1068 (Accessed 23 Oct. 2012). Chaitow, L. (2011), The principles of osteopathy. http://www.healthy.net/health/article/the_principles_of_osteopathy/1876 (Accessed 23 Oct. 2012). Eisenhart AW, Gaeta TJ, & Yens D.P. (2003), Osteopathic manipulative treatment in the emergency department for patients with acute ankle injuries. J Am Osteopath Assoc. Sep;103(9):417-421. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14527076 (Accessed 23 Oct. 2012). Gilliar, W. (2012), Osteopathic Medicine, and Back Pain. http://www.spine-health.com/treatment/spine-specialists/osteopathic-medicine-and-back-pain (Accessed 23 Oct. 2012). Licciardone JC, Brimhall AK. & King LN. (2005), Osteopathic manipulative treatment for low back pain: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. BMC Musculoskelet Disord. Aug 4;6:43. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1208896/ (Accessed 23 Oct. 2012). McReynolds T.M, Sheridan BJ. (2005), Intramuscular ketorolac versus osteopathic manipulative treatment in the management of acute neck pain in the emergency department: a randomized clinical trial. J Am Osteopath Assoc. Feb;105(2):57-68. http://www.jaoa.org/content/105/2/57.full (Accessed 23 Oct. 2012). McKone, W.L. (1997), Osteopathic athletic health care: principles and practice. New York, NY: Chapman & Hall. Stone, S. (1999), Science in the art of osteopathy: osteopathic principles and practice. Cheltenham: Nelson Thornes. Read More