Volunteers of the Etudiants Osteopathes du Monde (EOM) at a workshop at Satya Special School in Puducherry.— Photo: S.S. Kumar
World Osteopath Students Association holds workshop
Among issues faced by Children with Special Needs is
that of restricted mobility and difficulty in digestion. At a five-day
workshop at Satya Special School in Puducherry, volunteers from the
Etudiants Ostéopathes du Monde (EOM) or the World Osteopath Students
Association in France demonstrated how osteopathy, a medical field which
is still fairly new in India, can help deal with such ailments.
The
EOM consists of current and former students from the Institut Supérieur
d’Ostéopathie Paris (ISO Paris) and promotes osteopathy especially in
countries where there is little access to it through yearly projects.
The association raises funds for the projects through activities and by
conducting treatments in France. In the past, the association has worked
in countries such as Senegal and Morocco.
The team,
consisting of seven osteopaths and one photographer from EOM, has been
spending around three weeks in Puducherry and was at the Satya Special
School last week.
According to the Medical News Today
website, “osteopathy is a form of drug-free non-invasive manual
medicine that focuses on total body health by treating and strengthening
the musculoskeletal framework, which includes the joints, muscles and
spine.
Its aim is to positively affect the body’s nervous, circulatory and lymphatic systems.”
Osteopathy
works on the principle of interconnectedness of organs, tissues and
other parts of the body, according to Gabriel Plessier, one of the team
members from EOM.
“We work alongside
physiotherapists. Osteopathy helps the body be better prepared to
receive physical therapy. Children with Special Needs can develop
locking of joints and abnormal motility patterns in the small intestine
leading to issues with digestion. Osteopathy treats every tissue in the
body so it can move at its best capability. Almost half of all
osteopaths in France are physiotherapists,” he added.
“Children
with Special Needs have a physical expression of stress. When the
pericardium tissue around the heart is irritated, it leads to a ripple
effect for these children, affecting other body parts. In osteopathy,
the child is made to relax. Osteopathy also helps relieve facial
tightness and postural dysfunction,” said Mr. Plessier.
About
osteopaths, Mr. Plessier said, “While we cannot prescribe drugs or
undertake surgery, we work with our hands and our sense of touch. We
study about every element of the body and its interaction.”
Role of parents
Parents
were also present during the workshop to help the osteopaths while
treating the children. As the children trust their parents, it is better
to involve them in the treatment, said Mr. Plessier. The parents were
taught simple exercises and massages to aid mobility which they could
use at home with their children. Students of physiotherapy from Sri
Venkateshwaraa Medical College Hospital and Research Centre who are
doing their internship at Satya Special School also got a chance to
learn more about osteopathy.
Chitra Shah, director,
Satya Special School, said, “We need to concentrate more on therapeutic
intervention for Children with Special Needs. There is a huge gap
between surgical intervention and therapeutic intervention in paediatric
care. Osteopathy is looking at the issues these children face from a
holistic point of view. We want to incorporate fields like osteopathy
treatment in our school curriculum.”
The Satya
Special School is also exploring if tele-therapy can be introduced, and
possible tie-ups with colleges abroad to keep up with the latest trends
in care for Children with Special Needs and special education.
“While we cannot prescribe drugs or undertake surgery, we work with our hands and our sense of touch”
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