Visceral Manipulation

Visceral Manipulation is used to locate and solve problems throughout the body. It improves organ function, dissipates effects of stress, enhances mobility of the musculoskeletal system through treatment of membranes, fascia and ligaments and improves metabolism. VM increases proprioceptive communication within the body, thereby revitalizing a person and relieving symptoms of pain, dysfunction, and poor posture.

• Acute Disorders
• Whiplash
• Seatbelt Injuries
• Chest or Abdominal Sports Injuries
• Concussion
• Traumatic Brain Injuries
• Digestive Disorders
• Bloating and Constipation
• Nausea and Acid Reflux
• GERD
• Swallowing Dysfunctions
• Women's and Men's Health Issues
• Chronic Pelvic Pain
• Endometriosis
• Fibroids and Cysts
• Dysmenorrhea
• Bladder Incontinence
• Prostate Dysfunction
• Referred Testicular Pain
• Effects of Menopause
• Musculoskeletal Disorders
• Somatic-Visceral Interactions
• Chronic Spinal Dysfunction
• Headaches and Migraines
• Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
• Peripheral Joint Pain
• Sciatica
•  Neck Pain
• Pain Related to
• Post-operative Scar Tissue
• Post-infection Scar Tissue
• Autonomic Mechanisms
• Emotional Issues
• Anxiety and Depression
• Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

 Visceral Manipulation is based on the specific placement of soft manual forces to encourage the normal mobility, tone and motion of the viscera and their connective tissues. These gentle manipulations can potentially improve the functioning of individual organs, the systems the organs function within, and the structural integrity of the entire body .Harmony and health exist when motion is free and excursion is full - when motion is not labored, overexcited, depressed, or conflicting with neighboring structures and their mobility. Therapists using Visceral Manipulation assess the dynamic functional actions as well as the somatic structures that perform individual activities. They also evaluate the quality of the somatic structures and their functions in relation to an overall harmonious pattern, with motion serving as the gauge for determining quality. Due to the delicate and often highly reactive nature of the visceral tissues, gentle force precisely directed reaps the greatest results. As with other methods of manipulation that affect the body deeply, Visceral Manipulation works only to assist the forces already at work. 

 VM assists functional and structural imbalances throughout the body including musculoskeletal, vascular, nervous, urogenital, respiratory, digestive and lymphatic dysfunction. It evaluates and treats the dynamics of motion and suspension in relation to organs, membranes, fascia and ligaments. VM increases proprioceptive communication within the body, thereby revitalizing a person and relieving symptoms of pain, dysfunction, and poor posture.An integrative approach to evaluation and treatment of a patient requires assessment of the structural relationships between the viscera, and their fascial or ligamentous attachments to the musculoskeletal system. Strains in the connective tissue of the viscera can result from surgical scars, adhesions, illness, posture or injury. Tension patterns form through the fascial network deep within the body, creating a cascade of effects far from their sources for which the body will have to compensate. This creates fixed, abnormal points of tension that the body must move around, and this chronic irritation gives way to functional and structural problems.Imagine an adhesion around the lungs. It would create a modified axis that demands abnormal accommodations from nearby body structures. For example, the adhesion could alter rib motion, which could then create imbalanced forces on the vertebral column and, with time, possibly develop a dysfunctional relationship with other structures. This scenario highlights just one of hundreds of possible ramifications of a small dysfunction - magnified by thousands of repetitions each day.There are definite links between somatic structures, such as the muscles and joints, the sympathetic nervous system, the visceral organs, the spinal cord and the brain. For example, the sinuvertebral nerves innervate the intervertebral disks and have direct connections with the sympathetic nervous system, which innervates the visceral organs. The sinuvertebral nerves and sympathetic nervous system are linked to the spinal cord, which has connections with the brain. In this way someone with chronic pain can have irritations and facilitated areas not only in the musculoskeletal system (including joints, muscles, fascia, and disks) but also the visceral organs and their connective tissues (including the liver, stomach, gallbladder, intestines and adrenal glands), the peripheral nervous system, the sympathetic nervous system and even the spinal cord and brain. 

 Visceral Manipulation (VM) was developed by world-renowned French Osteopath and Physical Therapist Jean-Pierre Barral.