Your viscera, organs such as the kidneys, liver and intestines, are so vital to your survival that your body is designed to protect them first in the case of trauma or illness. Your body will actually bend and twist around injured or irritated organs to protect them from further harm. As you know, when you have a stomach ache, all you want to do is curl in and hug your belly. Such protective postures create strain in your biomechanics and put further stress on organ function. Visceral therapy is a treatment designed to restore balance to the abdominal, pelvic and thoracic organs.
Your organs move as you move. However, when this fluid movement is restricted through injury, bad posture, surgery or illness, the body’s natural protective defenses will limit any movements that may cause a pull or strain on the organ. If reaching for something on the top shelf causes a pull on your liver, your body will restrict the reach of your arm. It considers your liver far more important than what you are trying to retrieve from the shelf. Gone unchecked, you may end up with a frozen shoulder which no one can resolve – because it really is a restriction around your liver. Issues with organs above the navel usually result in pain and restriction in the upper body, neck, shoulders and arms. While issues below the navel tend to affect the lower back, hip, legs, knees and feet. Pain in the tailbone can be directly linked to restrictions of the sigmoid colon.
Physical traumas, such as falls, motor vehicle accidents (MVA) and surgeries (appendix, gallbladder, caesarian sections, tummy tucks) can cause strain in the ligaments that hold the organs in place, pulling and twisting them from their normal position. Illnesses, viruses, infections and diseases (Crohn’s, Colitis, IBS) that cause inflammation create more “cobweb like” adhesions in and around your organs. By feeling for these restrictions, problem areas can be identified and a variety of symptoms alleviated through manual manipulation of the viscera.
Visceral Therapy can be effective in the treatment of:
- Low back pain
- Frozen Shoulder
- Headaches
- Scoliosis
- Hip, knee and foot pain, (especially for women who have had gynecological surgeries or traumatic child
- deliveries)
- Gallbladder attacks
- Digestive difficulties
- IBS (irritable bowel syndrome) and Reflux
- Crohn’s and Colitis
- Constipation
By helping restore proper function to the organs through visceral therapy, proper physical and emotional balance is achieved and stress levels are lowered as the body heals itself.