Visceral Manipulation
Deep Tissue Therapy
Visceral manipulation is a deep yet gentle form of massage that is practiced by massage therapists, physical therapists, chiropractors and osteopaths. This therapy was practiced for many years in Tibet and China but was brought to the West by French osteopath, Dr. Jean-Pierre Barral.
Dr. Barral first started to become interested in biomechanics when he was working as a physical therapist in a lung disease hospital in France. He took to studying the lungs of living patients and cadavers. Dr. Barral went to osteopathy school in England and earned his degree in 1974. As an osteopath he worked with patients who were having spinal pain.
One day, one of his spinal pain patients came for treatment and seemed like he was feeling much better. When Barral asked the man what he'd done to help his spinal pain, he said that he'd went to see an old man who pushed something in his abdomen.
After that incident, Barral started making a connection between the stomach and spinal pain. He started doing stomach manipulation with some of his patients. When this method proved to be successful, he worked on developing it further and working on other organs.
During a visceral manipulation session the therapist uses gentle force to manipulate your organs. Your organs are held in place by ligaments. As you move around during the day, they glide and move around each other. Trauma can cause them to get stuck or misaligned and this can cause pain and dysfunction.
This form of therapy can be used to treat:
- joint pain
- chronic back pain
- indigestion
- migraines
- infertility
- incontinence
- erectile dysfunction
- ease stress
- ward off infection
A session can last from 20 to 45 minutes. The therapist will start by placing his hands on you to "listen." After listening the therapist will have you sit or lay down and start applying gentle pressure to realign your organs.
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