In focus: The body as an information system

How does a complaint arise? What do you actually do with your hands? Are common questions I get from patients.

Over the years, I have come to see the body more and more as a system that constantly processes information. From conception, we receive genetic information from our parents. In addition, our bodies have lifelong experiences: during pregnancy, childbirth, childhood, adolescence and as adults. These experiences do not leave “traces” in the sense of fixed memories in tissues, but our nervous system learns from them. The body constantly adapts to what it is experiencing. We call this adaptation or regulation. Sometimes during the course of life, increased sensitivity develops in a particular area. This may have to do with:

Hereditary predisposition
Previous injuries
Long-term strain
Stress
Lifestyle

For example, if lower back pain is more common in your family, you may be more sensitive to strain in that area. This does not mean that you will automatically develop symptoms, but it does mean that the body may react more quickly there when additional stress or strain is added.

Highway with light trails of traffic as a metaphor for rapid communication and connections in the body as an information system.

Three major cooperating systems

In the body, three major systems are constantly working together:

The nervous system
The immune system
The hormonal system

These systems constantly communicate with each other to keep the body in balance.

An example: suppose you almost get hit by a car. Your nervous system reacts immediately and activates the stress response. Adrenaline is released and, through hormonal processes, so is cortisol. Your heart rate rises, your muscles tighten and your attention sharpens. At the same time, the energy distribution in the body shifts temporarily, allowing you to react to danger.
That is a healthy, normal reaction.

However, when stress is present for long periods of time, it can affect how these systems work together. Many long-term symptoms are related to disturbed regulation between these systems, not to one separate component.

What am I doing with my hands?

During an examination, I look and feel how your body moves and reacts.
My research includes:

The mobility of your bones/muscles and other tissues
The power your muscles can generate
The tension/expression at different locations in the body
How do the above 3 systems work together, and for example, is there 1 system that is more dominant/out of balance.

Treatment consists of targeted manual techniques. This may include clear mobilization or stretching, or sometimes subtle touch. The goal is not to “force” anything, but to help the body move and regulate better.
The body naturally has a great capacity for adaptation and healing. Osteopathy focuses on supporting this self-healing ability.

I try to understand where the body is less adaptable or where mobility is reduced. Then I see if this fits your symptoms and your story and start treating this structure. The moment that the structure has regulated itself and the mobility has improved, we do the tests again to objectify the difference.