Welcome to Atlas Osteopathy

The goal at Atlas Osteopathy St. John’s, Newfoundland is to identify the root cause of each patient’s pain and dysfunction. In order to correct the current and underlying issues, we must see the full picture and assess all systems of the body.  Osteopathy can do this for you and in an extremely gentle and non-invasive way.

When patients come in with pain or dysfunction in some area of the body, the most common question I get is: how did this happen? The answer is often simply living life.  The majority of patients who come in tend to have those one or two areas that they have been working on for years that always seem to get re-injured again and again.  We have all had little injuries over the course of our lives: sprains, rolled ankles, pulled muscles, waking up with a kink in the neck or throwing your back out shovelling.

Most of the little things will hurt for a few days and then heal up just fine.  However, when something is not treated properly at the time of injury, it can heal in the wrong position.  This leads to not only tight muscles and ligaments around that area, but several compensating areas around the body that have adjusted their position in order to protect the injured area.  Then months or years later, when you go to lift something or turn around suddenly – the injury happens again.  We all excuse this new pain and claim that since the area was injured years ago, it must be a “weak area” needing strengthening.  This is not always the case.  Yes, the injured area may swell-up, be painful and stiff for a few days, then it may feel better.  And while the injured area heals again, the brain does not forget what happened.  Protective spasms are activated due to these injuries and they will stay there until they are released. The only way to stop the cycle of injury in those “weak areas” is to correct the sensory and motor components and then address all the other compensating issues that come along with it. This is why Dr. Hogan’s osteopathic protocol is such a successful treatment.

There are 5 models of Osteopathy that Dr. Hogan considers when treating patients at Atlas.

This concept allows the practitioner to assess not only the area of pain but the other secondary and tertiary areas around the body that would have been affected by the primary problem.

• We consider how muscles, tendons, ligaments, bones, the spine and the extremities will change in relation to the primary problem. (Biomechanical)

• We consider how the brain, spinal cord, eyes, ears, nose, mouth, sensory and motor receptors will change in relation to the primary problem. (Neurological)

• We consider how our emotions, social interactions, daily stressors, anxiety and depression will change in relation to the primary problem. (Behavioural)

• We consider how arterial, venous and lymphatic drainage will change in relation to the primary problem. (Circulatory)

• We consider how the internal organs, inflammatory responses, endocrine glands, and energy balance will change in relation to the primary problem. (Metabolic Energy)

By considering all of these areas in addition to the primary area of complaint, we are able to get faster and fuller recovery, thereby decreasing pain and dysfunction quicker than normal.  In doing this, the patient ends up needing less follow-up therapy once the primary issues are resolved.