Osteopathy and the Organ Systems: More Than Just Bones and Muscles

By Dr Sarah Varmalis, Senior Osteopath

When most people think of osteopathy, they imagine joints being gently mobilised, muscle tension being soothed, and maybe some back pain relief. But osteopathy is so much more than just musculoskeletal care. It’s a hands-on, whole-body approach that can also support and restore balance to our internal organ systems.
Yes, that means your liver, kidneys, stomach, lungs, intestines, and even your reproductive organs.

The Body’s Inner Landscape: Visceral Connections
The Barral Institute has been a leading voice in teaching and researching how manual therapy can influence the health and mobility of the internal organs, a field known as visceral manipulation. According to their work, every organ in the body needs to move freely to function properly. Think of it like this: your diaphragm moves up and down 20,000 times a day with each breath. If your organs are restricted, that repetitive motion creates strain and compensation patterns throughout the body.

Over time, these restrictions, caused by things like surgery, infections, trauma, inflammation or even emotional stress, can reduce an organ’s mobility. And when one part of the system isn’t moving well, it throws off the balance of everything else.
That’s where osteopathy comes in.

How Osteopathy Helps Organ Systems
Osteopaths trained in visceral techniques gently assess the motility (natural rhythm) and mobility (movement in relation to surrounding structures) of the organs. Using light, specific techniques, often with barely any pressure, we aim to restore the subtle motion between organs and their surrounding fascia, ligaments, and muscles. This can have a profound effect not only on the function of the affected organ, but on your overall sense of health and wellbeing.

Improvements can show up as:

• Better digestion and reduced bloating
• More comfortable menstrual cycles
• Relief from urinary urgency or pelvic congestion
• Less “gut-driven” back or shoulder pain
• Improved breathing and energy

Counterstrain and the Autonomic Nervous System
Another powerful system we use is Counterstrain, especially the fascial and visceral branches of this method developed by Brian Tuckey. While traditional Counterstrain focuses on tender points in muscles, newer developments explore how fascia and nerves influence visceral dysfunction.
One fascinating area is the autonomic nervous system - the network of nerves that keeps your organs functioning behind the scenes. Inflammation or tension in certain tissues can create reflexes that keep the body stuck in a heightened stress response. This contributes to chronic issues like IBS, anxiety, hormone imbalances or fatigue.

Using gentle positioning and sustained pressure on precise reflex points (often found through cranial scanning techniques), osteopaths can unwind restrictions in:

• The sympathetic chain (which controls stress responses)
• Vagus nerve pathways (key to rest and digest)
• Lymphatic drainage routes
• Organs like the liver, kidneys and intestines

What a Session Might Look Like
In practice, a treatment for organ support might start with a cranial scan or palpation of the abdomen. You won’t necessarily feel a big adjustment like in some other therapies. Sometimes the techniques are so subtle you wonder if anything’s happening... until you realise you’re breathing easier, your abdomen is softer, or a pain you didn’t even mention has faded.
Many patients report feeling deeply relaxed after treatment, with improved digestion, reduced bloating, or a general sense that their body is functioning better — because it is.

Who Can Benefit?
Visceral and neural-fascial osteopathic approaches can be helpful for people experiencing:

• Digestive issues (IBS, reflux, bloating, constipation)
• Post-surgical adhesions
• Pelvic pain, period pain or fertility concerns
• Urinary urgency or frequency
• Chronic fatigue or inflammation
• Breathing dysfunction and rib pain
• Stress-related tension in the gut or chest

And often, these issues don’t occur in isolation. An old injury, emotional stress or ongoing gut inflammation can all layer on top of each other. Osteopathy allows us to peel back these layers, working system by system.

In Summary
Osteopathy isn’t just about backs and necks. With the right training and a gentle, informed touch, we can assess and treat restrictions in organ systems, nerves and fascia, supporting your body’s ability to function, digest, detox and thrive.
If you’ve tried everything else and still feel like something’s not quite right, your organs might be asking for some osteopathic attention.