Osteopathy for Transgender* persons
One essential aspect of Osteopathy as a patient-centred and holistic approach to healthcare is taking under consideration all aspects of an individual’s lived experience.
As such it is important in the treatment of, for example a sports injury of the lower extremity, to understand all the stressors and their possible effects acting on my patient and their body at that time.
Stressors might be mechanical such as malalignments, poor ergonomics, imbalances of musculature or changes to the fascial network following surgery (such as c-section scars, hysterectomies or fascial adhesions following an emergency appendix removal). They might also be an altered hormonal state (such as in patients with diabetes, hypo- or hyperthyroidism or on hormone replacement therapies) and lastly, they might be psychoemotional (like an athlete who has lost big parts of their former ability after injury, cancer survivors, people battling eating disorders, survivors of physical and sexual trauma).
From an osteopathic point of view the physiological and psychological experiences of transgender* persons are just another facet on the beautiful kaleidoscope that makes up our patients and should neither be over- nor underestimated.
Topics and complaints in which we can support our trans* patients with osteopathic treatment specifically can include:
- Men experiencing painful menstruation
- Negative health outcomes associated with chest binding
- Post-operative care following gender affirming surgeries (top or bottom surgeries)
- Irritable bladder syndrome, chronic pelvic pain, recurring cystitis or painful intercourse
- Repetitive injury and psychosomatic pain associated with body dysphoria
Another hurdle in access to healthcare for transgender* individuals can be financial and lack of appropriate health insurance. In Switzerland Osteopathy is part of the complementary and alternative medicines covered by the additional insurance (Zusatzversicherung). If you feel like you would benefit from Osteopathy, but the economic burden is very high for you, please contact me directly via e-mail (anne.hoehle@osteopathiecentral.ch).
In our practice we will always respect our patient’s name and pronouns and are working to minimise the administrative challenges (however we are still working on a gender-neutral solution for our online booking form).
Text by Anne Höhle