Trauma

Trauma by enlarge is the consequence of any internal or external experience that destabilizes the mental, emotional, physical and spiritual integrity of a living organism. The perception and interpretation of such events define the degree and depth of the affliction. The cumulative effect of life's traumas actually gets stored in our body's memory bank and shapes every aspect of our existence. The trauma spectrum is as wide as life itself. It starts with the state of consciousness our parents found themselves in at the moment of conception and continues virtually with any event or exposure that is labeled as "threatening" by our inner observer as stated above.

Our body is a community (village) of 50-75 trillion cells. There is no function that the human body has, that is not already represented in the cell. Therefore when it comes to understanding complex processes of healing and sickness, we have to begin our journey at this level. Healthy cells make healthy organs and tissues and healthy organs and tissues make healthy systems, healthy systems make healthy bodies.

"The cell is immortal. It is merely the fluid in which it floats that degenerates. Renew this fluid at regular intervals, give the cells what they require for nutrition, and as far as we know, the pulsation of life can go on forever."
Dr. Alexis Carrell - Nobel Prize Winner

Trauma disorganizes life processes. Any mental, emotional, physical or spiritual event can potentially be perceived as traumatic to the living cell. Modern science discovered that our cells have two basic programs for survival, one is protection and the other one is growth & reproduction. When we walk into a new environment one or the other program is kicking in, but cells cannot function in both these modes at the same time due to the intrinsic nature and design of these mechanisms. Therefore when cells are confronted with an environmental signal, they have to make a decision. When cells choose the protection mode, they stop growing/regenerating and vice-versa. The more protection we "think" we need, the more we shut down our growth and regeneration mechanisms. That's how fears (scarcity, terrorism etc.) can manipulate the cellular level of any living organism and stop it from growth, regeneration, recreation and therefore vibrant health. Love, on the other hand enhances life. Studies performed in eastern European orphanages showed a statistically significant decrease in the growth of children (30%) in the group were love was not "used" compared to the other ones, while being fed the same diet.

Our bodies are made of 70% water (90% at birth and gradually decreasing to sometimes 50% in old age). All our organs, systems and tissues (bones and muscles included) are contained within a substance called fascia (connective tissue).

Fascia is a membranous sheet covered with a sticky, lubricating fluid. Peel an aloe-vera leaf and you'll get the picture and the feel. It is a continuous envelope that extends from head to toe, front to back, surrounding every organ, every blood vessel, every nerve, every bone and every muscle. An envelope that changes thickness as it extends from region to region. Its purpose is to support and lubricate. An example of its function: It prevents the muscle it surrounds from catching on its neighboring muscles as it contracts.

Anatomists, lead by an allopathic (mechanicistic-Newtonian) model of thinking, have broken this continuous sheath of tissue into small pieces therefore ignoring its continuity and giving the same structure different names as it passes from one part of the body to the next. It is in the continuity of this lubricating supportive envelope that we understand its function. The tendency to break it down into little pieces confuses and disorients everybody and interferes with our ability to understand the fundamental holistic medicine principle of UNITY OF STRUCTURE AND FUNCTION.

Microscopically, fascia is composed of collagen and elastin. Collagen is arranged in tiny micro-tubules. Form follows function (function makes the organ). These tubules are transporting "tissue fluids."

Blood vessels and nerves travel within the fascia to arrive at their designated end organs. In turn, fascia itself receives a profound number of nerve endings. The fascia is a fundamental structure in which the circulatory system and neuro-endocrine system converge.

Fascial continuity, its nervous system investments and vascular relationships clearly demonstrate how all parts work together. The body functions as a Unit. Pull on a persons arm, they feel it in their shoulder and neck, even if only the skin is tractioned. In health, fluids flow with relative ease from one fascial compartment to the next. When a traumatic event occurs, the fascia twists and compresses. The transport of fluid becomes disrupted. As the flow of the tissue fluids becomes obstructed, physiology (function) becomes impaired.

In osteopathic treatment, the continuity of fascia becomes practically applied on a daily basis. When the fascia becomes compressed or twisted, the tensions are transmitted along the fascial planes. Thus, an individual may experience hip pain, but the tissues might be restricted much lower down, in the ankle, pulling on that hip. This transmission of tension through the fascia is referred to as Fascial Drag.

"This connecting substance must be free at all parts to receive and discharge all fluids, and use them in sustaining animal life, and eject all impurities, that health may not be impaired by dead and poisonous fluids."
A.T. Still M.D., known as the Father of Osteopathy

Osteopathic treatment is oriented toward unwinding the fascial strains and re-establishing fluid continuity throughout the body. We live and breathe through our fascia. When our fascia is free, we are free.

"The soul of man, with all the streams of pure living water, seems to dwell in the fascia of his body."
A.T. Still M.D.

Major events such as broken bones, ruptured ligaments, severe bruising from falls (skateboards, horses, bikes, skiing etc.), car accidents, etc. are obvious traumas (insults) to the living body.

Deliberate surgical procedures can be life saving at times, none-the-less represent an insult to the structural and functional integrity of the body, not only due to the procedure itself but also by the scar tissue formed as means of healing.

Trauma can also develop during a profound disease process, such as the laying down of scar tissue in the lungs following a severe pneumonia. It can also be as subtle as repetitive action, overuse injuries, gravity, and time. When trauma occurs, it does not merely pass through us. The impact leaves an impression in the fascia in the form of an absorbed energy that manifests as a tightening, hardening, blocked energy, or an abnormal pattern of motion locked in the tissue. The body is under shock. The dynamic organizing principle (homeostasis) within our bodies must re-organize.

The trauma implants itself in the fascia, and the nervous system now arranges itself around the focus of that implanted trauma. This phenomenon is called an Injury Pattern. Think of a construction site or accident on the freeway, where police surrounds and isolates the affected area with a yellow caution tape. It is the same way the body protects the area. But it is disorganizing. This happens on a microscopic level. It happens everyday. It is often inconsequential. However, if the impact is huge, or of a long duration, or many small insults accumulate... then the reorganizing of balanced tensions becomes significant.

When bones break, some of the energy of the impact is absorbed in the soft tissue (fascia) but most of it is often simply discharged. In a clean break, the body can actually heal more thoroughly. Contrary to common thought, it is when no bones are broken, that chronic injury patterns become more imprinted thus creating lifelong dysfunctions.

Bones grow in the direction of the stresses put through them. This is known as "Wolfe's Law." This is why orthopedic surgeons will place a walking cast on a broken leg. The physical stress of walking helps the broken bones grow together more readily.

Suppose an old whiplash injury sets up a complex strain pattern through the cervical spine (neck). Over time, if the energy of the trauma remains in the tissues, the bones will change shape and grow, following the strain forces. Long standing traumatic influences are the leading cause in the development of Degenerative Arthritis. The bones erode and spur. This can be assessed on an x-ray. Because we are each genetically unique, we differ in the degree to which we develop this arthritic response to chronically held soft tissue strains. Eventually everyone has some degenerative arthritic changes visible on x-ray. After the age of 50 mild degenerative arthritic changes are considered a normal finding. Two reasons for this are:
Dot

• Everyone has experienced some trauma in their life.
• Dot Gravity is a constant "micro-trauma".

Degenerative Arthritis literally changes the shape of the bones. If advanced enough, the vertebrae will no longer rest upon one another with ease. What once was a state of rest, now requires active work. And when there is a superimposed injury, the resources for negotiating the strains are further limited.

Osteopathic Manipulation removes the strain, restores some physiologic flexibility and allows the tissues to better negotiate the arthritic changes.

So when Osteopaths take a medical history of the patient, they are interested in all the blows to the body that each of us has experienced.

Many patients will say... "I have never been injured...I never broke any bones or went to a doctor." We so easily forget that fall down the stairs, or the car accident (where the car rolled three times); where we got up and were surprised not to be hurt. We readily dismiss the importance of these events. These injuries do, in fact change us; we simply do not recall the way we were before the injury. The body, however, does not forget. These traumas imprint themselves in the tissues, causing us to compress, twist, and contract. Only years later might these injury patterns create health problems. The extra cellular fluids that bathe each cell, thereby providing a nourishing environment and removing the wastes, become stagnant. It is not just blood and lymphatics but all the liquid secretions of the body, even the cerebrospinal fluid that surrounds and nourishes the brain that can be affected.

"The cerebro-spinal fluid is one of the highest known elements that are contained in the body, and unless the brain furnishes this fluid in abundance, a disabled condition of the body will remain. He who is able to reason will see that this great river of life must be tapped and the withering field irrigated at once, or the harvest of health be forever lost."
AT Still M.D.

The bottom line is that old traumas are often under-appreciated when considering the multi-factorial causes of illness. Osteopathy provides a unique perspective, and in some instances an unexpected solution.

Athletic Performance

Osteopathic Manual Medicine is dedicated to the treatment and healing of the entire body, rather than approaching a patient's local symptoms. Treatments are aimed at establishing and maintaining a state of Health as well as prevention and alleviation of disease. Osteopathy is also a very valuable tool for the prevention and treatment of sport injuries, as well as enhancement of athletic performance.

The human body is a dynamic unit of structure and function, interconnected, interdependent and bio-dynamically integrated. Scientists estimate today that our body is comprised of approx. 50-75 trillion cells organized in organs and tissues. The proper functioning and hence the health of the human body is dependent upon the vitality, integrity and the harmonious communication, cooperation and coordination among all the cells that comprise the human organism. Our body is capable of producing over 700,000 different known chemicals in perfect proportions and delivered at the exact moment and location where needed. These chemicals facilitate our body’s second-by-second adaptation to the constant environmental changes happening in the microcosm (inside our body) and macrocosm (outside our body). This process is called homeostasis and implies that all parts and organ-systems of the body including the components of the skull are in correct relationship to one another and free to move within their normal range of motion. This ensures the proper flow of all life-essences thru the collective consciousness of the approx. 50 trillion cells that comprise the human body.

It is part of our understanding that our physical body is surrounded by a luminous energy field (LEF), which is an invisible matrix that holds the template of our health. It encodes how we live, how we age, how we heal and how we die. It also holds the imprint of all our personal karmic and ancestral memories, wounds and traumas. The LEF organizes the body in the same way the electromagnetic field of a magnet arranges iron fillings on top of a piece of glass. The human energy field is made up of four “bodies”. They are stacked inside each other like the Russian nesting dolls. The physical body is the innermost, enveloped and informed by the mental-emotional body, which in turn is enveloped and informed by the soul and then the spiritual body outermost, informing and organizing them all like a blueprint.

I his groundbreaking research, Bruce Lipton Ph.D. demonstrates how our perception of the environment which is based on our beliefs and experiences is directly influencing our gene expression which in turn is affecting our biology and behavior. So by changing our beliefs and perceptions and eliminating those imprints that do not serve us anymore, we are able to manifest the vibrant life we always wanted to live.

If left untreated, these imprints will become activated to reflect a personal history that repeats itself by compelling us towards accidents, repetitive injuries, illnesses, behaviors, relationships or situations that replicate the original trauma. The energetic imprints are like pop-ups on the computer screen and they start organizing our reality by re-informing our psycho-neuro-endocrine system, literally hijacking it and putting our body in a flight or flight mode with specific behavioral changes. This is in short the mechanism by which psychosomatic disease, which is to say ALL disease, is created. Einstein once said that problems cannot be solved by the same mind that created them. In order to achieve permanent healing, we have to go to a higher level and correct the imbalance right there.

The physical body uses five pathways thru which these essences of life flow to any given area (embryonic axial midlines, nervous system, blood, lymphatic system and the gastro-intestinal tract). Waste products are removed thru the lymphatic system, blood, gastro-intestinal tract, sweat glands and exhalation mainly by the combined efforts of the liver and kidneys. Any cause that interferes with the proper functioning of the elimination pathways promotes the stagnation and accumulation of the following substances that comprise the microscopic foundation of all disease: unusable food residue, dead tissue cells, toxic chemicals, toxic metals, waste by-products of normal cellular function, waste products of unfriendly microorganisms (viruses, bacteria, parasites etc.).

When an athlete sustains an injury such as a fall, blow or twists/sprains a joint, this not only affects that area or joint in particular, but also the entire connective tissue of the limb, shoulder or pelvis girdle and subsequently the entire body. Fascia is the connective tissue that contains and connects everything within the muskulo-skeletal and organ systems in the body. The kinetic energy of the injury tends to be absorbed in the fascia and manifests itself like a compression. The body will isolate it through a capsule (wall) in its effort to limit the extend of the injury. This compressive energy will impair and/or block the proper blood supply containing vital nutrients, the venous and lymphatic drainage containing waste materials and nervous transmission containing essential information. This leads to a decreased vitality, increased tenderness with subsequent decrease in the range of motion and eventually diminished health of that particular area. The result is the accumulation and stagnation of toxic waste products that are the foundation of all disease, as mentioned above. Unless properly treated and normal function restored, this area will become the premise for the development of chronic recurrent injuries. Besides the local compression, other contributing factors to chronic recurrent injuries are the remaining twists in the entire connective tissue that cause a decreased range of motion in the muscles and ligaments leading to muscle weakness and/or compensatory spasms. As muscles connect to bones, these spasms and/or weaknesses will cause the bones to move out of proper alignment and balance, which further increases the probability of injuries.

The other form of afflictions athletes are susceptible to are the over-use injuries. Microscopically these manifest as very small tears in the affected tissue causing a chronic recurrent inflammation. The cumulative effects of these micro-traumatic injuries can lead to stress fractures, Sever’s disease (common in soccer and running sports), Osgood-Schlatter disease, Little League elbow (elbow pain and decrease range of motion) etc.

It is within the scope and expertise of our medical training in neuro-musculoskeletal diagnosis and treatment that we connect with the patient’s inner health and augment its vitality, enhance the body’s vibratory state at the cellular level, assist the body in permanently removing deep traumatic and stress patterns and imprints in the connective tissue that keep one locked in the state of separation (dis-ease), correct any mal-alignments of the musculoskeletal system and metabolically and embriologicaly (energetically) reconnect all separated “parts” with the whole. This normalizes the blood circulation and nervous transmission to and from the affected area, promotes faster regeneration after acute and over-use injuries and optimizes the overall health of the body.

A major side benefit of osteopathic treatments is the fact that patients need a significantly decreased amount of pain/anti-inflammatory medication, as mentioned in a study published in the Nov. 4, 1999 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. Patients who participated in the study and received osteopathic manual medicine required significantly less medication and used less therapy, resulting in lower costs and fewer side effects. Not to mention that the use of anti-inflammatory medication by professional athletes is decreasing their performance considerably, in addition to the fact that it prevents the full healing and recovery of the affected area.

Experience demonstrates that both, acute and overuse injuries have responded very well to the osteopathic approach. Apollo Anton Ohno’s case, multiple Olympic Gold medalist and World Champion in short-track speed skating provides a great testimony in support of the above statements. At the 2002 Olympic Games in Salt Lake City, during the 1000 m finals, he suffered a traumatic crash that involved three other skaters. He also sustained a deep laceration of his inner thigh that required surgical attention. He immediately underwent a series of intensive osteopathic treatments and was able to resume his training 2 days later and win the gold medal in the 1500 m race only 4 days later. His amazingly speedy recovery was possible because, as mentioned by Dr. Lavine, his personal osteopathic physician, Apollo had been treated regularly before the event and entered the Olympic Games with a “clean slate”, a healthy and optimally functioning body, free of all prior restrictions and injuries.

Ideally every athlete can benefit from an evaluation and a series of usually 6-8 follow-up treatments, depending on the cumulative effect of all prior acute and overuse injuries. The osteopathic treatments are aimed at removing all past structural and tissue restrictions, restoring normal body function and ensuring complete healing. Further treatments are recommended after every game or strenuous training sessions, in order to speed up recovery and remove any possible accumulated strains.

We propose a model that will achieve a level of vibrant health in you geared toward maximizing athletic performance. This is accomplished through a customized program that includes:

• Cranial/Biodynamic Osteopathic Manual Manipulations,
• Energetic /Sound Medicine,
• Optimal nutrition, proper phyto-nutrients, laser-energized and potentiated mineral and vitamin supplementation,
• Rejuvenation Program including herbal cleansing and detoxification of the four major elimination pathways of the body.

Our holistic approach will help you to:

Eliminate deep patterns of old injuries and traumatic imprints,
• promote faster regeneration after acute and over-use injuries,
• increase agility and strengthen endurance,
• build a functional reserve of health.

The extraordinary result will be peak athletic performance sustained over time plus a demonstrable faster regeneration after acute and over-use injuries, a decrease in the frequency and intensity of future injuries leading to an increased longevity of your athletic career.

More and more athletes and teams are expanding their awareness in the field of holistic medicine realizing the necessity to integrate it with the traditional allopathic (western) medical approach. Athletes like Apollo Ohno, teams such as the Detroit Tigers, the U.S Ski team etc. have long recognized the benefits of the osteopathic approach and integrate these treatments as part of the regular preparation.

Dr. Marinescu is best known for empowering his patients to assume full responsibility of their own life through educating and assisting them to achieve and maintain an overall vibrant state of health. He is a licensed Medical Doctor, a top 10 graduate of his class at J.W. Goethe University School of Medicine in Frankfurt/ Germany and holds a Ph.D. in Medicine from the H. Heine University in Germany. His extensive post-doctoral training has been focused around creating a multidisciplinary integral healing system. His extensive credentials in cranial and biodynamic osteopathic manual medicine, functional medicine, herbal remedies, energy/vibration/sound medicine and the professional experience in three medical systems (Romania, Germany and the U.S.) as well as his implementation of traditional indigenous healing methods puts him at the forefront of Integrative and Preventive Medicine.

Currently Dr. Tudor is in private practice in Santa Monica and Ojai, California.

For more information please contact his office at:
2128 Pico Blvd,
Santa Monica, CA 90405,
Tel. 310 664 8818.

658 S La Luna Ave,
Ojai, CA 93023,
Tel. 805 633 4624 and/or refer to his website: www.doctortudor.com.

Articles

Please click the links below to open the articles:

An Overview of Osteopathic Manipulation Techniques

Osteopathic Manipulative Treatment Helps Olympic Speed Skater to Compete Despite Injury

Early Evaluation Prevents Future Problems

Otitis Media: An Osteopathic Approach

From the Farm to the Kitchen Table

Natures Tonic

Return of the physician priest