Here is a photo from a workshop on pediatric osteopathy in Riga, Latvia in 1990, to which Viola Frymann invited me.
She had the competence to bring together interdisciplinary experts.
The workshop was terrific, Dr. Frank Willard, Dr. Peter Springall (neurologist), Dr. Claude Valenti (ophthalmologist) and Dr. Yuri Moskalenko complemented Viola Frymann’s practical teaching content.
She was full of inspiration and energy.
I still remember well how I had to make an effort to keep up with her on walks and follow her conversation at the same time.
On today’s anniversary of the death of my teacher Viola M. Frymann D.O., I am making available an inspiring foreword that she wrote in 2008 as the foreword to a book on pediatric osteopathy by Christoph Plothe and myself. You can also download a very inspiring lecture by Viola Frymann from 2007 at a congress of the OSD in Berlin : https://osteopathie-liem.de/viola-frymann/ for free. Foreword by Viola Frymann D.O.
The art and science of osteopathy has its origins in a time of great suffering for Dr. Andrew Taylor Still, the founder of this healing method.
He served in the American Civil War and realized that he had not been adequately prepared to treat the soldiers who were dying of acute infections before his eyes.
And when he returned home, he saw three of his children die as a result of meningitis, despite the best possible medical care at the time.
He then began his intensive studies of the human body.
He examined the smallest details of its structure and the connection with its function and finally came to the following conclusions:
Firstly, the patient is a unit in which structure and function are interdependent.
Secondly, this is expressed in the body through the inherent ability to heal itself.
Think, for example, of a wound that has been stitched and then bandaged.
A week later, the dressing is removed and the stitches are taken out.
The wound is healed.
But who healed it?
The patient’s own body did it.
The same happens with a broken bone, an infection or other problems.
Thirdly, the body has an immune system that can defeat infections.
In 1894, Dr. Still began teaching these principles in Kirksville, Missouri.
And he developed osteopathic techniques that restored the optimal structure of the body and its functions.
Patients soon felt noticeably better.
His reputation spread quickly and he was soon known throughout the country.
Over the years, osteopathy has integrated many other developments in medicine, but these three principles remain the basis of the therapy to this day.
And as early as 1899, one of Dr. Still’s students had a challenging inspiration that has also lost none of its relevance, namely that these principles are also valid in the area of the skull: William Garner Sutherland developed cranial osteopathy, the primary respiratory mechanism, over the years.
But you are probably asking yourself: Why should I take my child to an osteopath?
Well, did your child have a long or problematic birth?
Was it difficult to initiate breastfeeding?
Was it slow to come to the nipple?
Did it “spit up” after feeding? Did your baby cry and did you have to carry it around to soothe it? If your answer to these questions is “yes”, it is very likely that your baby is experiencing structural stresses within the musculoskeletal system that are interfering with normal tissue function.
It may therefore be particularly important for such a child to be referred to an osteopath who specializes in pediatric cranial osteopathy.
They should carry out a structural assessment of the child as soon as possible in order to restore their health and well-being.
Perhaps your child has coped well with these birth-related problems and is developing normally.
But now there are suddenly problems in the classroom.
The child is inattentive, speaks when it should be listening, takes too long to do its homework and suffers injuries because it cannot see the ball approaching to catch it or avoid it.
The osteopath will now make an accurate diagnosis.
This will include pregnancy, labor, early postpartum events; and it may turn out that some of the problems just described have their roots in this period.
But it is also possible that there are neurological connections in your child’s developmental history: a persistent inability to crawl or hop, visual problems such as an inability to follow an object with the eyes (which is essential for reading, for example), to adjust the eye to focus on a close object, or to follow a fast-moving object.
These dysfunctions can also result from trauma during a long or difficult birth.
They should be carefully assessed by an osteopath and treated accordingly.
Even if your child has been diagnosed with a congenital disease or a structural abnormality in the brain, and a cure or recovery may not lie solely within the spectrum of the body’s self-healing powers, a careful osteopathic assessment may reveal in many cases that there is still remarkable potential for positive change in these children.
The aim is for them to develop their full potential, and experience has shown that the results often exceed our greatest expectations.
Osteopathy can contribute a great deal to this.
With this book, Torsten Liem and Christof Plothe convey confidence where previously there may have been despondency.
And although faith is the substance for our hopes, the essence of invisible things, they rely on the body’s own therapeutic competence and the potential for positive change, which experience has shown to benefit even skeptical people time and again.
In this sense, the book will offer you valuable suggestions and be a reliable companion in your child’s healing process.
Viola Frymann
