PTSD is a condition which follows an important psychological trauma (usually near death experience). It is important to understand that there are two parts to your nervous system: one you can control when you decide to do a movement such as lifting your arm up to drink a cup of tea and one you can’t control which keeps your lungs functioning, keeps your heart beating and which is linked to your emotions and stress levels. This system which you can’t control is divided into two systems: one which slows your body down and repairs it and one which speeds it up. It’s the one which speeds the nervous system up called the sympathetic nervous system that we are interested in.


During high stress or a sudden trauma the sympathetic nervous system becomes hyperactive to help you cope with the situation (your heart beats faster to provide more blood to the muscles, your breathing gets faster to provide more oxygen) it is the alert mode of your body, a survival reaction. Normally after the threat has passed, your body will release a hormone bringing everything back to normal. Sometimes this alert reaction persists for a few days or weeks. This is what we call post traumatic stress. When the hormone is not released or not sufficiently and the alert reaction persists more than a month we consider Post Traumatic Stress Disorder as a possibility, which is a more severe condition.

The alert reaction symptoms include: nightmares, flash backs of the incident bringing physical reactions, repeatedly remembering the event, losing interest in life, feeling separated from others, not experiencing many feelings, being on alert all the time, trouble sleeping, feeling guilty, trouble remembering things, beginning to avoid your life, reacting to things that resemble your trauma, feeling sad about what happened, telling the same incident over and over, troubles with intimacy or relationships, developing an eating disorder, drinking or chemical abuse disorder, trying to control other people, trying to control the events in your life, not leaving your house.

Although there is no scientific proof that osteopathy can help with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder; psychological support by a professional is necessary as any work on the body can bring back emotions which can be very difficult to deal with. However if the trauma is linked to being touched a manual therapy may not be the best route to take, as it could be very traumatic.

Please follow the link below to read a case study of a patient with PTSD Post Traumatic Stress Disorder who was treated by an osteopath.

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder


Written by Anne-Tiphaine Braud, Registered Osteopath. To contact Anne-Tiphaine, please click here