How Osteopathy Can Support Your Gut and Wellness Goals

Many of my clients come to me with gut issues, fatigue, or hormone imbalances, and nutrition can be truly transformative in helping the body get back into balance. In some cases, it can be helpful to also consider how things like posture, tension, or the way the body physically holds stress might be playing a role too.

I’m a big believer in collaborative care, so I occasionally invite trusted practitioners from my network to share insights with my community.

In this guest post, osteopath Sara Ferreira explains how hands-on techniques, particularly visceral osteopathy, can support digestion, ease tension, and complement the work we do nutritionally.

Whether you're feeling a bit "off" in your body or struggling with ongoing gut discomfort, this is well worth a read.

Guest Blog by Sara Ferreira, Registered Osteopath

One of the things I find most rewarding about osteopathy—especially when working with the internal organs—is seeing how interconnected the body truly is. We often think of systems like digestion, breathing, or movement as separate, but in practice, they’re deeply linked. This is where visceral osteopathy comes in: it focuses on the mobility and tone of the organs and how they interact with the surrounding muscles, fascia, and skeleton.

When I work alongside professionals such as nutritionists, we often see that combining osteopathic care with nutrition and lifestyle changes can help people feel more at ease in their bodies. While osteopathy doesn’t treat digestive conditions, many people come to see me because they feel out of balance, bloated, or restricted, even after making positive changes to their diet.

Let me give you a general example (with identifying details changed for privacy). Someone might come in feeling that their digestion is sluggish despite eating well, or they might mention tension through the ribs, pelvis, or back. As an osteopath, I explore how restrictions in the diaphragm, abdominal wall, or surrounding tissues may be influencing their sense of discomfort.

In osteopathic terms, we often talk about viscerosomatic and somatovisceral reflexes—essentially the two-way relationship between internal organs and the musculoskeletal system. If the organs aren’t moving freely or if there’s tension in the connective tissues, it may contribute to a sense of tightness or discomfort in other parts of the body. And the reverse may also be true: physical tension in the back or pelvis may influence how comfortable the abdominal area feels.

Using gentle, hands-on techniques to release restrictions around the ribcage, spine, or abdomen can support overall mobility and balance. Patients sometimes report feeling more spacious or relaxed afterward, which may complement the work they’re doing with their nutritionist or other health practitioners.

Another area we consider is the gut-brain axis—the communication pathway between the digestive system and the nervous system. The vagus nerve, which plays a key role in this pathway, travels from the brainstem down through the chest and into the abdomen. While osteopathy doesn’t treat the vagus nerve directly, supporting the mobility of structures along its pathway (like the neck, thorax, and diaphragm) may help encourage a state of rest and recovery in the body.

It’s important to note that osteopathy doesn’t replace medical care, and we don’t diagnose or treat medical conditions in the way a GP or specialist would. Instead, osteopathic treatment supports the body’s natural capacity to regulate itself. When combined with good nutrition, hydration, sleep, and stress management, some people find that this integrated approach contributes to their overall sense of wellbeing.

If you’re already making positive changes to your health but still feel like something’s not quite right—whether it’s a sense of restriction, tension, or imbalance—osteopathy may be a gentle and holistic way to support your body on that journey.

And the best part? You don’t need to come in with a big dramatic symptom. A lot of the people I work with just feel like things aren’t quite right—and often, that’s enough.

Sara is based in Whitchurch, Aylesbury - more details can be found here About Motion Clinic - Osteopaths in Aylesbury 

Clare’s closing thoughts

Nutrition is one of the most powerful tools we have for improving gut health, energy, and hormones, but as you’ve read here, when we combine the foundations of nutrition with supportive therapies like osteopathy, the results can be even more profound.

If you’ve been working on your health but still feel like there’s a missing piece, this could be the time to explore a more integrated approach. In my clinic, I help you identify what your body truly needs, and where additional support, whether through stress management, movement, or gentle hands-on therapy, might make all the difference.

👉 If you’re curious about how nutrition and collaborative care can support your gut and overall wellbeing, get in touch with me by clicking below

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