‍A Multidisciplinary Approach to Healing

The Healing Structure: Because your body didn’t come with a manual

‍A Multidisciplinary Approach to Healing

“What’s the difference between an osteopath and a chiropractor?”
People ask me that all the time—like it’s a quick answer. Spoiler: it’s not.

Honestly, it depends on the practitioner. I’ve seen massive differences between two osteopaths, let alone across professions. So I don’t love making blanket statements about any modality.

That said, I wrote this post to give you a general sense of what to expect from each approach. Treatments can be expensive—whether you're paying out of pocket or using your benefits—so the more you know, the better you can spend your money. And if you have benefits? Use them. Try different practitioners. Find the ones that actually fit your needs.

Because health is teamwork.

What I Do as an Osteopathic Manual Practitioner

Speaking for myself, I’m basically a body detective.

First, I listen. Whether someone’s dealing with knee pain, digestive issues, or dizziness, I want to know what’s going on—but I’m not chasing symptoms. I’m looking for the why.

I don’t have a treatment for “knee pain” or “vertigo.” My goal is to get the body moving the way it’s supposed to, and ultimately help with the “knee pain” or “vertigo”. Think of it like fixing the alignment on a car: I want to bring symmetry back to the body, unload joints and tissues, and get everything flowing—nerves, blood, lymph, breath.

When those systems work better, people tend to move better, breathe better, digest better… and yeah, feel better.

How I Work: Investigate, Educate, Treat

Once I’ve taken a solid history, I assess with my hands—looking for tissues that aren’t doing their job. Then I treat.

But just as important as the hands-on work is the education piece. I don’t just want people feeling better after a session—I want to help them build long-term habits that support their body in daily life. I give patients a simple, easy-to-use process that doesn’t require carving time out of your day. Instead, we make it part of your day.

It’s about learning how to move, sit, stand, breathe, and sleep in ways that support your structure—not stress it. (You will get better at this with treatment)

I bring posture and breathing together. Why? Because how you breathe affects how you load your joints. So if we’re improving how you sit and stand, we’re also looking at how you breathe in those positions. That helps reduce unnecessary tension, improves circulation and flow, and supports your nervous system.

Sleep is another big one. I help people gradually shift into better sleep positions that reduce strain on the body. It’s not about “never sleeping like that again”— it’s about

building awareness and giving your body options that allow for better rest, recovery, and less pressure on vulnerable tissues overnight. I will have a hard time fixing someone’s headache issue if they sleep on their stomach eight hours a night and crank there neck

The education process is a lot about everyday awareness:

• How am I sitting right now?
• How am I standing?
• How am I breathing in this moment?

When I see a mechanical issue, it usually shows up in every position—sitting, standing, walking, driving, and even sleeping. I want to be clear: positions themselves aren’t bad. It’s the repetitiveness of certain postures and loading patterns over time that causes tissue strain and dysfunction.

Let me give an example:

A mother comes in with right-sided pain. She has a desk job and always crosses her right leg over her left. She sits like that all day. On her drive home, she externally rotates that right leg as she drives. At her son’s soccer practice, she stands with her right foot flared out to the side. Then at night, she sleeps with that same leg tucked into a twisted position.

What I see is a pattern of repetitive mechanical strain—not just one bad position, but the same loading stress repeated throughout the day. Over time, this leads to symptoms like:

• Sciatica down the right leg
• Plantar fasciitis
• SI or hip pain
• Numbness or tingling in the leg or foot

Again, the specific symptoms may vary—but what matters most is the underlying mechanics. If we can improve how you move, load, and rest your body throughout the day, we can reduce strain and give your tissues the chance to actually heal—not just feel better temporarily.

Osteopathy is a full-body approach. It’s not about chasing pain, but optimizing how everything works together. Even if someone twists their knee, I’m checking their breathing, digestion, circulation—because healing isn’t just about the injury. It’s about the system.

Sometimes we catch things early and can make big changes. Other times, we’re managing symptoms and improving quality of life. This can be coined “Osteopathic Advil”—helping people feel and function better, even when we can’t fully resolve the root cause.

What About the Rest of the Team?

Here’s something important: healing is a team sport.

One practitioner isn’t going to do it all. That’s where an integrated approach really shines. Here’s how different disciplines contribute to your health:

🔹 Osteopathy

Gentle, hands-on techniques to restore alignment and balance—helping the body self-heal by improving how structure supports function.

🔹 Physiotherapy

Targeted rehab through movement, education, and progressive exercises. Supports recovery, strength, and resilience.

🔹 Chiropractic Care

Focuses on spinal and nervous system health. Uses adjustments to improve joint mobility, reduce pain, and restore posture.

🔹 Massage Therapy

Releases muscle tension, improves circulation, and calms the nervous system. Helps other therapies work more effectively.

🔹 Pilates

Builds postural control, stability, and body awareness through slow, deliberate movement. Reinforces functional patterns.

🔹 Kinesiology

Assesses biomechanics and daily movement. Designs strategies to reduce compensation, improve movement efficiency, and build foundational strength.

🔹 Naturopathy

Supports the internal systems that influence healing—addressing digestion, stress, inflammation, and hormones with personalized nutrition, supplementation, and lifestyle medicine.

Together, These Disciplines Build a Healing Ecosystem

• Osteopathy realigns the body to support natural healing
• Massage therapy reduces restrictions and tension
• Physiotherapy + Kinesiology retrain movement and build resilience
• Chiropractic care restores mobility and nervous system communication
• Pilates reinforces conscious, functional movement
• Naturopathy supports internal regulation and long-term health

Whether you’re dealing with chronic pain, recovering from injury, improving athletic performance, or just trying to feel more at home in your body—this integrated approach helps you move better, feel better, and stay better.

Use Your Benefits Wisely

If you’ve got extended health benefits, now is the time to use them well. Coordinating care across disciplines doesn’t just give you better results—it also helps you get the most out of your coverage.

Healing isn’t just about getting back to baseline.
It’s about understanding your body—and giving it what it needs to thrive.
One mindful movement at a time.

— Ryan Mercier, M.OMSc
Osteopathic Manual Practitioner

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