Interviews & Videos with Leon Chaitow
This video clip is available by courtesy of Elsevier (USA)
It is taken from the Companion DVD for Muscolino JE: The muscle and bone palpation manual with trigger points, referral patterns, and stretching. St. Louis, 2009, Mosby.
It was filmed a year or so back in Nashville, Tennessee and helps to illustrate the integrated way in which a number of soft tissue modalities can be used in sequence.
Note: This video sequence illustrating Integrated Neuromuscular Inhibition Technique (INIT), is fully described (and demonstrated on video clips on the DVD) in my books: Muscle Energy Techniques and Positional Release Techniques
- Cincinnati AMTA convention (U-tube interview)
- CAM Women's Health Interview (pdf)
- Interview with Leon Chaitow (below)
- Stress breath, fascia and pH by Cathy Ryan (pdf)
- Interview for Spanish Physiotherapy organisation, 2010: Muscle Energy Technique Workshop.
- The 10 most important books in my clinical life (below)
The 10 most important books in my clinical life
Leon Chaitow
This was a contribution to Mike Reinold’s Blog - which is one of the very best on the web for manual rehabilitation of athletes. http://www.mikereinold.com/
One of the main books that helped form my appreciation of consideration of the whole biomechanical complex, in all local problems, was Joel Goldthwait’s classic book Body Mechanics in Health and Disease, published in the early 1940’s (and still available 2nd hand on Amazon)
Another foundational text was The Neurobiologic Mechanisms in Manipulative Therapy, edited by osteopathic researcher Irvin Korr (Plenum Press, NY 1978). This glorious book (long out-of-print) explored the topic from a multidisciplinary perspective, and first introduced me to Vladimir Janda’s MD’s pioneering work.
In the late 80’s I first met, and read the work of, Karel Lewit MD – who with his fellow Czech Janda, was evolving a model of physical medicine, incorporating the best of physical therapy, osteopathy and chiropractic (Lewit is still working in Prague, in his 90s). His book Manipulative Therapy in Rehabilitation of the Locomotor System is a gem. (Butterworth-Heinneman 1991/1999)
A young chiropractic student, Craig Liebenson, was responsible for bringing Janda, Lewit, and others (including David Simons, Irvin Korr, and extraordinarily for me, myself) to run courses at Los Angeles College of Chiropractic in the 1980’s. He (Liebenson) is now a leader of chiropractic rehabilitation, in his profession – and his book Rehabilitation of the Spine (Williams&Wilkins 2nd edition 2006) incorporates much that he has synthesised from these sources, as well as his own insights.
In the early to mid-1990s I became familiar with the research suggesting a far more active role for fascia than had been previously believed. A leader in that field was Rolfer Tom Myers, who wrote several important articles on the subject for the journal I edit (Journal of Bodywork & Movement Therapies), which were subsequently expanded into his groundbreaking Anatomy Trains (Elsevier 2001)
Aspects of the unravelling of the fascial mysteries was also apparent in a wonderful exploration by Vleeming et al, in Movement, Stability & Low Back pain:Integration of research and therapy (ChurchillLivingstone 2nd edition 2007)
David Simons collaborative masterpiece with the late Janet Travell Myofascial Pain and Dysfunction: Trigger Point Manual (Volume 1 Upper Body and Volume 2 Lower Body) (Lippincott Williams and Wilkins) was for me, as it is for many people, a resource that continues to amaze and enlighten. Just like Karel Lewit, David is also still working & writing in his 90s
British osteopathic researcher Eyel Lederman’s book The Science and Practice of Manual Therapy (2nd edition, Elsevier 2005) helped to explain much that still remained confusing about the mechanisms operating in physical medicine.
Somewhere in the 90s I became familiar with David Butler’s important research into neural restriction (neurodynamics). His book The Sensitive Nervous System (Noigroup 2000) is a masterpiece of writing about a hugely complex topic in a comprehensible way.
In the early 90’s a fascinating insight into breathing pattern disorders was revealed in Ley & Timmons Behavioural and Psychological approaches to breathing disorders (Springer 1994). This took my work in a direction that resulted in the 2002 publication of a collaborative book – with physical therapist Dinah Bradley and psychologist Chris Gilbert - Multidisciplinary Approaches to Breathing Pattern Disorders (Churchill Livingstone)
All these influences – Goldthwait, Korr, Janda, Lewit, Simons, Myers and many others (including the work of Mitchell et al on Muscle Energy Technique, and Jones on Strain-Counterstrain), have found there way into my work and writing – with the double volume Clinical Applications of Neuromuscular Techniques : Vol.1 Upper Body, Vol.2 Lower Body, coauthored with Judith Delany; containing a practical synthesis of what I’ve learned from these giants. (Churchill Livingstone 2002, 2008)
Manipulative Therapy: Musculoskeletal Medicine (Musculoskeletal Medicine) by Karel Lewit
The Pelvic Girdle: An Approach to the Examination and Treatment of the Lumbopelvic-Hip Region (Hardcover) by Diane G. Lee
Leon Chaitow
April 2009
Why did you choose to become
an osteopath?
A number of family members – uncles and cousins were osteopaths or chiropractors, and I became interested after having several excellent experiences when treated by them as a teenager, following falls and sporting injuries. After completing high school education in my home country, South Africa, I travelled to London to train as an osteopath at what is now the British College of Osteopathic Medicine, in Hampstead, London.
This College was established in the 1930s with major assistance from my father's cousin, Stanley Lief D.O. D.C., the founder of Champneys, the world famous health resort in Hertfordshire. He donated the building that originally housed the college, and which remains part of the now enlarged campus. I find it strange that until very recently I was a senior lecturer at the Westminster University (School of Integrated Health) which validates the degree courses of that same college.
How did you start writing?
I began to write in the late 1960s on various topics, initially at the suggestion of a patient whose father owned a publishing house that later merged with HarperCollins. My first practitioner focused book was Acupuncture Treatment of Pain (1976) and this is still in print after 2 revisions.
Another of my early practitioner books, Soft Tissue Manipulation (also still in print in the USA), was published in the early 80s. This attracted attention and I was invited to teach at numerous chiropractic and massage schools in the USA. This connection remains and I periodically return to teach there, although that side of my work was reduced due to university commitments as well as because of new and exciting interest which physiotherapists in Europe, the UK and Australia have shown in my work.
How has the osteopathic profession changed over the years?
When I graduated osteopathy was unregulated; anyone with a weekend of training (or less) could call themselves an osteopath.
Now, thanks to the diligence of the profession a powerful professional body has been established, ensuring high standards of both training and ethics. This has resulted in legislation which prohibits (an offence which can lead to imprisonment!) the use of the title osteopath by anyone not duly qualified and registered by the General Osteopathic Council. Because of these changes a major shift has taken place so that both the medical profession and major health insurance companies are now prepared to work with osteopaths. Since 1993 I have been employed on a part time basis by a National Health Service medical practice in London, and this would have been impossible until the legislation regulating the profession.
Another change is on the academic front, where just a few years ago it would have been inconceivable to contemplate the courses (some of which I designed and helped launch) that are now run at the University of Westminster - at both undergraduate and masters level, in subjects such as chiropractic, therapeutic bodywork, sports therapy, herbal medicine, Chinese medicine, homeopathy and nutrition.
In just a few years the School of Integrated Health for whom I worked from 1993 until 2003 has grown from nothing to the point there are over 700 full time students, and a polyclinic, opened a few years ago by the Prince of Wales.
So a profession which was dismissed as quackery at the time I graduated in 1960 has moved from that point to being 'fringe', then ' 'alternative', 'complementary' and finally integrated!
Has anyone in particular inspired you in your work?
I would suppose Stanley Lief, mentioned earlier, and his cousin (my father's brother) Boris Chaitow, who taught me many soft tissue manipulation skills (he was both a chiropractor and an osteopath). Boris was a difficult but brilliant man, and a gifted healer and manual clinician. I have tried to follow his example in many of my clinical methods.
How many books have you written?
I have now had over 65 books published, with around 12 of these aimed at the professional market, the rest were written for the general public. Around half are still in print in English but I have lost track of how many are in translation.
One of the early books which I am particularly proud is Acupuncture Treatment of Pain (Healing Arts Press), published in 1975 (revised twice since then) and still in print in the USA (and in foreign translations) which has been used by thousands of Western doctors as their way into this important means of controlling pain. Other satisfying books include Candida Albicans – now having sold over a million copies and in its 5th revised incarnation. The series of textbooks and CD-ROMs I have produced for Churchill Livingstone (Elsevier) also gives me a sense of achievement.
How do you split your time between teaching, writing and practice and which of these areas do you prefer?
I love them all. I spend nearly half the year in Greece (my wife is a native of Corfu), writing and editing, and sometimes spending more time on emails than in the pool! Until mid-2003 I ran five undergraduate modules on different aspects of therapeutic bodywork, palpation and cranial manipulation, as well as one module on a masters programme at the University of Westminster. Now, when I am in the UK, now that my university teaching obligations have ended I practice privately on one day a week, and spend half a day in the National Health practice in central London, mentioned earlier. I also teach various physiotherapy, chiropractic and osteopathic classes, in hospitals, universities and clinics around the UK and in Europe (Holland, Spain, Denmark and Iceland).
What made you decide to collaborate with Judith DeLany in writing Clinical Application of Neuromuscular Techniques.
I learned (from Boris Chaitow - who developed it with Stanley Lief) the 'European' version of Neuromuscular Technique (NMT) and wanted to combine this with the 'American' version, which is similar but different... as well as incorporating these methods into a context which allowed for a perspective of the patient's problems in relation to their current and past exposure to biomechancial, psychosocial and biochemical adaptive demands.
I needed someone like Judith who is a gifted and respected teacher of the 'American' version of NMT as a collaborator. What has emerged in the first volumes (Volume 1-Upper Body, Volume 2 – Lower body) has met both our aspirations as these incorporate a wide range of assessment and therapeutic approaches to help meet the total needs of the individual with musculoskeletal problems. Judith and I first started planning the book in 1996 when we were developing the ideas that became the Journal of Bodywork and Movement Therapies, which I edit and on which she and three other American practitioners are associate editors.
Our most recent collaboration has been in writing a study guide (due out in 2005) to support these two major texts.
Do you find much difference in the way osteopathy is practiced around the world?
American osteopathy remains the most admirable, when osteopaths there actually utilise what they are taught... sadly many don't. In the USA most practice regular medicine (they are fully licensed physicians) and delegate 'bodywork' to assistants. This is in contrast to osteopathy in Europe and Australia/New Zealand where it remains largely focused on musculoskeletal problems. Regrettably many practitioners have become too biomechanical in their focus, losing sight of other influences on health and dysfunction (such as emotions, nutrition etc). As far as comparisons go I have noted that Australian practitioners in particular are in general amongst the best trained and most skilled, and this is as true of physiotherapists as it is of osteopaths. I foresee a time in this century where the actual differences between osteopathy, chiropractic and physiotherapy (manual medicine) will vanish, with similarities in assessment and treatment being so obvious, with clinical methodology being based on evidence rather than theory, that a merging of training will take place.
And finally, what do you do in your spare time away from work?
I swim, read, walk our long-haired miniature dachshund and go to art galleries and the theatre with my wonderful
wife and our daughter Sasha ( a budding artist and author).... my main hobby however is my work in all its facets.