Visceral Manipulation is a gentle hands-on modality that works through the body’s visceral or organ system to locate and free abnormal points of tension throughout the body. Because the body “hugs” a lesion , in essence these “hugs” can be palpated in order to find the areas of restrictions in the body. And there are assessment tools to determine the hierarchy of these restrictions so the ones that are causing the most problems for the person can be freed first allowing more compensatory ability for the body. The advance trainings in this modality, which I have had, also helps free the emotional energies stored in the tissues and balance the body/mind connection.

The following is from the Barral Institute brochure about Visceral Manipulation: Visceral Manipulation was developed by world-renowned French Osteopath and Physical Therapist Jean-Pierre Barral. Comparative Studies found Visceral Manipulation Beneficial for

Various Disorders
Acute Disorders
Whiplash
Seatbelt Injuries
Chest or Abdominal Sports Injuries
Digestive Disorders
Bloating and Constipation
Nausea and Acid Reflux
GERD
Swallowing Dysfunctions
Women’s and Men’s Health Issues
Chronic Pelvic Pain
Endometriosis
Fibroids and Cysts
Dysmenorrhea
Bladder Incontinence
Prostate Dysfunction
Referred Testicular Pain
Effects of Menopause
Emotional Issues
Anxiety and Depression
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Musculoskeletal Disorders
Somatic-Visceral Interactions
Chronic Spinal Dysfunction
Headaches and Migraines
Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
Peripheral Joint Pain
Sciatica
Pain Related to
Post-operative Scar Tissue
Post-infection Scar Tissue
Autonomic Mechanisms
Pediatric Issues
Constipation and Gastritis
Persistent Vomiting
Vesicoureteral Reflux
Infant Colic

VM assists functional and structural imbalances throughout the body including musculoskeletal,
vascular, nervous, urogenital, respiratory, digestive and lymphatic dysfunction. It evaluates and
treats the dynamics of motion and suspension in relation to organs, membranes, fascia and
ligaments. VM increases proprioceptive communication within the body, thereby revitalizing a
person and relieving symptoms of pain, dysfunction, and poor posture.

An integrative approach to evaluation and treatment of a patient requires assessment of the
structural relationships between the viscera, and their fascial or ligamentous attachments to the
musculoskeletal system. Strains in the connective tissue of the viscera can result from surgical
scars, adhesions, illness, posture or injury. Tension patterns form through the fascial network
deep within the body, creating a cascade of effects far from their sources for which the body will
have to compensate. This creates fixed, abnormal points of tension that the body must move
around, and this chronic irritation gives way to functional and structural problems.

Imagine an adhesion around the lungs. It would create a modified axis that demands abnormal
accommodations from nearby body structures. For example, the adhesion could alter rib motion,
which could then create imbalanced forces on the vertebral column and, with time, possibly
develop a dysfunctional relationship with other structures. This scenario highlights just one of
hundreds of possible ramifications of a small dysfunction – magnified by thousands of repetitions
each day.

There are definite links between somatic structures, such as the muscles and joints, the
sympathetic nervous system, the visceral organs, the spinal cord and the brain. For example, the
sinuvertebral nerves innervate the intervertebral disks and have direct connections with the
sympathetic nervous system, which innervates the visceral organs. The sinuvertebral nerves and
sympathetic nervous system are linked to the spinal cord, which has connections with the brain.
In this way someone with chronic pain can have irritations and facilitated areas not only in the
musculoskeletal system (including joints, muscles, fascia, and disks) but also the visceral organs
and their connective tissues (including the liver, stomach, gallbladder, intestines and adrenal
glands), the peripheral nervous system, the sympathetic nervous system and even the spinal cord
and brain.

Thanks to the dedicated work of Jean-Pierre Barral, a Physiotherapist (RPT) and Osteopath
(DO), healthcare practitioners today can use the rhythmic motions of the visceral system as
important therapeutic tools.

Barral’s clinical work with the viscera led to his development of a form of manual therapy that
focuses on the internal organs, their environment and the potential influence on many structural
and physiological dysfunctions. The term he coined for this therapy was Visceral Manipulation.
Visceral Manipulation relies on the palpation of normal and abnormal forces within the body. By
using specific techniques, therapists can evaluate how abnormal forces interplay, overlap and
affect the normal body forces at work. The goal is to help the body’s normal forces remove
abnormal effects, whatever their sources. Those effects can be global, encompassing many areas
of bodily function.

How Does Visceral Manipulation Help You?

Visceral Manipulation is used to locate and solve problems throughout the body. It encourages
your own natural mechanisms to improve the functioning of your organs, dissipate the negative
effects of stress, enhance mobility of the musculoskeletal system through the connective tissue
attachments, and influence general metabolism. Today, a wide variety of healthcare professionals
perform Visceral Manipulation. Practitioners include osteopathic physicians, allopathic
physicians, doctors of chiropractic, doctors of Oriental medicine, naturopathic physicians,
physical therapists, occupational therapists, massage therapists and other licensed body workers.

How is Visceral Manipulation Performed?

Visceral Manipulation is based on the specific placement of soft manual forces to encourage the
normal mobility, tone and motion of the viscera and their connective tissues. These gentle
manipulations can potentially improve the functioning of individual organs, the systems the
organs function within, and the structural integrity of the entire body.

Harmony and health exist when motion is free and excursion is full – when motion is not
labored, overexcited, depressed, or conflicting with neighboring structures and their mobility.
Therapists using Visceral Manipulation assess the dynamic functional actions as well as the
somatic structures that perform individual activities. They also evaluate the quality of the
somatic structures and their functions in relation to an overall harmonious pattern, with motion
serving as the gauge for determining quality.

Due to the delicate and often highly reactive nature of the visceral tissues, gentle force precisely
directed reaps the greatest results. As with other methods of manipulation that affect the body
deeply, Visceral Manipulation works only to assist the forces already at work. Because of that,
trained therapists can be sure of benefiting the body rather than adding further injury or
disorganization.

How Did Visceral Manipulation Begin?

Methods such as Visceral Manipulation have been part of the medicinal cultures in Europe and
Asia since prerecorded times. Indeed, manual manipulation of the internal organs has long been a
component of some therapeutic systems in Oriental medicine. So it’s no surprise that
practitioners in many parts of the world have incorporated manipulations designed to work with
the internal organs and their functions.

Jean-Pierre Barral first became interested in biomechanics while working as a registered physical
therapist of the Lung Disease Hospital in Grenoble, France. That’s where he met Dr. Arnaud, a
recognized specialist in lung diseases and a master of cadaver dissection. Working with Dr.
Arnaud, Barral followed patterns of stress in the tissues of cadavers and studied biomechanics in
living subjects. This introduced him to the visceral system, its potential to promote lines of
tension within the body, and the notion that tissues have memory. All this was fundamental to his
development of Visceral Manipulation. In 1974, Barral earned his diploma in osteopathic
medicine from the European School of Osteopathy in Maidstone, England. Working primarily
with articular and structural manipulation, he began forming the basis for Visceral Manipulation
during an unusual session with a patient he’d been treating with spinal manipulations.
During the preliminary examination, Barral was surprised to find appreciable movement. The
patient confirmed that he felt relief from his back pain after going to an “old man who pushed
something in his abdomen.”

This incident piqued Barral’s interest in the relationship between the viscera and the spine. That’s
when he began exploring stomach manipulations with several patients, with successful results
gradually leading him to develop Visceral Manipulation. Between 1975 and 1982, Barral taught
spinal biomechanics at England’s European School of Osteopathy. In collaboration with Dr.
Jean-Paul Mathieu and Dr. Pierre Mercier, he published Articular Vertebrae Diagnosis.
Using his work with Dr. Arnaud as a foundation, Barral continued to investigate how the
thickening of tissues in the body creates areas of greater mechanical tension that, in turn, pull on
surrounding tissues. That discovery led him to the theoretical and practical development of
visceral listening techniques.

Barral’s development of manual thermal evaluation began in 1971 during another treatment
session. While treating a female patient, he felt a strong emanation coming from her mammary
gland. He learned she had been operated on for a tumor in that area. Researching this
phenomenon with other patients, he discovered just how accurately areas of stress in the body
could be located by palpating the associated energy, which proved to be thermal. Consequent
research has added manual thermal evaluation to many practitioners’ evaluation tools.
With the help of Dr. Serge Cohen, a Grenoble radiologist, Barral also documented changes in the
viscera before and after manipulation. They employed x-ray fluoroscopy and ultrasound to record
changes in position and motion, as well as fluid exchange and evacuation. Later they conducted
additional research with a team of electrical engineers and technicians using infrared emissions
from the body.

Jean-Pierre Barral began teaching Visceral Manipulation in the United States in 1985. Since then
he has trained a team of International Teachers that teach Visceral Manipulation seminars around
the world. He has also authored numerous textbooks for healthcare professionals, including:
Visceral Manipulation, Visceral Manipulation II, Urogenital Manipulation, The Thorax, Manual
Thermal Evaluation, as well as Trauma: An Osteopathic Approach, Manual Therapy for the
Peripheral Nerves, and Manual Therapy for the Cranial Nerves (the latter three were co-authored
with Alain Croibier, D.O.). Jean-Pierre Barral has also authored a book for the general public,
Understanding the Messages of Your Body, which discusses the link between our organs and our
emotions.

Barral continues to research and develop manual therapy techniques while maintaining a full
clinical practice. Thanks to his pioneering work, candidates in several European countries must
now pass a rigorous test in Visceral Manipulation to earn a diploma in osteopathy.