Effect of osteopathic treatment on a scar assessed by thermal infrared camera, pilot study

• Published in: Complementary therapies in medicine 2019-08, Vol.45, p.130-135
• Main Authors: Riquet, Damien, Houel, Nicolas, Bodnar, Jean-Luc
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Biocompatibility; Body temperature; Cell growth; Cicatrix - therapy; Collagen; Connective tissues; Engineering Sciences; Female; Fibroblasts; Growth factors; Healing process; Human body; Humans; Inflammation; Infrared cameras; Infrared thermal camera; Life Sciences; Male; Manipulative therapy; Manual therapy; Optics; Osteopathic medicine; Osteopathic Medicine - methods; Osteopathy; Other; Physics; Pilot Projects; Scar; Scars; Signal and Image processing; Skin; Temperature; Temperature effects; Temperature gradients; Thermal imaging; Tissues; Wound healing; Wound Healing - physiology
• ISSN: 0965-2299; 1873-6963
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ctim.2019.06.005

•Scars can be treated by manual therapy.•Manual treatment can reduce the temperature range between scar and peri-scar area.•Osteopathic treatment on a scar can be assessed by infrared thermography.•The infrared thermal camera is a good tool for the analysis of scars. Scar formation is influenced by mechanical forces and may generate mechanical tension. Scars induce a temperature difference in the body objectified by thermal imaging camera. The osteopath’s task is to ensure the tissue good mobility in the body. The aim of this study was to measure the influence of osteopathic treatment on a scar by thermal camera. 12 subjects were analyzed: 4 scars by wounds and 8 by operations. A thermal camera was used to measure the temperature variations of the scars and peri-scar area after cooled stimulation. Measurements were made before and after osteopathic treatment. A significant difference was found between the scar and the peri-scar area before osteopathic treatment (p = 0.044) and no significant difference after osteopathic treatment (p = 0.069). Results showed that osteopathic treatment on a scar induces a more homogeneous local warming temperature. The osteopathic treatment allows different warming between scar and peri-scar area; this suggests a modification of the connective tissue function after osteopathic treatment. Further studies are required to better understand the function of connective tissue and the mechanism of healing.