I have a distant memory of my maternal grandfather, who I unfortunately knew far too little. He fascinated me with his stories, especially that of the undefeatable fighter. In those days, he used to graciously “relieve” those who came to him, by touch. But I digress… One day, I witnessed how my Tae Kwon Do instructor, who had injured his knee, was returned to his feet in only three minutes. I was just as astonished as my instructor. I was in admiration of my grandfather and wanted to be able to do the same. This moment remained very clear in my memory and pushed me to study medicine. However, neither my medical studies, nor the numerous courses I took in osteopathy (and other manual therapies), allowed me to understand what had happened on that day. It was not until working with Dominique Wolff and Jean-Pierre Jourdan that I understood – instinctively, without any scientific background, he freed the adhesions between the thigh and the knee, repositioning the fibula head and the lateral meniscus, then “uncapped” a lateral plica.
Dominique Wolff: department head of rehabilitation, physiotherapist, osteopath † 2008
He was a friend of my previous head physician at infantry school (Yves Langeois). When I came across him, I would ignore him with the confidence of a osteopathic physician sure of himself. One day, he reprimanded me, with good intention, for having aggravated the case of a patient. “Thierry,” he said, “what a mess! You’ve once again moved it in the wrong direction, just like most osteopaths do… For my part, I’m sick of fixing other people’s messes! If you’d like to learn, I can show you how to do it.” Once my ego was overcome and my pride healed, curiosity was peaked by his “spectacular” results and his direct and humorous approach, which was “honey-coated” in the end. I became his student first, then later his friend. For three years, two mornings a week, he came to my office to help me with the military patients who posed the most difficulty. He taught me about subluxations, adhesions, capsular trap-ping… He encouraged me to try new counter-intuitive techniques, to be audacious, and to master anatomy, biomechanics, and physiology, in order to avoid and correct any errors. This ex-stuntman and top-level versatile athlete reminded me of my grandfather, with his critical and scientific spirit. Today, when I run into a problem, I ask, “Domi, what would you have done?” And sometimes inspiration comes to me…
Dr. Jean-Pierre Jourdan, radiologist
Dynamic ultrasound of the knee detects adhesions between the large connecting muscles: lateral, right femoral, ilio-tibial band, femoral biceps…
He had an extremely open spirit, patiently allowing me to treat many of our patients before and after their x-rays and dynamic ultrasounds. He was the first to have defined the radiological criteria of fibula subluxation (ankle, knee, etc.), and then the ultrasound signifiers of inter-fascial adhesions (elbows, groin, knees, etc.) and the capsular ligament trappings (ankle, knee, etc.).
Dr. Pierre Wagner: physician, osteopath, sonographer
First skeptical and then excited, he confirmed most of our discoveries and extended them to other joints. A pioneer in musculoskeletal ultrasound, his skeptical curiosity linked with his mastery of various osteopathic directions allowed us to refine the manual adhesiolysis to be more effective, less painful, and to understand that we could continue to improve it with the help of other curious practitioners.