From back pain, sciatica and stiff shoulders to infertility and improving rounded shoulders, entrust us with all your physical concerns!

What is an osteopathic clinic (bone-setting clinic)?

Osteopathic clinics(Judo therapy clinic) are establishments that can be opened by individuals holding the national qualification of licensed judo therapist.A major feature is that health insurance can be used. Chiropractic clinics can be operated by unlicensed practitioners and do not accept insurance.

What kind of treatments do judo therapy clinics  offer?

In the past, judo therapy clinics primarily offered short sessions of electrical therapy and massage. However, today they incorporate various treatments such as acupuncture, massage, and manual therapy to address a wide range of conditions. These include stiff shoulders, lower back pain, knee pain, frozen shoulder and sciatica, whiplash from car accidents, sports injuries, posture correction, pelvic alignment, and postpartum pelvic correction.

However, what conditions does each clinic specialize in? What treatments are they skilled at? This varies from clinic to clinic.
It’s important to consider where you can find a clinic that specializes in treating your specific concern.

When you’re feeling unwell, which treatment is best? It’s hard to say for sure. It depends entirely on the skill of the doctor at the clinic.Treatment methods required for orthopedic conditions can be broadly categorized into four types: ① Massage and chiropractic therapy ② Acupuncture and moxibustion ③ Exercise therapy ④ Coordinated movement therapy.Our clinic believes that the ideal approach is to master all four of these treatment methods and combine them as needed based on symptoms and progression to provide the necessary care.

①Massage & Chiropractic

Massage is a nationally certified profession, so this method is defined as massage!　However, clinically, various massage techniques are used for therapeutic purposes. Massage and chiropractic are simply different names for manual techniques performed using one’s hands.So, don’t get confused by terms like “massage” or “chiropractic” and start wondering which one works better.People without qualifications call it “osteopathy,” and sometimes they’re just comparing whether osteopathy or massage has better promotional impact.

To soften stiff muscles, massage and chiropractic care are effective. The crucial question is: Is it merely a comforting massage that feels good? Or does it incorporate meaningful therapeutic techniques? In other words, is the approach based on considering which techniques are effective for achieving the desired state in specific areas?

※Many judo therapy clinics offer massage covered by insurance. However, massage is not originally included in the insurance system for judo therapy clinics. Each clinic provides massage as a service to aid treatment and differentiate themselves from other clinics. While massage can be effective even within insurance coverage, if you truly expect results, paying out-of-pocket for massage or chiropractic adjustments over a sufficient period yields vastly superior effectiveness.

②Acupuncture

Acupuncture is highly effective at relaxing muscles and reducing pain, so many people receive acupuncture for orthopedic conditions like stiff shoulders and lower back pain. Combining acupuncture with massage or chiropractic care yields better results than using massage or chiropractic alone. Therefore, unless you dislike needles, we recommend using both approaches at our clinic.

Many acupuncture clinics do not offer massage or chiropractic services.While acupuncture and bone-setting clinics offer acupuncture, few staff members have extensive, specialized acupuncture training. Our clinic specializes in acupuncture and moxibustion, and we also offer massage and osteopathic manipulation at a level comparable to dedicated massage and osteopathic clinics. Yagi Osteopathic Clinic and Yagi Acupuncture Clinic are led by Director Yagi, who holds all relevant qualifications and is constantly learning new techniques. This makes us skilled in both acupuncture and massage/osteopathic manipulation. However, we particularly excel in and focus on providing acupuncture and moxibustion.

③Exercise therapy

Treatment to soften stiff muscles and joints is important. However, if muscles are weak or the supporting strength of the joints is insufficient, exercise therapy to thoroughly strengthen the muscles must be performed for the treatment to be effective.Additionally, if there are muscles you struggle to use effectively in daily life, you must perform training that ensures the command “Brain ⇒ Use Unused Muscles!” is reliably transmitted along the nerves. Training to strengthen muscles and training to promote the neural transmission needed to use muscles effectively. This kind of exercise therapy is also crucial.

※Recently, more people have come to understand the importance of strength training and are joining gyms or seeking personal training. Treatment centers that can thoroughly instruct patients in self-care exercise therapy they can do at home will be increasingly in demand going forward.

④Coordinated Exercise Therapy

Muscles and joints never move in isolation. For example, when raising your shoulder upward, not only does the shoulder joint engage, but your abdominal muscles also contract, your lower back and spine arch, and your shoulder blades and collarbones move simultaneously.

If all muscles and joints don’t work together in coordinated movement, you’ll end up hurting yourself somewhere. Coordinated movement therapy is also a type of strength training, but because it involves specific combinations of exercises, we’ve deliberately classified it separately as a form of exercise therapy.
※Physical therapists in orthopedic departments specialize in exercise therapy and coordinated movement therapy. Our clinic also incorporates techniques learned by physical therapists into our treatment approach.

Recently, more and more clinics have been emphasizing their specializations. These include disease-specific specialties like back pain specialists, frozen shoulder specialists, infertility specialists, maternity specialists, and postpartum pelvic correction specialists. There are also sport-specific specialties like baseball specialists or ballet dancer specialists, among others.

It’s easy to understand when they advertise their specialty. But that doesn’t necessarily mean they provide good treatment.
Skill is important, but sometimes it’s just good advertising, so you can’t take everything they say at face value.

For example, in acupuncture, there are various approaches based on different philosophies. Some schools may primarily use techniques where needles are inserted only a few millimeters deep. In such cases, even though deeper insertion might be more effective, the shallower placement can sometimes result in lower efficacy.
Even if you think acupuncture is effective, the results can vary depending on the methods used by the clinic you choose. That’s why it’s truly difficult to determine which treatment is best or which clinic to select.
Honestly, unless you try it once, you often won’t know what kind of treatment they provide or what treatments they specialize in.

However, if the clinic’s website includes a message from the director, their philosophy, or their background, please be sure to review that information thoroughly.
By understanding the director’s vision, the experiences they’ve accumulated, and the studies they’ve pursued, you can gain insight into the treatments they specialize in.