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23rd June 2013

What is Osteopathy?

Osteopathy was started by an American doctor called Andrew Taylor Still. He lost three of his children to meningitis and felt that medicine, as he had been taught it, had failed him when he needed it most.

Calling on his earlier training in engineering, he started to study the musculoskeletal system and the way in which its function or malfunction affected health.  He developed his ideas about the way in which, not only the musculoskeletal system but also the nervous, circulatory, hormonal and organ systems all worked together when the body’s mechanics were operating well, but how disturbance of the mechanics could upset everything else.

This evolved into the present-day osteopathic medicine practiced worldwide and by over 3000 professionally trained osteopaths in Britain.

Osteopathic Treatment

Osteopathy looks at the body as a whole unit and aims to place it into a position where it can heal itself.  Osteopathic treatment is a physical treatment in which the osteopath uses his hands to adjust or manipulate various parts of the body to restore normal function.  During manipulation, patients may feel slight momentary discomfort but it stops when the adjustment is complete.  The patient may hear a little click.  This can indicate that the joints in the spine are starting to free up; the first stage to improving function.