Taking medications or getting surgery might not be at the top of your treatment list. If you want a more holistic way to heal your body, then you should learn more about osteopathy.
Osteopathy is a form of drug-free non-invasive manual medicine that focuses on total body health by treating and strengthening the musculoskeletal framework. This includes the joints, muscles and spine and treating the body’s structures and rhythms using a gentle, hands-on approach, mobilization and muscle energy techniques to restore function and improve the range of motion of your restricted joints.
Your manual osteopath will focus on the joints, muscles, and spine, using manual ‘hands-on’ techniques to improve circulation and correct altered biomechanics, without the use of drugs. This kind of alternative medicine is a unique holistic (whole body) approach to health care, so your manual osteopath will not concentrate only on the problem area, but he will use manual techniques to balance all the body systems, and to provide overall good health and wellbeing. Our work as manual osteopaths based on the philosophy that all the structures of the human body function as a unit. If one area develops dysfunction it can create problems in the other systems, resulting in pain, not only locally, but in the other parts of the body as well.
History of Osteopathy:
Osteopathic medicine is a unique form of medical care founded on the philosophy that all body systems are interrelated and dependent upon one another for good health. This philosophy was developed in 1874 by Dr.Andrew Taylor Still, MD, who pioneered the concept of “wellness” and recognized the importance of treating illness within the context of the whole body.
Dr. Andrew Still was born in Virginia in 1828, his father was a physician. At an early age he decided to follow in his father’s footsteps and become a physician. After studying medicine and serving an apprenticeship under his father, Dr.Still became a licensed MD in the state of Missouri. In the early 1860s, he completed additional coursework at the College of Physicians and Surgeons in Kansas City, and went on to serve as a surgeon in the Union Army during the Civil War.
After the Civil War and following the death of three of his children from spinal meningitis in 1864, Dr. Still devoted the next ten years of his life to studying the human body and finding better ways to treat disease. His research and clinical observations led him to believe that the musculoskeletal system played a vital role in health and disease. He concluded that the body contained all of the elements needed to maintain health, if properly stimulated.
Dr. Still believed that by correcting problems in the body’s structure, using manual techniques, the body’s ability to function and to heal itself could be greatly improved. He also promoted the idea of preventive medicine and endorsed the philosophy that physicians should focus on treating the whole patient, rather than just the disease. These beliefs formed the basis of a new medical approach, osteopathic medicine. Using this philosophy, Dr. Still opened the first school of osteopathic medicine in Kirksville, MO in 1892.
What Osteopathy treats?
Osteopathy is a system of assessing, treating and preventing a wide range of health problems.
Manual Osteopaths are commonly known for treating back pain and postural problems including changes due to pregnancy, caused by driving or work strain, the pain of arthritis and minor sports injuries.
Osteopathic patients include the young, older people, manual workers, office professionals, pregnant women, children and sports people.
If you want to find out more, we will be more than happy to talk to you about your health and how you may benefit from osteopathic treatment.