What is Osteopathy

Osteopathy is an established system of diagnosis and manual treatment that is recognised by the British Medical Association as a discrete clinical discipline. It is a hands-on, holistic manual therapy that treats musculoskeletal problems and other functional disorders. It was developed in America in the 1870’s by Dr Andrew Taylor Still and has developed to the point where it is now widely recognised as one of the most scientifically validated and effective ‘complementary’ therapies.

Osteopathy is based on the philosophy that all parts of the body function together in an integrated manner. If one part of the body is restricted, then the rest of the body must adapt and compensate for this, eventually leading to inflammation, pain, stiffness and other health conditions, such as headaches, digestive and breathing problems, postural stress and emotional stress. Osteopathic treatment aims to restore normal function by removing restrictions, which encourages the bodies’ natural self-healing mechanism.

Patients often report an improvement in general well being, energy levels, sleep patterns and also in areas of symptoms other than those that brought them to the osteopath in the first place.

Whilst Osteopathy uses many of the diagnostic procedures used in conventional medical assessment and diagnosis, its main strength, however, lies in the unique way that the patient is assessed from a mechanical, functional and postural standpoint and the hands-on methods of treatment applied to suit the individual patient.