What is Osteopathy?

“It is the object of a physician to find health, anyone can find disease”
Andrew Tayl
or Still M.D., D.O. (founder of Osteopathy)

Osteopathy is one of the most effective and safe treatments for a great number of our health problems because the osteopath  seeks to understand the answers to three basic questions in every case:

1. why this problem?

2. why this patient?

3. why now?

With this information at their finger tips osteopaths are able to decide how best to treat the patient and if it is appropriate when to refer the patient to somebody better qualified to diagnose or treat the patient instead.

Disclaimer: This article applies to Osteopathy and Osteopaths as practiced in the UK. In America Osteopaths are a type of licensed physician. I am not a licensed physician, and in Canada I use the term Osteopathic Practitioner to describe myself and my work.

Osteopaths are able to understand the need for further diagnostic tests such as MRI scans and blood tests and in many cases because patients come to the osteopath self referred, the patient may well then  be referred back to the GP for specialist advice.

In many cases osteopathy is concerned with the interconnections of the various anatomical parts. A long term problem will almost certainly involve adaptations and compensations to the original problem during the healing process. Scar tissue even on a micro level can compromise circulation in the body tissues and thus tissue vitality.

Osteopathy is very effective at resolving aches, pains and injuries, because it looks at the causes of your problem thinking about those fundamental three questions.

It is an osteopath’s aim to stop a problem or injury from recurring by taking away those reasons that allowed it to occur in the first place.

An osteopath works with their hands on the human body to relieve strains, rebalancing interconnections between different areas of the body so improving circulation and how well that part of the body works.

Osteopathy – a natural way to maintain your health, well being and vitality.