What is Osteopathy?

Osteopathy is a holistic manual treatment that focuses on the musculoskeletal system and uses a variety of techniques to facilitate the body’s natural ability to heal itself.

Osteopathy is Holistic

When you go to see a GP they will generally focus specifically on what is wrong in terms of what you tell them – for example, if you tell them that you have a headache then they will focus on the headache. If you go to an osteopath they will look at your body as a whole and determine not only what is happening with your head but how this is influencing your whole body and any other areas where this headache could be coming from.

The Body is Able to Repair Itself

One principle of osteopathy is that the body has the ability to heal itself naturally and so instead of always giving prescribed drugs to treat a condition, they osteopath will often try and work with the body itself to promote healing. This could be by taking the body through some natural movements, giving advice on posture and other natural methods of treating the body.

Osteopathy Focuses on the Musculoskeletal System in the Treatment and Prevention of Disease

Osteopaths believe that disease and injury is caused by the body no longer being able to adapt as it naturally would, where there is a disruption in the movement of body fluids or where the nerves are no longer in optimum health. They will therefore work on treating these systems in the body in order to optimise their functioning and so help to heal disease.

Osteopathic Techniques

Osteopaths use a number of different manipulative techniques in the treatment of different problems, these manipulations include such techniques as balanced ligamentous tension, counterstrain, cranial osteopathy, high velocity low amplitude thrust, soft tissue technique and visceral manipulation. In addition osteopaths may also practice other techniques such as acupuncture and may even refer patients for more traditional medicine where necessary.

Osteopathy manipulates the musculoskeletal system in order to optimise its functioning and so encourage the body to heal itself. The body is treated as a unit and as naturally as possible, although osteopaths may also encourage the use of certain traditional treatments where they deem this necessary.