Osteopathy

A whole body approach to health

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 What is Osteopathy

Osteopathy is a regulated healthcare profession under statute (similar to Doctors, Nurses, Paramedics and Physiotherapists) and the title is protected under law.  Osteopaths must register with the General Osteopathic Council (GOsC) and it is illegal to use the term 'osteopath' if not registered.  Osteopathy is both a philosophy, art and science iand it takes a whole body approach to function and dysfunction. .

Osteopaths practice a safe and effective form of prevention, diagnosis and treatment for a wide range of health issues.  Osteopaths are highly trained healthcare professionals who are experts in the musculoskeletal system (joints, muscles, ligaments, connective and associated tissues) and its relationship to other systems in the body to keep you as healthy as possible  Osteopathy works with the structure and function of the body and is based on the principle that the well-being of an individual depends on the musculoskeletal system  functioning smoothly.

To an osteopath, for this to happen, the body-structure must also work well and they work to restore your body to a state of balance, where possible without having to resort to the use of drugs or surgery.  Osteopaths use a wide range of gentle hands-on techniques (including touch, physical manipulation, stretching and massage) that focus on relieving tension, stretching muscles and mobilising joints thereby enhancing the blood and nerve supply to tissues to help the body's own healing mechanisms. 

These are often used together with exercise and helpful advice on posture and lifestyle designed to help you relieve or manage your pain, keep active and maintain the best of health. Research has shown that manual therapy such as osteopathy, especially in conjunction with exercise, can have beneficial effects (especially for back pain) helping you to return to ordinary movement and activity.  For what to expect on your first treatment, please go to our FAQs page, by clicking here.

Alex is Registered with the General Osteopathic Council (GOsC) and is also a member of the Institute of Osteopathy (iO)

Osteopathic Principles and Philospohy

Osteopathic principles include the fact that the human organism is perceived as a living thing comprising of Mind, Body and Spirit with a normal tendency toward self-healing and self-repair. The human body has a vital force (or Viz Medicatrix Naturae) that can be nurtured through healthy living (including correct diet, sleep and exercise ) or diminished through poor lifestyle, injury or disease - very similar to the Chinese concept of Qi. 



The view of Osteopathy's founder, A.T.Still, was that the physician does not cure disease, it was their job to correct structural disturbances so the body can run correctly and heal itself. In the 1880s Still called his radical approach to treatment "Osteopathy" from the greek osteon (meaning bone) and pathos (lit. to suffer) reasoning that the bony structure was a good starting point from which to understand the cause of disease and dysfunction. 



On being asked 'What is Osteopathy?" Still replied "It is a scientific knowledge of anatomy and physiology in the hands of a person of intelligence and skill, who can apply that knowledge to the use of man when sick or wounded by strains, shocks, falls, or mechanical derangement or injury of any kind to the body" Furthermore, he added that "To find health should be the object of the doctor. Anyone can find disease"



Philosophically, Still believed that Health is a natural state of harmony and that a healthy state exists as long as there is a normal flow of body fluids and nerve activity with illness often being caused by mechanical impediments to this. Therefore, another basic principle in Osteopathy is 'the rule of the artery" where self healing is maintained by good blood and lymphatic flow to the tissues, coupled with effective drainage of waste products.



Additionally environmental, social, mental and behavioral factors all contribute to to the formation of illness and disease and need to be addressed within any management plan.  In Osteopathy, each person is treated as a unique individual, not as a disease entity.  In fact, Still taught that the history and physical evaluation of each patient would reveal evidence of unhealthy self-care which would interfere with the body's natural healing ability.  As a treatment model, Osteopathy seems to have many common themes with the Classical Chinese concepts of health and disease, and the two systems complement each other very well.

A brief history of Osteopathy

Classically, Osteopathy is a philosophy, science and an art formulated over 100 years ago by a frontier physician and American Civil War doctor called Andrew Taylor Still (1828-1917).  Osteopathy developed when general 19th century patient care left much to be desired and the medications administered killed patients as often as they cured them.  Still wished to place the treatment of disease on a more rational, scientific basis.  Still was influenced by the Hippocratic view of medicine (emphasisizing the treatment of the human organism as a unified whole, as opposed to a collection of isolated parts), together with a number of philosophers, scientists and medical practitioners of his time.

Following the loss of three children to spinal meningitis in 1864, he immersed himself in the study of health, illness and disease.   After intense study and reflection, Still's moment of clarity came in 1874 when he created a system of medicine that emphasised:
  1. The treatment of physical disease - through a detailed knowledge of anatomy coupled with palpatory diagnosis and manipulative treatment with;
  2. The importance of health and wellbeing (including physical mental, emotional and spiritual health) and the avoidance of negative habits (including alcohol and drugs).
Still was adamant that students and colleagues were expected to "Form your own opinions and select all facts you can obtain.  Compare, decide, then act.  Use no man's opinion: accept his works only" urging his students to study, test and improve on his ideas.  With this in mind Glaswegian J Martin Littlejohn (1865 - 1947) , Denslow (1906-1982) and Irvin Korr (1909-2004) introduced concepts  of neuroendocrinology and neurophysiology to Still's 19th century outlook on physiology and pathology. Korr went on to integrate the relationship of the spinal cord to the musculoskeletal and sympathetic nervous systems to patient pathology.

In 1892 Still formed the American School of Osteopathy in Kirksville USA, with Still and Littlejohn together evolving Osteopathic theory and philosophy (even though they were often in disagreement).  The effectiveness of Osteopathy grew, with currently 34 osteopathic medical school in the United States, training Osteopathic physicians.  In the US, Osteopathic physicians are fully qualified medical doctors and are licensed to perform surgery and prescribe medications in addition to Osteopathic Manipulative Therapies.

In 1913 Littlejohn returned to London and introduced Osteopathy to the UK.  In 1917 he established the first UK osteopathic college - The British School of Osteopathy, serving as its dean for 40 years.  Since then, osteopathy has evolved internationally, being recognised by the World Health Organisation and other international bodies. 

What is the difference between Osteopaths and Chiropractors


This is a very common question that is asked.  In this short clip Ashley James succinctly describes the main differences in Philosophy, Diagnosis and Treatments provided by these two regulated healthcare professions.

Lifestyle Advice


Both Traditional Chinese Medicine and Osteopathy promote a healthy lifestyle (termed Yang Shen or "Nourishing Life" in Chinese Medicine) to help combat many of the common chronic illnesses that plague society both in past and present years.  As Dr Dean Ornish states in his book "UnDoIt" -

  • Eat well - increasing fruit, vegetables and whole foods and minimising processed foods;
  • Move more - even moderate exercise of 30 minutes a day will help offset some of the effects of inflammation - do what you love doing (since you will  be inclined to maintaining it) from a simple daily walk, cycling, gym work to dancing or martial arts;
  • Stress less - mindfulness techniques, meditation, yoga, Tai Qi and Qi Gong or a simple walk in nature will help ameliorate the effects of long term chronic stress and;
  • Love more - for many people the loss of close family networks / structure in our modern society, has resulted in reduced contact and intimacy that can help support us in our time of need.


For some interesting advice on lifestyle medicine I have included 2 links -

A short 30 minute interview with Dr Dean Ornish regarding lifestyle medicine

A longer 90 minutes documentary on Forks (food) over Knives (surgery) - some of the science behind a healthy lifestyle