WHAT IS OSTEOPATHY?

Osteopathy is a form of medicine primarily concerned with the muscular, joint and skeletal systems of the body.  It is through these systems that the flow of blood and health of nerves can be influenced.

What truly separates Osteopathy from other therapies is its underlying philosophy that the body has the ability to self-heal.  However, due to injury, misuse or disease impacting the body, this self healing process can be affected.

HOW CAN OSTEOPATHY HELP?

Osteopathy’s overwhelming success in treating ailments and relieving pain is due to treating the cause, not the effect.  Osteopathy will not only address your immediate pain but will identify the root cause of the pain to prevent it from reoccurring again in the future. 

By treating the underlying joint restrictions, working with bone alignment, improving blood flow, decreasing nerve tension and balancing muscle length, Osteopaths can improve recovery and prevent further complications and episodes.  Once your body is working as it should, your self-healing mechanisms will be able to do their job properly. 

Some examples to help illustrate this principle are:

Example 1:  Imagine your body is a clock and your joints are the cogs.  If some of these cogs get stiff and tight, the clock will eventually break or wear down.  This is the same as your body.  For it to move and work effectively the joints need to work in unison to bring about movement.

Example 2:  Ever noticed the tyres on your car wearing unevenly?  You could change the tyres but then you will find that they will wear unevenly again.  The solution is a wheel alignment.  This is the same as your body.  If your body is out of alignment, then this places greater stresses on certain parts of your body which begin to wear down and become injured.

An Osteopath will:

• Diagnose  the cause of the pain or symptom/s you are experiencing;
• Determine how long it will take for you to get better;
• Apply appropriate treatment techniques;
• Assess the alignment of your body and the way that it operates to determine what barriers are preventing your body to heal itself;
• Provide advice about your diet, posture, work-station arrangement, exercises and stretches (as required) for maintenance of your health and prevent future injuries from occurring.

Emphasis will be placed on the importance of how injured areas interact with the rest of the body since relief from pain is only a by-product of treatment and not the primary goal.

Treatments used are natural and non-invasive and the techniques employed fall under the categories of structural osteopathy and cranial osteopathy. 


HISTORY OF OSTEOPATHY

Osteopathy was founded by Andrew Taylor Still in America in the late 1800s.  He became disillusioned with medicine which in those days consisted of remedies of alcohol, mercury salts or opium and so started developing his own ideas.

He believed that God made man perfect with its own capacity for self-healing.  From a mechanical viewpoint he reasoned if the body was in the correct alignment, functioned normally with normal flow of blood and nerve signals then full health would result and be maintained.

He therefore undertook intense study into how the body was designed anatomically and the way it operated or functioned and developed ways to improve the structure and function of the body.