ABOUT

WHAT IS OSTEOPATHY?

Osteopathy is person centered care using hands on therapy to help you reach your health goals from pain relief to stress management. This method of treatment and diagnosis considers your health and vitality as a whole person and is premiss when working with your presenting situation. No area of your being works in isolation.

The practice of osteopathy is based on fundamental principles that guide osteopathic reasoning and diagnosis towards a natural health-oriented, person-centred approach to wellness. These principles are:

• The human being functions as a whole; body mind and spirit
• The body has its own natural self-regulatory mechanisms to heal
• Structure and function of the body are interconnected 
• Fluid movement is a key component to healing when flowing freely
• Treatment aligns with these principles to support your healing process

Osteopathy focuses on helping your body maintain homeostasis, promoting normal circulation of blood, lymph and cerebral spinal fluid enabling the drainage of metabolic waste and funneling nutrition to those same tissues. Collectively helping to maintain a healthy, functioning nervous system; a healthier you.

At the heart of Osteopathy lies the understanding that the body possesses an inherent capacity for self-healing, which can be fully realized once obstructions are eliminated

HOW DID OSTEOPATHY BEGIN?

Andrew Taylor Still (1828-1917) founded osteopathy on June 22, 1874, in the USA. At age 10, he discovered he could relieve his headaches by resting his neck on a low swing. This early insight into the body’s self-healing abilities inspired his future work.

After losing four children to illness, Still left allopathic medicine and developed osteopathic manual medicine. His approach focused on the connection between the body’s structure and function to support natural healing, emphasizing overall health, including mind, body, and spirit.

Through extensive study and practice, Still found that normal circulation of body fluids and nerve activity were essential for health. His pioneering work laid the foundation for osteopathy today.

For more on osteopathy’s history, check out John Lewis’s book, available on his website. http://www.atstill.com/