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What is
Osteopathy?
Osteopathy is a system of healing founded over 100
years ago by an American doctor, Andrew Taylor Still
MD, who was a
practising
physician in Missouri USA. Osteopathy is now
recognized world-wide. The basis of osteopathy is
that the body is able to keep itself healthy by its
own means and only needs treatment if those internal
processes are blocked.
In most people’s eyes osteopathy is mainly concerned
with the diagnosis and treatment of
musculo-skeletal
disorders but is by no means limited to this area.
This is because spinal problems can influence the
nervous control of the ‘vital organs’ (the viscera),
such as the stomach or intestines, and treatment of
the spine can sometimes help seemingly unrelated
problems. Sometimes direct work on the viscera can
relieve symptoms. Indeed, many diseases have a
musculo-skeletal component.
Osteopathic diagnosis puts great emphasis on the
recognition of changes in the character of the soft
tissues surrounding a joint, (especially the spine)
of bony mal-alignments, and alteration in normal
physiological movements of the joints. Such changes
distort the normal flow of blood and lymph and nerve
impulses, blocking the return to health. Ideally,
treatment is aimed at normalizing blood and lymph
flow and nerve impulses, as far as possible, via
restoration of normal integrity of the soft tissues,
structural alignment and mobility of the joints. |
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Training,
Registration and Status
Osteopathy joined mainstream medicine in 1993 when
the Queen signed the Osteopathic bill, giving the
profession its Royal Charter. Following this the
General Osteopathic Council (GOsC) was
established in 1998 and became fully functional in
May 2000. Osteopaths therefore have the same legal
status as Doctors and the public will be fully
protected from unqualified practitioners through the
GOsC. To be registered with the GOsC Osteopaths must
undergo rigorous training at one of the country’s
accredited colleges.
Osteopathy has strong Royal links: Prince Charles is
President of the GOsC; Princess Diana was president
of the General Council and
Register of Osteopaths (GCRO)
& Princess Anne is patron of the
British School of Osteopathy. |
