“To find health should be the object of the doctor. Anyone can find disease.” (A.T. Still)

Definition

Osteopathy is the science of natural medicine that studies the human body by considering the totality of its interrelated systems.

Osteopathy is based on biomechanical principals as applied to the body. The main emphasis of the diagnosis and treatment is the restoration of structural integrity of the body. Osteopathy recognizes that pain and dysfunction stem from poor structural integrity of the body systems, including musculoskeletal and visceral systems. It must be emphasized that osteopathy is not an alternative to conventional medicine but can be an effective complement to modern medicine.

Osteopath working. Osteopathy involves “thinking outside the box”. In conventional medicine, the focus is often on treatment of the painful area. Osteopathy seeks to find the original cause or source of the pain. If however, a problem in a distal area is causing pain, the pain is not going to be resolved by local treatments. Very often small restrictions in the tissue lead to impaired circulation causing tissue quality to deteriorate. Deteriorated tissue restricts mobility causing pain and eventually leading to failure of function. The focus in osteopathy is to discover the source of the problem and treat the systems involved to effect overall change in the body.