Read more about osteopathy:

Wikipedia, in a long and informative article about Osteopathy, states that: "(Osteopathy) emphasises the interrelationship between structure and function and recognizes the body's ability to heal itself; it is the role of the osteopathic practitioner to facilitate that process". 

The principles about health and disease on which Osteopathy was developed and continues to flourish can be summarised as follows:

1. The body is a unit. Every part of the body is related to every other part: the word "health" comes from the same origin as the word "whole", so that to restore health, the body has to make itself whole again. This encompasses every aspect of the person, not just the physical.
2. The body possesses self-correcting mechanisms, having the inherent capacity to defend and repair itself. We know this because broken bones mend, wounds heal, and disease is overcome.
3. Structure and function are reciprocally inter-related. Every organ, every tissue, has a form, structure and position which define its function.
4. A rational system of therapy is based on the first three principles.

The job of the Osteopath is therefore to find the impediments to the self-regulatory, self-healing processes and help to alleviate them as much as possible, within the limits of what the body is capable of at any one time.  

Any tissue or organ of the body, whether bone, skin, or muscle, depends for its health, and indeed its very existence, on having a good blood supply; good drainage; and an uninterrupted nerve supply. It is these considerations that will shape the osteopath's thinking to determine suitable treatment, while always being aware of the first principle of wholeness and unity.

But wholeness comes from aspects of the person beyond the purely physical. We need to understand a person's history, and something about their way of life, to be able to advise them about the most suitable regime of treatment and maintenance.

• Accessibility
• Legal
• Contacts
• Site index
• Login