What Is Oestopathy?
Osteopathy is a system of healthcare that assesses, diagnoses and treats the whole body and many health problems. It considers all aspects of a patient's life, examines many of the systems of the body to make an evaluation of the general health of the patient and identify the damage, strains and tensions causing the symptoms.
Osteopaths can detect and treat strains or damage to the body, including those to nerves, muscles, ligaments, tendons, blood vessels and joints. This damage may have been caused by work, recreational or sports-related injuries. Osteopaths work with these tissues and structures, the aim of the treatment is to engage the body’s own self-repairing mechanisms and, in this way, to relieve pain and improve body function.
An osteopathic treatment can also have profound effects on the efficiency and health of the body, such as circulatory, respiratory, neurological and digestive systems.
When the human body is in perfect balance and working efficiently, it will function with the minimum of wear and tear, stress, or energy consumption being caused. This, in turn, reduces pain, disability and subsequent physical exhaustion. Osteopathy will therefore help you to carry out your daily activities at work and home and will also aid you in sport and other recreational pastimes.
How Does Oesteopathy Work?
Osteopathy is a therapeutic system of diagnosis and treatment that uses precise manual techniques to restore disordered body framework to optimal mechanical and structural ease. Osteopathic treatment enhances overall bodily movement, the function of the nervous and circulatory systems and improves nutrition and drainage to tissues, thus assisting the body's inherent healing processes.
Osteopaths treat people for a wide range of conditions, including pain and stiffness in any area of the body, from head to toes. They use a variety of hands on techniques, and are noted for their sensitive and finely tuned sense of touch (palpation).
Osteopaths are trained in diagnosis and take a full case history, perform conventional medical testing procedures and use their skill of palpation and motion testing to additionally diagnose a patient's condition. Restrictions in joint movements, areas of tension and tightness in the muscles and problems in the connective tissues under the skin are diagnosed. These are treated using a wide range of techniques. Osteopaths make their choice of treatment depending upon the patient and the condition, and may give advice on posture, exercise, lifting procedures, nutrition etc.
The profession of Osteopathy was founded by an American pioneer doctor, Dr Andrew Taylor Still (1828-1917) in 1874. It began as a reform school of medicine which re-introduced the concept of the importance of the musculoskeletal system in the maintenance of health.