Osteopathy works with the skeleton to alleviate muscle and joint pain. It also aims to improve the function of the skeletal frame which relaxes tensions and promotes general health.
Among the alternative medicine therapies involving spinal and physical manipulation, Osteopathy has become one of the best-known and most widely used in the western world. It is particularly popular for treating chronic back problems, slipped discs and joint disorders. Osteopathy is now so well established and now most conventional doctors and GP’s endorse it as a treatment.
What are the origins of Osteopathy?
Osteopathy was founded by Andrew Taylor Still, a US doctor working on the Missouri frontier in the late 19th century. He believed that health was based on the maintenance of healthy blood flow, and that hindrance or obstruction to blood flow would result in illness. According to Dr. Still, blood not only carried nutrients and other elements around the body, it also carried a life force. A pupil of Still’s, physiologist J. Martin Littlejohn, brought Osteopathy to Europe and set up the British School of Osteopathy (BSO) in 1917.
What level of training does an Osteopath have?
During the 1990s, as osteopathy gained mainstream acceptance and patient numbers soared, the first British degrees were approved in collaboration with universities. In 1993, the UK government passed the Osteopaths Act, which introduced a framework for professional registration and quality-assuring the increasingly popular undergraduate degrees. In this decade, the first masters courses have been developed, demonstrating osteopathy’s strong commitment to the highest standards of scientific and clinical research.
To call yourself an Osteopath, you must be registered with the General Osteopathic Council and member of the British Osteopathic Association. Students undergo a rigorous four-year full time medical degree program. These courses are available in the UK at private colleges and validated by universities.
What is the Osteopath Philosophy and Method?
A misalignment of the spine can affect your whole body, throwing your sense of balance into disarray and disturbing your overall health and wellbeing. Osteopathy aims to restore musculoskeletal flexibility and return you to complete health and performance.
First of all the Osteopath will listen carefully to a full description of your problem and how it occurred. A full case history is taken which the Osteopath will ask you adopt positions or certain movements in order to assess your posture. By watching carefully, the practitioner will detect misalignments of the joints, poor posture and any muscle imbalances which may be forcing other, stronger areas to compensate.
What skills and techniques does an Osteopath use?
The best osteopath is the best engineer; the best engineer is the best osteopath. – Andrew Taylor Still – Founder of Osteopathy
The general techniques used in Osteopathy fall into four categories: soft tissue techniques including neuromuscular therapy, articulatory techniques, functional treatment and visceral technique.
Soft tissue techniques involve the manipulation of muscles (see Neuromuscular Therapy). An Osteopath may use Muscle Energy Techniques, Positional Release and Strain/Counter Strain as used in Sports Massage. These skills are used prior to joint and spinal manipulation.
Articulatory techniques, such as high velocity thrusts, are manipulative techniques used to ease a joint beyond its full range of motion and used to ease stiffness. These include usually quick manoeuvres, which often produce a cracking sound from the joint being treated. An Osteopath will call this a correction because they are correcting a problem and restoring health and performance.
Functional treatment is aimed at restoring normal structure and function to the fascia, a web like layer of connective tissue that surrounds and connects the muscles, bones, skin and organs. Functional Osteopathy treatment may start anywhere in the body and the osteopath “follows” the fascia as it unwinds and relaxes. Thomas Myres who developed the concept of Myofascial Anatomy trains in that the fascia follows train tracks throughout the body that are interconnected. The Osteopath will most likely be familiar with this concept and use it accordingly in restoring the normal structure of the fascia just like a Rolfer.
Visceral Osteopathy involves the same approach as functional treatment, but the Osteopath directs them to the internal organs, collectively known as the viscera. The technique usually focuses on the abdomen, as your organs are connected to your spinal cord and musculoskeletal system via the autonomic nervous system. Often times, when an organ is in trouble (lack of motility, compression due to posture, lack of blood supply or malnutrition) the organ can mimic pain in your musculoskeletal system.
Cranial Osteopathy (The Cranium meaning your skull bones) is carried out by a trained Osteopath who has specialist training in the cranial field. It is based on the concept that there are rhythms within the cranium which regulate the body and its systems. By using subtle techniques, these cranial bones can be manipulated to restore health and performance.
What conditions can be helped with Osteopathy?
Neck and back pains and injuries can be helped, particularly injury to the joints such as the shoulders and back bone. Other problems for example in the hips, knees and ankles, can also be treated, as well as arthritis and rheumatism. Headaches, Migraines and fibromyalgia can also be helped with Osteopath treatment.
What is the difference between Osteopathy and Chiropractic?
The objectives of osteopathy and chiropractic are similar in that they aim to restore health to the musculoskeletal system and improve health and wellness as a whole. Chiropractors focus more on the spinal column and the individual spinal segments, whereas the Osteopath will address the spine as well as the soft tissues such as muscles, tendons, ligaments and interconnected organs and fascia. Osteopaths also train in cranial techniques as described above.
In practice there is more of a cross over in the way that the two professions treat their patients; however there are differences in techniques. After working in a Chiropractic Clinic alongside Chiropractors the difference in leverage is different when using manipulation and a Chiropractic treatment will be much shorter than Osteopathy, however this is not always the case. Many Chiropractors continue to further their knowledge in Acupuncture, Neurology, the upper cervical spine (NUCCA Chiropractic) and Functional Medicine just like an Osteopath would.
Many Osteopaths are also trained Naturopaths (ND) and they will be more holistic in their approach, utilising a mind-body approach also using nutrition, exercise and improving lifestyle factors alongside Osteopathy.
Tom Smith is currently studying a Masters of Osteopathy and Naturopathy at the British College of Osteopathic Medicine (BCOM)