What is Osteopathy? What can an osteopath treat?

I first came across osteopathy as I was recovering from a rather unpleasant accident which produced a badly prolapsed lumbo-sacral disc, and resulted in an orthopaedic operation called a discectomy. I had been warned that my recovery prospects were not good, but my encounter with osteopathy changed all that. A decade and a half later, when I decided on a career change and screened the full range of health professions, osteopathy again came out tops.

Osteopathy is a manual therapy which aims to diagnose and treat a wide range of physical conditions causing pain, stiffness, weakness or malfunction throughout the body. Although osteopathy is mainly known for dealing with spinal pain, the range of conditions successfully treated covers a much wider range of musculoskeletal and organic diseases, including

• Headaches and migraines
• Whiplash injuries
• Neck and shoulder tension (known as the office syndrome…)
• Frozen shoulder
• Asthma
• Arthritis, of both degenerative and inflammatory source
• Digestive complaints – e.g. irritable bowel syndrome
• Sciatic pain
• Pre and post-natal pain
• Sports injuries – e.g. tendonitis, muscle strains etc.

Osteopathy is distinctive in its focus on looking at the patient as a whole: it takes into account how the whole body moves and adjusts to pain, it is interested in the patient’s diet, exercise and lifestyle, all of which are factored into the diagnosis and treatment process. Further, using essentially only hands and brain, the osteopath will work with the patient to facilitate good structural alignment, tissue health and organ function that will alleviate pain, prevent symptom re-occurrence and foster a return to stable long-term health.

It is because of its holistic approach, and the stringent clinical standards required of osteopaths by the General Osteopathic Council, that I firmly believe in the healing power of good osteopathic treatment.