Osteopathic Philosophy and Complete Care.

Osteopaths recognise and maintain that the human body possesses its own healing powers and defence mechanisms by which it can overcome and adapt to any stresses of life, either physical or other. It can only do this efficiently, however, when it has adequate nutrition and a sound structural integrity. This ability to heal is shown in an obvious way when a bone fracture occurs. Even if left to itself, the bone would eventually heal by itself, although modern medical techniques and interventions can help it to heal in better alignment. Osteopathy itself is just such an intervention, in that it is used to direct the body's own healing powers onto the right road. In other words, when the body has lost its structural integrity, osteopathy can help to restore it and thus promote healing.


The concept of the body as an integrated unit means that all areas of the body are interrelated and have effects on each other. Thus an area where there is a dysfunction not only causes problems or pain in that localised area, but can also lead to pain and other problems in remote sites of the body via the systems of blood and lymph circulation and nerve pathways. For example, if a person sustains a simple injury to a foot, which causes them to limp, this can lead to an imbalance in the pelvis, which in turn leads to a curvature in the spine. From there a dysfunction in the joints of the spine can occur, causing muscle tension and inflammation and impingeing on the spinal nerves. This can go on to cause a whole legion of problems in the areas which are supplied by the nerves. These can also include problems with internal organs such as the lungs, bowels, bladder, womb, etc. It can be easily seen why an osteopath will need to look at the whole body! This concept also extends to include psychological factors. It is astounding what a dramatic effect a state of mind can have on physical symptoms. Stress, fear, anger, worry, etc can all cause physical problems and the osteopath will need to take these factors into account.


From the above it can be seen that the proper structure of the musculoskeletal system is extremely important to the body's ability to heal injuries. Structural integrity of the various components of the musculoskeletal system, comprising the spine, joints, bones, muscles, ligaments and other connective tissues, is essential in order that the body's natural defences have the best chance to do their work. If this integrity is impaired by imbalances and misalignments the person will have less resistance to the stresses and strains of everyday life and this can lead to ill health. This is where the osteopath's tenet of "Structure Governs Function" arises and this is the basis of an osteopathic treatment.

Dr Andrew Taylor Still was the founder of osteopathy. He discovered its benefits by accident when he was a child of ten years. He used to suffer with excruciating headaches from which he could get no relief. One day he tied a rope covered in a towel across a gap between two trees and lay down with his head and neck resting on it. He fell asleep and found when he woke up that his headache had entirely disappeared. He later realised that he had inhibited the nerves at the back of the skull and improved the blood flow.



He was in fact a medical doctor, but became disillusioned with allopathic medicine when three of his children died in an outbreak of meningitis, and he was unable to do anything. He began studying the human body and formulated the belief that the human body has an innate ability to heal itself and that poor health could result from restrictions in the musculoskeletal framework. Because the nerves and blood vessels must pass through or around muscle, bone and other connective tissues, any structural imbalance can, indeed, have widespread effects on the whole body. Through this relationship, osteopathy can sometimes help with conditions such as migraine, irritable bowel syndrome asthma and sinusitis, to name just a few.