History
The system of osteopathy was developed by an american physician called Dr Andrew Taylor-Still. He was known as the "Father of Osteopathy". The system was developed around 1850. He became disheartened with the drug therapy of his day and set out to treat all manner of illnesses with a system of Manual Medicine. He founded this philosophy of medicine based on ideas that date back to Hippocrates, the Father of Medicine. This philosophy focuses on the unity of all body parts. He identified the musculoskeletal system as a key element of health. He believed that if muscles and/or bones were misaligned, this would interfere with the normal blood flow and nerve conduction in the body, and thus impede the body's ability to heal itself. He greatly believed that the body could heal itself given the optimum conditions. He stressed the importance of preventative medicine.
Modern day osteopathy
Students of osteopathy today have to complete a minimum of 4 years training. There is a regulatory body called the General Osteopathic Council, which acts like the General Medical Council does with medical doctors. This is there to regulate the practice of osteopathy, ensuring that it is safe for patients to use.
What to expect
The osteopath will take a detailed history of your presenting condition with any other relevant medical details. You will usually be asked to undress to underwear. The osteopath observes posture, signs of pain and various movements which may alleviate or aggravate the problem. You are usually asked to lie down on a treatment couch and various movements of limbs and spine are carried out to identify the problem. Once identified, treatment consists of muscle stretching, soft tissue massage and manipulation of misaligned joints.
The osteopath will also give advice on exercise to help maintain the condition in a satisfactory state. Sometimes only one treatment session is needed to correct the problem. Other times, depending on how severe and chronic the problem is, this may require more regular treatment sessions.
What can it Treat?
Osteopaths are renowned for "Fixing low Backs". Although this is true and some 60% of an osteopath's workload consists of treating low back pain, they also treat many other conditions, many of which are musculoskeletal in origin such as, arthritis, whiplash injury, sports injury, sciatica and trapped nerves etc. However, many other conditions also respond to osteopathic intervention such as migraine, irritable bowel syndrome and other pain syndromes which do not respond to conventional treatment.
Generally speaking there are no adverse effects to osteopathy. Sometimes for 24 hours after treatment the patient may feel sore. This can be a common occurrence and is usually due to an inflammatory response which settles in 24 hours.
What is the difference between Osteopathy and Chiropractic?
We are similar in principle in that we both treat the musculoskeletal system. There are differences in the way that we approach the treatment plan, but our aim is the same: to improve blood flow in the affected area of the body in order to allow it to heal by natural methods.
For further information please contact the Earlsdon Practice.