What is Osteopathy?
Osteopathic Manual Therapy is a manual therapy that uses non invasive techniques with an Osteopathic understanding of anatomy to upbuild the patient’s constitution and vitality so that the body can do what it is designed to do: self heal and self regulate. Treatment focuses on the application of osteopathic principles with an in-depth understanding of anatomy and physiology. We use gentle techniques, including but not limited to myofascial release (MFR), post isometric relaxation (PIR), reciprocal inhibition (RI), compression, traction, and torsion.
‘Osteo’ is often immediately thought of as having to do with bone, which in common medical terminology is most often the case. However, in this instance the founder of Osteopathy (Andrew Taylor Still) was making reference to an older meaning of the word which refers to ‘structure’, wanting to evoke the idea of all structures of the body, not just the bones. The ‘pathy’ part of osteopathy has often been misinterpreted to mean disease (leading many to believe that osteopathy is the study of diseases of the bone). In fact, in this instance the use of the suffix ‘pathy’ is more to do with pathos, or ‘suffering’. Therefore, “Osteopathy”, taking the nuanced uses of ‘osteo’ + ‘pathy’ into consideration gives us a term which is trying to convey the idea of the suffering of the structures of the body. Osteopaths have traditionally viewed discord in the structures of the body as the root cause of disease and ill health affecting all body systems such as nervous, circulatory, lymphatic, digestion, endocrine, respiratory and reproductive systems.