EAST COAST OSTEOPATHY

Osteopathy is a form of manual medicine that was developed by A.T. Still in the 1800s. Still trained as a Doctor in Kansas, USA. Frustrated by the shortcomings of the medicine of his time he developed a new way to help people, which he named Osteopathy.

 

Over a lifetime Still developed a set of fundamental principles for Osteopathic practitioners to use in the diagnosis, treatment and management of patients. 

 

His principles included: recognising the interconnectedness between our body and its function at all levels, and knowing that the human body has an innate capacity and drive to repair and self-regulate, provided the conditions are right. He therefore saw disease as a disruption in the bodies ability to self regulate and injury a loss of physical adaption.

 

Modern Osteopaths continue to use A.T. Still's principles combined with new developments in the understanding of health, science and medicine. They use a variety of manual treatment techniques and health advice to address dysfunction and to support the body’s own repair and self-regulating systems. 

 

There are no specific repeatable treatment protocols, rather, in the assessment and management of a patient the Osteopath recognises that each patient’s health is unique and is the result of interactions between the individual’s physical, psychological and environmental factors.

 

More information

 

• Benchmarks for Education and Training of Osteopaths

• Australian Osteopathic Association

• British Osteopathic Association