What is Osteopathy?

Osteopathy has been around since its “discovery” by Andrew Taylor Still in 1874. An ardent abolitionist, spiritualist & surgeon in the Union Army during the American Civil War, Still's aim was to reform & improve medicine as it was practiced at the time.

Still fused bone setting with spiritualist ideas of harmonious circulation to treat patients in post-bellum Missouri. By treating their chronic musculoskeletal complaints with manipulation, rather than the uncontrolled dosing of the limited & powerful drugs at the time (e.g. morphine), he found that many non-musculoskeletal ailments also appeared to improve (though it may just be that osteopathic care was better than standard care at the time for various reasons).

Today, osteopathy is a manual therapy for the relief of symptoms relating to the musculoskeletal system (bones, joints, muscles, ligaments & tendons). These include:

• Back & neck pain (e.g lumbar pain, upper back pain).
• Shoulder pain (e.g. rotator cuff problems, frozen shoulder).
• Elbow, hand & wrist pain.
• Hip & knee pain.
• Foot & ankle pain (e.g. plantar fasciitis).
• Certain types of headaches.
• Muscle & tendon strains (e.g. tennis elbow).
• Ligament sprains.
• Joint pain, such as the pain of osteoarthritis (or age-related changes as we call them these days).
• Nerve pain (e.g. sciatica or pain relating to the sciatic nerve).

There is also some limited & anecdotal evidence that it may help relieve symptoms of some other problems such as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), gastro-oesophageal reflux (GOR) & asthma.

In the UK, osteopathy is one of 14 Allied Health Professions (AHP) designated by the NHS. It is regulated by its own statutory body, the General Osteopathic Council (GOsC), with which all osteopaths must be registered.

You do not need a referral from a GP to make an appointment with me - just contact me direct!