What is osteopathy?
Osteopathy is a holistic system of treatment for a wide range of medical conditions. It is a discipline that maintains that the good health and harmonious interrelation of skeleton, muscles, ligaments and connective tissues are crucial to an individual’s well-being. To an osteopath, for a body to work well, its structure must work well too. Therefore, through touch, physical manipulation, stretching and massage, and using high-level medical and scientific training, an osteopath can diagnose and treat a patient. Osteopathy can help long-running, chronic or acute ailments, as well as injuries, and often identifies underlying problems of which the patient had been unaware. Though osteopathy favours what is called a “whole-body” approach, some osteopaths specialise either in what they treat or in how they practise. However, all osteopaths believe that a body that is not working well structurally will be predisposed to disease and that treating musculo-skeletal problems benefits health in very many ways. The World Health Organisation recognises osteopathy as scientifically valid whilst the British Medical Association regards it as a discrete treatment discipline with wide applicability.
What is the history of osteopathy?
Osteopathy was developed in the second half of the nineteenth century by a Missouri doctor named Andrew Taylor Still. After the American Civil War and the death of three of his children from meningitis, A.T. Still became convinced that there was a direct link between the body’s musculo-skeletal system and good health. He also believed that conventional physicians treated people with excessive medication. Devoting his life to finding a way to better treat disease with these ideas in mind, he developed the basic philosophies of what came to be known as osteopathy, from the Greek word for bone. By the 1890s he had set up a training college and his ideas began to spread abroad. The first osteopaths arrived in the UK in the early 1900s, and by the interwar period the first British training colleges were established. During the 1990s, as osteopathy gained mainstream acceptance and patient numbers soared, the first British degrees were approved in collaboration with universities. In 1993, the UK government passed the Osteopaths Act, which introduced a framework for professional registration and quality-assuring the increasingly popular undergraduate degrees. In this decade, the first masters courses have been developed, demonstrating osteopathy’s strong commitment to the highest standards of scientific and clinical research.
What conditions are treated by osteopathy?
Osteopathy is best known as a treatment for musculo-skeletal problems. Very common complaints with which patients come to osteopaths include back and neck pain, pain in shoulders, hips, knees, ankles and feet, slipped discs, repetitive-strain injury, sciatica, “frozen” or immobile joints, among others. Some patients seek out osteopathic treatment after a specific injury, maybe sustained at work or whilst playing sport, or after suffering whiplash. Others come for help with a condition which has not been resolved by another type of practitioner, either medical or complementary. But osteopathy has a much wider scope than just “aches and pains”. The gentleness of the treatment means it is very useful in treating even the youngest children, pregnant women, the elderly or those who wish to avoid excessive medication. It has been used very successfully in helping those with chronic asthma and arthritis. It is also effective in the treatment of certain gynaecological and chronic-fatigue problems. Moreover, because you will have much more time with an osteopath than with your GP, there will be time for you to fully explain your condition and for the practitioner to ask questions and make suggestions.
How do I train to become an osteopath?
Osteopathic education has developed enormously in recent years. Training colleges now routinely offer degrees which have been approved through collaboration with a university. These courses are usually a mix of comprehensive practical and clinical training as an osteopath with the conventional scientific and physiological studies that you would associate with a medical degree. The most innovative colleges are now introducing masters degrees so that postgraduates can undertake research and develop their clinical expertise. Most good degree courses would expect three science A levels or the equivalent for entry although, as with elsewhere in higher education, other routes to study, especially for mature students, are increasingly considered. An osteopathic degree usually lasts four to five years. The rewards of practising as an osteopath are many: a highly satisfying professional life; excellent financial rewards; a chance to be self-employed within a growing healthcare industry. Fully qualified osteopaths can also find employment in university-level teaching, corporate consultancy, work with animals and many other fields.
Is osteopathy safe?
How do I know my osteopath or osteopathic training is safe?
Osteopathic treatment is among the safest forms of treatment. A fundamental part of osteopathic training is knowing when osteopathic treatment is appropriate and when to refer to a medical practitioner, for example. What’s more, just as a doctor learns which type of medication is best for a particular treatment, osteopaths learn which techniques will suit individual patients. Osteopathy is perhaps the most scientifically validated of complementary therapies with a now-significant body of research to support both its therapeutic usefulness and scientific basis. It is widely accepted among the public in many countries that osteopaths perform a distinct healthcare service alongside medical practitioners. In the UK, the 1993 Osteopaths Act recognised the need for a professional register of osteopaths and to review and quality-assure the training courses that had become increasingly popular. The General Osteopathy Council was formed and it is responsible for ensuring the safety of patients and the quality of osteopathic education. Another important professional body is the British Osteopathic Association. Any practitioner wishing to practise as an osteopath must, by law, be entered on the GOsC register which oversees the educational, clinical and professional standards of the teaching institutions.
Where can I find out more?
How do I find an osteopath?
Registered osteopaths can be found easily through Yellow Pages or using the internet. College websites will give fuller information about how to apply for an osteopathic course, right through to masters-degree level. You could even seek treatment at a college clinic, where you can see the whole process of osteopathic treatment and training in action.
