“When you have adjusted the physical to its normal demands. Nature supplies the remainder.” Dr Andrew Taylor Still. Founder of Osteopathy

Osteopathy

Osteopathy is a holistic, non-invasive manual therapy that focuses on total body health by treating & strengthening the musculoskeletal framework, including the spine, joints & muscles. Its aim is to positively influence the body's nervous, circulatory & lymphatic systems. Osteopaths do not simply concentrate on treating the problem area, but use manual techniques to balance all the systems of the body, to provide overall good health and wellbeing. Osteopathy can benefit people of any age from the elderly to the newborn & from pregnant women to sports people.

Benefits of Osteopathy
Difference Between an Osteopath and a Chiropractor
Diagnosis by an Osteopath and a Chiropractor
Treatment by an Osteopath and Chiropractor
Chiropractic Treatment Compared to Osteopathic Treatment
Difference between an Osteopath and a Physiotherapist
Diagnosis and Referreral to a Physiotherapist or Osteopath
Treatment by an Osteopath Compared to Treament by a Physiotherapist

What Osteopathy can Treat...

Sciatica/Trapped nerves Osteopathy
Elbow/Shoulder Pain
Tight Sore muscles
Disc Problems
Headaches and migraines
Ankle, knee and foot Problems
Poor hip mobility
Joint and Arthritic pains
Sport injuries
Postural Problems
Neck problems/Whiplash
Pregnancy related aches and pains

Benefits of Osteopathy...

will relieve your aches & pains
will help to improve your posture resulting in less back pain
will help improve your mobility & movement
will help you return to normal life & everyday activities quicker
will relieve built up tension & prevent sleepless nights
will enable quick recovery for athletes & sports people
will help with advice for prevention of pain

Difference between an Osteopath and a Chiropractor

The holistic approaches used by osteopaths are also used by a number of other health professionals including chiropractors. Both osteopaths and chiropractors are regulated by law and have to be registered with their regulatory council (such as the general council of chiropractors, GCC). This ensures that you know that you will receive a minimum standard of care and treatment whatever chiropractor or osteopath you choose to visit.
Similarly to osteopathic education and training, chiropractors will have undertaken a 3 or 4 year degree (accredited with the general council of chiropractors) before they can become registered with the GCC.

Diagnosis by an Osteopath and Chiropractor

Osteopaths treat and diagnose problems with your bones, soft tissue and muscles by looking at the function of your body as a whole. However, chiropractors look at the effect that your bones, soft tissue and muscles have on your nervous system specifically the nerves that run within your spine.

Treatment by an Osteopath and Chiropractor

Osteopaths use palpitation, massage and movement (concentrating on the soft tissues) to re-balance your body’s structure in a way that enhances your blood flow and nerve function. This allows your body’s natural healing process to be improved. Chiropractors use manipulation to adjust the position of your spine and joints in order to improve your nerve function and healing ability.

Chiropractic Treatment compared to Osteopathic Treatment

The similarities between chiropractic and osteopathic treatment are obvious and in fact the gentleman who founded chiropractic was a student of Dr Andrew Taylor Still (the founder of osteopathy). However you should be aware that subtle differences between the two techniques may make one more suitable for you than the other.Chiropractic treatment involves the manipulation of your bone alignment (usually your spine) so you might hear popping or clicking noises as the bones move relative to each other. This is perfectly normal with chiropractic treatment, but if you think that the noise will bother you a great deal, then you might want to consider visiting an osteopath instead.

Difference between an Osteopath and a Physiotherapist

Physiotherapy is another treatment method that uses palpitation (massage) to alleviate symptoms and students have to carry out an accredited 3 or 4 year university course (graduating with a BSc Physiotherapy) before they can become registered as a practising physiotherapist. Whilst this appears to be very similar to osteopathy, there are a number of subtle differences between osteopathy and physiotherapy that may make one treatment method more suitable for you than the other. Physiotherapy is very popular within the NHS and is therefore a common form of treatment that is referred to by GPs and hospital doctors and surgeons.

Diagnosis and Referral to a Physiotherapist or Osteopath

Unlike osteopaths, physiotherapists do not often diagnose specific ailments or illnesses (this is often because their patients have been referred to them by a GP who has pre-diagnosed the problem). It is common for patients to be referred to a physiotherapist for a specific problem. For example, if you break your leg badly, you will often be referred to a physiotherapist who will treat you and give you exercises to carry out at home in order to strengthen your muscles back up during your recovery. So, whilst osteopaths treat your body as a whole (in a holistic manner), physiotherapists will often concentrate on the problem stated by the referee (or the patient) so that the treatment is more specified for the ailment.

Treatment by an Osteopath Compared to Treatment by a Physiotherapist

Physiotherapy treatment would be more area specific than osteopathic treatment. For example if you were having physiotherapy treatment on your knee, they would mostly work in the area around the knee joint as well as giving you some knee exercises to carry out at home. However an osteopath would treat your body as a whole and would want to include treatments that would improve your posture as a whole (so they might want to massage around your knee, hip and back and give you advice on how to improve your posture to reduce the strain on your knee).

In addition to palpitation (touch, massage and movement) a physiotherapist might use ultrasound or a transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulator (TENS) machine to treat your problem area. Ultrasound work in a similar way to deep massage by generating movement and heat in the soft tissues targeted by the machine which releases tension in the area. TENS machines are thought to reduce the pain felt in an area by releasing tiny waves of electrical pulses that stimulates the nerves. However this method does not work for everybody.

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