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About Osteopathy What Is Osteopathy? Is Osteopathy Right for Me? How Do I Choose?

Glossary Treatment Applications Types of Osteopathy Credentials

What Is Osteopathy?

Osteopathy is a branch of medicine that takes a holistic approach to treating illness while embracing all the practices of conventional (allopathic) medicine. This philosophy distinguishes osteopathy. Osteopaths regard the body as a unit, not a collection of separate parts. Central to this thought is the idea that the musculoskeletal system is key to the health of all parts of the body and that the body has a natural tendency to heal itself. (“Osteo” means bone, “path” means to suffer.)

Osteopathic doctors incorporate manual treatments that manipulate the muscles, bones, and joints, realigning them to treat a variety of ailments. They assess the whole person, not just their bodies or their symptoms, and also place an emphasis on preventive care. They tend to pay closer attention to factors like family history, attitude, diet, exercise, smoking, high blood pressure, cholesterol levels, stress, mood, social interactions, and other lifestyle factors.

The field of osteopathy was founded in 1874. Andrew Taylor Still, the father of osteopathic medicine, was dissatisfied with conventional medicine and believed many medications to be useless or even detrimental to health. Pioneering the concept of “wellness,” Still regarded the person beyond the specific disease. To this day, osteopathy focuses more on preventive health and patient care than allopathic medicine, encouraging patients to take responsibility for their well-being and adopt healthy patterns of living.