What is Osteopathy?
“To find health is the object of the doctor. Anyone can find disease.”
- Andrew Taylor Still, founder of Osteopathy
Osteopathy is a philosophy, an art, and a hands-on medical practice. It is based on the understanding that only when all of the tissues and cells of the body function together in harmonious motion, can health be realized.
In practice, Osteopathic Manipulative Treatment (OMT) is a gentle hands-on approach to medicine that works with your body’s structure (soft tissues, muscles, bones, nervous system, etc.) to improve your overall function. In other words, treatment can help diagnose, treat, and prevent illness or injury.
Using OMT, your Osteopathic Physician (DO) will move your muscles and joints using techniques including stretching, gentle pressure and resistance.
When appropriate, OMT can complement – and even replace – drugs or surgery. In this way, Osteopathy can contribute profoundly to your overall Health.
Who can Benefit?
Anyone with structural relationships to their disease process. Especially those with a history of trauma. Also people who are looking to optimize their health and wellbeing.
Commonly treated conditions:
Cardiac
Atrial fibrillation, Coronary artery disease prevention, Hypertension
Gastrointestinal
Inflammatory Bowel Disease, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Constipation
Genitourinary
Urinary incontinence, Nighttime Urination, Prostatitis
Neurologic
Head trauma, Concussions, Whiplash injury, Migraines, Dizziness and vertigo
Respiratory
Allergies, Asthma, Bronchitis, Frequent colds
Psychiatric
ADD/ADHD, Anxiety, Depression, PTSD (acute and chronic)
Somatic
Osteoarthritis, Fibromyalgia, Joint or Muscular pain
Newborn/Pediatric
Autism, Breastfeeding difficulty, Cerebral Palsy, Colic, Developmental delay, Lip/Tongue ties, Otitis media, Plagiocephaly
Pregnancy
Back pain, Edema, Nausea and vomiting, Low back pain, Pelvic pain
Complex conditions
Autoimmune illness, Chronic Fatigue, Post-infectious syndromes
“Osteopathy is a science with possibilities as great as the magnitude of the heavens.”
— William Garner Sutherland, DO, Founder of Osteopathy in the Cranial Field (OCF)