Osteopathy is a manual therapy consisting of finding the cause of pain. The origin of pain isn’t always located where it hurts! In osteopathy the body is considered as being one whole, one entity: all parts are interconnected.

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The osteopath considers three different systems:

➀ The musculoskeletal system:

This is our mobility system, consisting of bones, muscles, tendons, ligaments and articulations. When a blockage or loss of mobility occurs, we feel it straight away: for instance when blocked in the back, certain movements are difficult and/or painful.

➁ The visceral system:

This system consists of our viscerals and their membranes, the blood vessels, the lymph vessels and the nerves. If a visceral has a lack of mobility, it doesn’t function well. This mobility loss can also influence the musculoskeletal system. That’s the reason why a healthy nutrition is extremely important!

➂ The craniosacral system:

This system is situated between the skull and the sacrum. It consists of the skull, the spine, the cerebral fluid, the cerebral membranes, as well as the central nervous system. The skull is made of a twenty bones, meticulously joined by sutures. In babies and children the skull is still very flexible. Thus, by working on the craniosacral system, good results are being achieved and we positively influence the development of the child. The mobility of this system is an indicator of the health of the patient.

The osteopath is looking for a lack of mobility in these three systems. Using manipulations (if necessary), mobilisations and stretching techniques he makes the body recover its natural mobility and therefore restores its optimal function.

Fundamental Concepts

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Classical osteopathy is a system of healing which was formulated over a hundred years ago by AT Still and then further interpreted by JM Littlejohn. It encompasses the Hippocratic concept of Vis Medicatrix Naturae, ‘the healing power of nature’, where the body is seen not as a machine, but as a vital living organism with a normal tendency towards self-healing, elimination and health. The development of disease depends on any factors which lowers the vital force or the vitalising processes of the patient and compromises the organism’s ability to recover. It follows therefore that the osteopathic lesion is not a bony lesion, but a physiological one and that any disease or disturbance must be addressed through physiological processes.

This approach of health promotion is directly in contrast to orthodox medicine, which delivers a more linear/ pathogenic approach to treatment of disease and its symptoms via the use of pharmaceuticals. In osteopathy, health is not merely viewed as an absence of disease, but as a state of complete physical, mental and social wellbeing. The osteopathic therapeutic concern is therefore to adjust the body’s capacity to deal with environmental stressors, whether these be on a mento-emotional, physical or biochemical level.

This process was termed simply as ‘Adjustment’ by JM Littlejohn and implies perfect structural adjustment, including bones, muscles, ligaments, blood vessels etc. , perfect neurological adjustment and adjustment of the individual to their environment by considering factors such as diet, hydration level, sanitation, social interactions, stress levels, sleep pattern and so on.