Learn about Osteopathy and Osteopaths
- Osteopathy.NaturalHealthcare.ca

What is Osteopathy?

Osteopathy as a practice was founded in the late 1800s by Andrew Taylor Still, an MD who believed that treating the whole person, body, mind, and spirit, was necessary. He believed in treating the source of the problem and not the symptoms, and in hands-on diagnosis and treatment. He held that, "medicine should begin with the patient, continue with patient, and end with the patient."

It differs from Chiropractic (which followed the introduction of Osteopathic care by only a few years) in that Osteopathy does not stop at the spine as the main source of pain and disease, searching not only the entire body for the source of any ailments, but external influences as well, such as stress, depression, etc.

What to expect.
Your first visit to the Osteopath will require a full body examination, including your movements, while the Doctor uses his or her hands to feel for aberrations. This could consist of (but is not limited to) knots in muscles and fascia, joints clicking, and asymmetry between the sides of your body.

The recommendations your Osteopathic Doctor may make could include changes to your movement, diet, and/or sleeping habits, plus stretches and specific exercises and possibly osteopathic manipulative treatments. This is in keeping with Still's belief that, "one of the first duties of the physician is to educate the masses not to take medicine."

In Canada, Doctors of Osteopathy must complete a five-year course in addition to certain academic and professional prerequisites.

Ask your prospective Osteopath where and when he or she studied and what techniques they use. In the US, training includes that of a licensed MD or Surgeon, plus additional training in Osteopathic Manipulation and "total person wellness". However, because of the differences between countries, a US-trained Doctor of Osteopathy cannot practice Medicine (write prescriptions) in the manner they can in the US.

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