WHAT IS OSTEOPATHY?
Osteopathy is a system and philosophy of healthcare that uses holistic manual medicine to treat neuro-musculo-skeletal disorders, diagnosed through biomechanical, orthopaedic and neurological assessment.
It was founded by Dr Andrew Taylor Still in 1874, a physician, farmer, author, also schooled in mechanical engineering, who strongly believed in the body's innate ability to heal. He taught that the role of the osteopath was to identify and correct structural imbalances which were underlying the development of disease and keeping the body from healing. Osteopathy is therefore a whole person approach to health and well-being, rather than merely focusing on symptoms.
Osteopathic treatment involves a wide array of gentle manual therapy skills, coupled with a detailed knowledge of anatomy, physiology and biomechanics, to remove restrictions in vascular, neural, musculoskeletal and visceral structures responsible for pain, disease or movement dysfunction. The aim of these normalizational techniques are to restore functional balance as well as the body’s integrity to self-regulate.
Osteopathy is build on a number of fundamental principles. Foundational to all of these is the recognition that the human being is a combination of mind, body and spirit. The principle of body unity further implies that all systems in the body, the musculoskeletal, neurological, cardiovascular, cranial, visceral, immune, endocrine, ext, are functionally connected and interdependent. Abnormalities in the structure or function of one system could also adversely affect the functionality of another. This implies that the underlying cause of pain or isease is very often found in a system other than where the symptoms are presenting.
Another fundamental principle of Osteopathy is that structure governs function. This means that restrictions in the musculoskeletal system will effect the functionality of other systems in the body, and often reflect dysfunctions elsewhere. For example, a fixation of the L1 vertebra in the lumbar spine can lead to constipation and inflammation of the colon. And since the colon is fascially connected to the lumbar spine, this chronic inflammation can also lead to pain or restriction in the lumbar spine. Another example would be a compression of the sphenoid on the occiput (bones in the cranium), which could cause severe metabolic disturbances or depression.
Other principles of Osteopathic medicine are that movement of body fluids are essential to the maintenance of health, and that the nervous system controls the body at all times. Treatment is therefore aimed at improving the flow of blood, lymph, and cerebrospinal fluid, improving neural communication, mobilising joints, reducing muscular and visceral tension and inflammation, through gentle osteopathic techniques. The traditional Osteopathy that Kobus practices aims to stimulate the parasympathetic nervous system, which makes treatment a very relaxing experience for patients.