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Osteopathy - What is it
By Roger Kingston of Roger Kingston - Osteopath
What is Osteopathy A system of manual medicine that does not involve the use of drugs or surgery. There are similarities with chiropractic and physiotherapy but in reality the differences are enormous.
A modern day osteopath has a highly trained sense of touch (palpation) which takes thousands of hours to develop and is able to read and diagnose illness and mechanical dysfunction in the human body. Whilst they also receive training in the medical sciences it is this highly attuned sense of palpation that differentiates them. Historically Osteopathy was developed in the Mid West of America at the time of the Civil War by Dr Still. This was at the time when amputation, bleeding, leeches, mercury and snake medicine was still common practice. Still felt there had to be a better way and he started experimenting on his patients on the assumption that a “blockage to health” in the body if overcome would restore health. Over many years he developed a system and then a school to teach his methods as his results were spectacular. As medicine progressed in the States the Osteopathic Drs absorbed the new changes but integrated them into their own manual systems. Over the years American Osteopaths have become almost indistinguishable from the MDs, though a significant percentage do still practice “hands on medicine”. In Australia and the UK, Osteopaths remain a non drug or surgery based practitioner. Fully licenced by the State. They are university trained and registered ensuring that the public is safe from the unqualified. Working as primary care practitioners they work predominantly in private practice with some now working in the National Health Services. Osteopaths tend to deal predominantly with back, neck, shoulder and general musculoskeletal pain. Should a case require further investigation or surgery then that patient is referred to an appropriate specialist. In most cases osteopaths are perfectly capable of dealing with the majority of musculoskeletal conditions that present to them. Firstly a full case history is taken, similar to your Dr’s, and then you will be observed bending / moving, performing specific tasks. You may have your reflexes tested, blood pressure recorded, eyes examined etc to help the osteopath reach a “medical” diagnosis. However there is a second diagnosis, an “osteopathic” diagnosis and this is made predominantly by palpation of the affected tissues and locating the problem. An example might be of a person complaining of extreme low back pain with sciatica and this may be due to a bulging intervertebral disk. The standard medical treatment might be bed rest, pain killers or if persistent - surgery. An osteopath would first want to get this person out of pain by offloading the pressure on the sciatic nerve and he might do this by stretching and relaxing the muscle spasm around it and then by manipulating the adjacent intervertebral joint (cracking it). By increasing the mobility of the “jammed up” area and reducing the inflammation the nerve will have a chance to recover. The osteopath would then want to follow his patient to ensure a return to normal function through a program of rehabilitation. In cases where the patient can not tolerate strong treatment there are very gentle techniques which are equally efficient and are suitable for even babies or the very sick. In fact many osteopaths specialise in “cranial osteopathy” and the treatment of babies and pregnant mums. This can be very effective especially if the baby has had a traumatic birth and has since been unsettled, colicky or simply will not stop crying.
Dr Roger Kingston is an osteopath, cranial osteopath and paediatric trained osteopath with a practice Buderim - Queensland, Australia and simply known as the Buderim Osteopath.
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http://www.osteopathic.com.au/
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Great information. I had a doctor in the past that did this and I did not know he was a osteopathic. I just thought he was a magic man.
Thank you for sharing this very informative intel, Roger.
Well written and an enjoyable read.
Keep up the good work.
Best wishes.
Frederick
When I read your sentence A modern day osteopath has a highly trained sense of touch (palpation) which takes thousands of hours to develop I immediately thought of the Pinball Wizard except you use those skills on people rather than pinball machines.
I have a good friend that is an D.O. What he told me, if I remember right, is that D.O.s have a more "humanistic" approach as opposed to M.D.s. They tend to be more caring and make great G.P.s. (Wow... all those initials...)
Ahh, now I know what an osteopath is, thank you! Don't know of any where I live but if I found one I wonder if my insurance would pay for a visit. Considering my pain level makes it very difficult for me to tolerate any type of pressure on my neck, back or hips I would probably be afraid to try. Great information though, thanks for sharing. I should have read this one first.
Hi Roger, your profession is great. Having seen/experienced the adverse effects of drugs and surgery, healing a person not using these is a gift. Wish you more success and joy...
Thank you Roger. I read this with great interest.
I am impressed about the qualities of the osteopathy profession.
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