How to Describe Osteopathy

A holistic medicine that is practiced worldwide is osteopathy. It's similiar to chiropractic care in that osteopaths believe that manipulating the spine can have powerful effects on the rest of the body. Osteopathic doctors believe in the body's innate ability to heal itself, unlike allopathic (conventional) doctors. However, osteopaths practice noninvasive medicine and "set up" the body to help heal itself.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

1. Osteopathic philosophy says that a common cause of health problems is subluxation, which is the shifting of a vertabrae out of position, causing the one below or above it to shift also. This causes your body to not be able to function at its optimum levels.

2. Osteopaths receive the same type of anatomy and physiology training as conventional doctors, but the clinical training starts sooner for osteopathic students. They put in 200 hours of osteopathic manipulation. Also, osteopaths are fully licensed physicians who are authorized to prescribe medications and perform surgeries.

3. When visiting an osteopath, the doctor will focus on whether there are any mechanical problems within the body. The osteopath will use a specific amount of pressure to promote movement of the bodily fluids and release compressed bones and joints.

4. Some things you can expect when visiting an osteopath are checking of you posture, checking whether there you have a normal range of motion in your joints, checking of your body's symmetry, and possibly some conventional screenings like x-rays, blood tests and MRIs.

5. After the examination, the osteopath will decide whether you need physical manipulation. Several types of manipulation can be provided.

6. Bone manipulations aren't used for every condition and are usually used for structual or postural problems that are a cause of back and pain, sciatica, chronic fatigue syyndrome, allergies, high blood pressure, arthritis, headaches and some respiratory problems.

7. Manipulation that results in proper posture will cause benefits including improved circulation, better immune function, and a bountiful nerve supply to organs and tissues. And this results in a healthy body.

Tips & Warnings

• Spinal and limb manipulations should only be done by a trained physician.

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[jkhamlin]

on 5/12/2009 This article has factual errors:Osteopathic medicine isn't similar to chiropractic, it's the other way around. Chiropractic is an illegitimate copy of osteopathy. The guy who invented chiropractic was a magnetic healer, snake oil salesman, and grocery store clerk, who was a patient of the Andrew T Still, MD, who discovered osteopathy. After receiving a few manipulations, he went on to invent... manipulation. Chiropractic is more recognizable now because it is so far out of mainstream medicine, whereas osteopathic medicine is part of mainstream medicine, so it doesn't stand out as much.Step 1: Osteopathy is based on somatic dysfunction, NOT subluxation. Chiropractors are the ones who focus on subluxations of the spine (most of which are imaginary) with skeletal manipulation. Osteopaths treat the entire body with musculoskeletal and myofascial manipulation.