Manual osteopathy is an integrative and holistic approach to healthcare that focuses on the manual treatment of the body’s structures and tissues. It is grounded in the philosophy that all body systems are interconnected and function as a unit.
This means that issues in one area of the body can affect an individual’s overall health and well-being.
Core Principles of Manual Osteopathy
- The Body as an Integrated Unit: Osteopathy is based on the principle that the body is an integrated unit. This means that the body’s systems (muscular, skeletal, nervous, circulatory, and lymphatic) work in harmony. An imbalance or dysfunction in one system can impact others, leading to pain, discomfort, or illness.
- The Body’s Natural Ability to Heal: A central tenet of osteopathy is the belief in the body’s inherent ability to heal itself. Osteopathic treatment aims to support and enhance this natural healing process by restoring proper function and balance to the body.
- Structure and Function are Interrelated: In osteopathy, there’s a focus on the interrelationship between the body’s structure (anatomy) and function (physiology). Osteopaths believe that correcting structural problems can help improve the body’s function.
