What is Osteopathy?
Osteopathy is based on the concept that any upset of the structural framework can manifest itself as illness in a variety of forms. Osteopathic physicians are recognized medical doctors who use joint manipulation, postural re-education and physical therapy to normalize the body’s structure and promote healing. Most medical conditions are open to osteopathic healing. In some cases, osteopathy has been shown to resolve illnesses resistant to surgery and other medical approaches.
According to osteopathic physicians, osteopathic techniques should be viewed not as alternatives to traditional Western medicine, but as complements to it. They also stress that underlying the structural focus of their profession is the importance of unimpeded passage through the body of all the vital fluids that make us healthy. For example, a person in need of osteopathic treatment may suffer any type of somatic abnormality – a disease or an injury that is inhibiting the body’s recovery. Over the past century, osteopathy has embraced the full spectrum of medicine (to different degrees across the world), including the use of prescription drugs and surgery, in addition to manipulative techniques.
So, for example, a body that has injuries will also be constricting the passage of vital nutrients. On the opposite end of the spectrum, the passage of vital nutrients will move unobstructed through a healthy body. Manipulating the body’s physical structures, in particular the muscles, ligaments, and skeleton will allow the body to be unimpeded in its efforts to heal itself.
There is good science underlying osteopathy, a mainstream profession that embraces the physical as well as the holistic. Osteopaths will tell you that it is their job to treat the whole person—they place emphasis on the structure and function of the body as well as the spiritual idea that the body, when encouraged properly, will heal itself.
Always consult your doctor and your therapist to see if massage or specific massage types are right for you.
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