WHAT IS OSTEOPATHY?

Osteopathy is a system of manual (meaning we largely treat with our hands) medicine, developed in the early part of the 20th century, that treats dysfunction anywhere in the human body through a focus on the musculo-skeletal system and its neurological, vascular and visceral interactions. Nowadays osteopathy is seen as one of the various forms of manual (or manipulative) therapy; however there is a lot more to osteopathy than this. Indeed, osteopathy is quite a 'broad church'!

The profession was established by Andrew Taylor Still (1828-1917) in 1892. Osteopathy has been practiced in the UK since 1917. In 1993 the Osteopaths Act was passed, making it a criminal offence for someone to call themselves an osteopath who is not registered with the General Osteopathic Council. This register came into being in May 2000.