Sunningdale Osteopathic Clinic

Andrew Taylor Still - founder of osteopathy

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.

Osteopathy is appropriate for any age group.

For infants, and the strains and stresses they may have experienced in the womb and during birth, as well as the challenge of the first year of life!

For toddlers and children, and the strains and stresses of growing and passing through developmental milestones - as well as the effects of the inevitable bumps and bruises.

For adolescents, who commonly have a series of growth spurts, sports related and postural problems to contend with.

For young to middle aged adults, who often work extremely hard just at the time when they are losing their youthful vigor!

For elderly people, who have particular problems such as degenerative joint disease and restricted mobility, but who increasingly (and quite rightly) no longer expect to put up with pain and having to abandon sports and hobbies!
 

The vast majority of osteopaths treat just with their hands using a variety of techniques designed to influence muscles, ligaments, and joints and the nerve and blood supply to those tissues.

The osteopathic profession developed a number of techniques and approaches now in common use. Examples are cranial osteopathy (particularly appropriate for babies and small children), muscle energy technique and - of course - gentle and precise joint manipulation techniques. 

Osteopathic training includes a considerable amount of training in medical sciences. While most osteopaths are not doctors, their training and their registration with the General Osteopathic Council assures the patient that an osteopath is competent at considering and identifying 'medical' problems and liaising with the patient's general practitioner when appropriate.

Osteopathy has a philosophy and concept of health that is rooted in the idea of the human being as a whole, with a variety of different dimensions that affect the whole (e.g. physical, emotional, etc.).

No, it can be more than this - osteopathy can help (or contribute to a multi-disciplinary approach to) a variety of other problems ranging from headaches, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, and other so called 'functional' disorders. Very often, actions to improve sleep, breathing, posture, nutrition and exercise can make a world of difference.

Osteopathy, despite the name, is not really about bones!

 Osteopathy moves beyond just fixing symptoms, though this is understandably the first priority. Rather it aims to 'figure out the puzzle' and effectively make changes so that symptoms are much less likely to return in the future. Sometimes the causes (there are rarely just one!) lie outside the body (such as the ergonomics of an office workstation, a car seat and so on) or sometimes they lie 'within' the body (such as a stiff unyielding part of the spine, a poor sleep pattern, and so on).

Osteopaths normally suggest - to some degree - advice about exercise & exercises, diet, nutrition, sleep and of course the do's and don'ts of prevention. Advice is always covered in a way appropriate to each patient.