Synonyms
Greek: osteon= bone and pathos= suffering, disease synonyms: Manual Medicine/Therapy, Manual Therapy, Chirotherapy, Chiropractic
Definition
Osteopathy comprises the diagnosis and therapy concept of restorable functional disorders of the active and passive musculoskeletal system. It is a holistic manual medicine in which functional disorders are diagnosed and treated with the hands. It is used either alone or in conjunction with conventional medicine.
Osteopathy is an independent treatment method only in the USA. The definition of osteopathy is very difficult. (Specialist) physicians, non-medical osteopaths, alternative practitioners, physiotherapists, masseurs, certified sports instructors and other non-medical professions use osteopathy.
With so many different names, professions and doctrines, it is no wonder that confusion quickly reigns. Despite the differences, the most important manual techniques are identical, but are used according to requirements. The German orientation of the term osteopathy is based on the results of basic scientific research in anatomy and neurophysiology.
According to the intention “life is movement”, all tissues must be freely movable, otherwise functional impairment and loss of movement will occur. Osteopathy in the US-American sense is oriented towards the “… the special conception of man of the “osteopathy” of US-American character … “(Quote: Scientific evaluation of osteopathic procedures). The German Society for Manual Medicine (DGMM) also differentiates between effective osteopathic techniques which are neurophysiologically comprehensible and explanatory approaches which contradict scientific research.
The spiritual father of osteopathy was the American Andrew Taylor Still (1828-1917). He founded osteopathy as a new science more than 130 years ago on June 22, 1874. He was looking for a new understanding of medicine that did not require medication or surgery.
He himself cited God and his own experiences as the source of his predominantly anatomical concept of osteopathy. In reality, he probably knew about the actual beginnings in Europe. Here the “bone setting” was practiced from the 17th century onwards.
It was part of surgery and included the setting of bones and joints. Since imaging procedures such as x-rays had not yet been invented at that time, the examiner had to orientate himself on the clinical symptoms and the findings. This led to the development of various methods of examination and treatment, and knowledge of the functional anatomy of bones, ligaments and muscles was refined.
Above all, palpable joint malpositions were assigned to muscle dysfunctions and treated accordingly. Typical manipulation techniques for spinal and joint pain and their indications, contraindications and risks from that time are still partly valid today. Still deliberately avoided a reference to already existing knowledge from European sources in order to emphasize the “intellectual independence” of the United States (from the aristocratically dominated Europe of that time).
The Scot John Martin Littlejohn transferred Still’s concept to physiology and founded the Britsch School of Osteopathy (BSO) in London in 1917. A student of Still extended his concept to the skull. Later, this craniosacral osteopathy was to become an independent therapy.
Today, the holistic approach of osteopathy has been lost or limited in the USA. Only about 3-5% of the graduates of the Doctor of Osteopathic Medicin (D. O.)
use exclusively manual techniques. In Germany, the knowledge of osteopathy spread in the 1950’s. Through the exchange with American colleagues, the use of “manual medicine/therapy” was applied for the first time.
Alternative practitioners began to practice what they had learned abroad. The actual spread of the practice only began in the late 1980’s. Osteopathy schools, mainly from France and Belgium, founded German branches. Until today, physiotherapists, doctors, non-medical practitioners, masseurs and medical pool attendants can learn osteopathy here. Today such training centers are all privatized.