The osteopath emphasizes the role of the musculoskeletal system in pain, health and disease. In the UK osteopathy is a form of complementary medicine, emphasizing a holistic approach and the skilled use of a range of manual (ie hands on) and rehabilitation approaches in the prevention and treatment of musculo-skeletal disorders. Osteopathic treatment is gentle, non invasive and effective for a variety of conditions including:

Aches and Pains
Arthritic Pain
Backache
Back Pain
Circulatory Problems, Local or Minor
Cramp
Digestion Problems
Fibromyalgia (Fibrositis)
Frozen Shoulder
Joint Pains
Lumbago
Muscle Spasms
Muscle Tension
Neuralgia
Inability to Relax
Rheumatic Pain
Rheumatism
Sciatica
Spasms
Sports Injuries, Minor
Tension

Patients of any age can be treated by the osteopath who will start with a detailed case history and then examine the patient to produce a diagnosis before commencing on the treatment. The osteopath will also look at the predisposing and maintaining factors to formulate a useful, effective and easy to follow treatment plan. To talk to an osteopath please call 01364 652016 or email us on This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Principles of Osteopathy

These are the eight major principles of osteopathy that are accepted by most osteopaths

1. The body is a unit.
2. Structure and function are reciprocally inter-related.
3. The body possesses self-regulatory mechanisms.
4. The body has the inherent capacity to defend and repair itself.
5. When the normal adaptability is disrupted, or when environmental changes overcome the body’s capacity for self maintenance, disease may ensue.
6. The movement of body fluids is essential to the maintenance of health.
7. The nerves play a crucial part in controlling the fluids of the body.
8. There are somatic components to disease that are not only manifestations of disease, but also are factors that contribute to maintenance of the disease state.

The goal of the osteopathic treatment is the resolution of health and harmony in the body. Osteopaths use a diverse array of techniques and the osteopath may also give postural, dietary and occupational advice, as well as counseling, looking at the precipitating and maintaining factors that have lead to pain or poor function.

Cranial Osteopathy

Cranial osteopathy is the use of a variety subtle techniques that have developed from the work of John Sutherland an American osteopath of the twentieth century. He observed that plates of the skull (cranium) although fused do allow tiny movements and that there seems to be some 'force' or rhythm that is operating in moving the plates of the skull. This is reflected in the rest of the body and the osteopath is able to palpate and influence these forces. Cranial osteopaths treat the patient by holding the head and focusing their intention helping a range of health problems. Cranial osteopathy is said to be based on involuntary mechanisms or rhythm which some claim can be felt with a very finely developed sense of touch. The cranial osteopath believes that by altering cranial rhythm the result can be enhanced cerebral spinal fluid flow to peripheral nerves, thereby enhancing metabolic outflow and nutrition inflow. There are many theories as to how it works but there is substantial ancedotal evidence and demand to illustrate it’s efficacy.