Osteopathic medicine was founded in the late 1800s in Kirksville, Missouri, by a medical doctor
A. T. Still, who recognized that the medical practices of the day often caused more harm than
good. He focused on developing a system of medical care that would promote the body’s innate
ability to heal itself and called this system of medicine osteopathy. Osteopathic manual
practitioners work in partnership with their patients. They consider the impact that lifestyle and
community have on the health of each individual, and they work to break down barriers to good
health.
This system of hands-on techniques helps alleviate pain, restores motion, supports the body’s
natural functions and influences the body’s structure to help it function more efficiently.
The first of the major principles of osteopathic practice is that the human body is a unit, an
integrated organism in which no part functions independently. This regulation, coordination and
integration of the body through multiple biological systems is often referred to as the principle of
body unity.
One key concept osteopathy is that structure influences function. Thus, if there is a problem in
one part of the body’s structure, function in that area, and possibly in other areas, may be
affected.
Another very important aspect of osteopathic thinking is that the role of the artery is absolute.
All the fluids in the body including blood in the arteries and veins, lymph flowing through the
lymphatics, and the cerebral spinal fluid (CSF) circulating around the brain and spinal cord must
be free-flowing and unobstructed.
Another integral tenet of osteopathic philosophy is the body’s innate ability to heal itself. Many
of osteopathic manipulative techniques are aimed at reducing or eliminating the impediments to
proper structure and function so the self-healing mechanism can assume its role in restoring a
person to health.
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