Osteopathy is a drug-free, noninvasive manual therapy. Osteopathic manual practitioners aim to help improve overall health across all body systems by manipulating and strengthening the musculoskeletal framework.

An osteopathic manual practitioner focuses on your whole body, including the soft tissues (such as muscles, ligaments and tendons), the spine and nervous system, as well as the circulatory system. They may use a variety of different hands-on methods, including:

• Soft Tissue Massage Techniques

• Articulation - Gentle Rhythmic Joint Movements

• Stretching Muscles and Joint Capsules

• Muscle Energy Techniques - Making Muscles Work Against Resistance

Osteopathic Manual Treatment is Based on the Following Principles:

1. Structure and Function are Interrelated

   • This means that every structure in our bodies has developed to serve a function. Dysfunction in the body leads to changes in the structure. When this occurs there will also be changes in that structure's ability to serve its function. Osteopathy looks to restore normal function to the body.

2. The Body Has the Ability to Self-Regulate and Self-Heal

   • This means that everything our bodies need to function is already within our bodies. When there are no restrictions, the body can heal itself. Osteopathy looks to remove restrictions that may prevent the body from doing this by making sure that the nervous and cardiovascular systems are able to freely get to every part of the body.

3. The Body is a Dynamic Unit of Function

   • This means that everything in our body is interconnected. When something changes in one area, there will also be changes to other areas in the body. This can be seen through compensation. When one part of our body starts to develop a dysfunction, other parts of our bodies will overwork themselves to compensate for it. Osteopathy looks to break this loop by finding the root cause of the dysfunction.