Osteopathy is a complementary medicine that not only takes in the physical symptoms but the lifestyle, attitudes and current health of the patient. Since its founding, osteopaths have been of the opinion that the human body has an ability to heal itself and that poor health and disease could be as a result of something being wrong with the musculo-skeletal structure of the body. The body is a unit - Every part of the body works together. The body has its own mechanisms to heal itself.
Osteopaths only help the body to heal itself.
Structure and function are related - This means that the structure of the body effects the way the body functions. These are the three main principles of Osteopathy. Each of the above principles can be divided up into more principles. Depending on the Osteopath, the initial consultation could be up to one hour long. The reasons why this first visit takes so long are outlined below.