Osteopathy: what it is and when it is useful

Born in the United States around 1870, osteopathy uses a series of very precise manipulation techniques. With the aim of restoring the balance and, therefore, the functioning of our entire organism by acting on areas of weakness, imbalances or excessive tensions.

It was the American physician Andrew T. Still (1828/1917), disillusioned by the lack of effectiveness of the medicine of the time, who created osteopathy.

It is a system of exclusively manual techniques (manipulation of joints, organs, tissues) based on traditional medical knowledge, such as anatomy and physiology, but which does not involve the use of drugs or surgery.

Still saw the human body as a unit whose different parts, connected to each other by connective tissue, work in synergy to benefit the whole organism. And the manipulations he devised aim precisely to reactivate his self-healing abilities.

From the United States to Europe

Over the years, osteopathy has taken different paths: today in the United States doctors in osteopathy are fully recognized medical figures who can prescribe drugs and perform surgery, while the European school has remained closer to tradition, while obtaining recognition in several countries.

In Italy, the National Federation of Medical and Dental Orders recognized, in 2002, osteopathy as a medical act, including it among the health professions, although – as for most non-conventional medicines – a regulatory recognition is still lacking.

Italian osteopathy is represented by the Superior Council of Osteopathy, which brings together the main associations of professionals present on the national territory.

In osteopathy there are also different strands, such as craniosacral therapy that some therapists consider a specialty in itself, or visceral osteopathy that acts above all, as the name implies, on internal organs.

Osteopathy, on the other hand, should not be confused with chiropractic, which although born from the same vein, focuses on vertebral manipulation.

Well-being through balance

After more than a century, the basic principles of osteopathy remain those defined by Still: the goal of a treatment is to put the various parts of the body in the correct position, from the skull to the joints, to the viscera, to allow the body to regain its physiological functioning.

Manipulations act on dysfunctional mechanisms that prevent different parts of the body from performing their natural functions. Restoring the mobility of the different systems and regulating areas of weakness, imbalances or excessive tension to restore even a normal flow at the circulatory (venous, arterial, lymphatic) and nervous level.

To do this, more or less abrupt manipulations are used, from classic cracking to very gentle techniques based on pressure, pushing or friction.

What it is useful for

The treatments are used, in particular, for the treatment of painful pathologies of the musculoskeletal system, such as back pain, strain injuries and joint problems.

But also for other postural, visceral and psychosomatic disorders, such as migraines, headaches, digestive disorders, anxiety, sleep disorders. Often in collaboration with other professionals.

The field of action of osteopathic treatments excludes emergencies, but also degenerative or genetic diseases, infectious diseases and fractures.

Recognized effectiveness

Osteopathy has not yet obtained definitive scientific confirmation – also due to the difficulty of organizing scientific studies with such a personalized discipline – but some research recognizes its effectiveness in treating disorders such as back pain, migraine and some painful pathologies.

And it is still important to make sure that the therapist to whom you turn has a degree in medical and health or in Sports Sciences, and has completed a course – lasting 5 or 6 years depending on the school – at one of the recognized institutions and a clinical internship.