Osteopathy

The etymology of the word osteopathy comes from the combination of two Greek roots, namely :

• Osteon, which means bone (osteo), can be taken here in a more global sense and relate to the notion of density. Indeed, the first to use this term were the Anglo-Saxons with the term “osteopathy”, or “bone” in English. So there’s no etymological exclusivity here with bone tissue.
• Pathos means suffering (pathia).

Osteopathy is a manual therapy developed in the United States by Dr Andrew Taylor Still in 1874. It enables us to diagnose and manually treat restrictions in the mobility of the body’s various structures (bones, muscles, ligaments, organs, viscera, fascia, etc.), which can ultimately lead to functional disorders.

Theosteopath considers the patient as a whole, drawing on in-depth knowledge of anatomy, physiology, biomechanics and pathology….

There are 5 of these principles, known as the 5 Still principles.

• Principle of globality: The individual must be considered as a whole. In other words, we need to consider the patient’s history (past, present, psyche, social environment, as well as his or her activities, profession…) and, above all, not forget that the human body is a collection of elements. These elements are interconnected and continuous, and cannot function independently of one another.
• Principle of structure/function interrelation: There is a permanent interdependence between the structures and functions of the organism. In other words, each function depends on structures, but each structure also depends on functions. A defect in one will inevitably have an impact on the other.
• Life is Movement” principle: For physiological laws to apply to all body structures, these structures must be able to mobilize without constraint.
  
• Principle of self-healing: without major traumas (physical or emotional) and with a healthy lifestyle, the body can maintain good health without outside help.
  
• Principle of the law of the artery: all circulations in the body must be free and fluid, whether blood, lymph, intra/extra/inter-cellular fluids, the nervous system, etc. The integrity of these systems is an undeniable condition for good health.