The Principles of Osteopathy influence decision-making across all elements of osteopathic healthcare, essentially they guide us in the art of being an osteopath.

Let’s look at these principles and try to put them into something more relatable. Keep in mind that taking a scientific concept and presenting it in plain English opens up the possibility of misrepresentation since no single analogy can completely capture a scientific concept.

The Body Is A Unit: Let’s say you have a problem of pain in your lower back, a treatment localised to the back will typically reduce the pain. But if we look at the body as a larger unit then a release targeted at the commonly contracted hip-flexor muscles in the front of your hips and legs will reap greater benefits, not just to the immediate back pain but also reducing one of the predisposing factors typically responsible for the back pain in the first place.

Structure And Function Are Reciprocally Interrelated: If you have a muscle with a normal length then the joint it controls will move effectively if the muscle is short or tight then its pull on the joint will be unbalanced and its function will be reduced.

The Body Possesses Self-Regulatory Mechanisms: Many people worry about inflammation, but inflammatory cells are actually the first responders to a problem and are vital in the healing process.

The Body Has The Inherent Capacity To Defend Itself And Repair Itself: After someone rolls an ankle they tentatively try to stand on it, if this action seems too much then we naturally limp, sometimes all we need is to avoid overloading the ankle for a while and it returns to normal.

When Normal Adaptability Is Disrupted, Or When Environmental Changes Overcome The Body’s Capacity For Self-Maintenance, Disease May Ensue: Sleep is an important part of staying healthy and functional, but when life gets busy and we sacrifice our sleeping hours it leads to an exhausted person who is prone to getting sick easily.

Movement Of The Body Fluids Is Essential To The Maintenance Of Health: Ever tried to push a piece of food around on an unoiled pan, only to find it breaks leaving bits of food stuck to the bottom? Well, the muscles in the body move better if body fluids are well dispersed so they can lubricate the surface of the muscles and allow them to slide and glide on each other

The Nerves Play A Crucial Part In Controlling The Fluids Of The Body: Most people have experienced that moment when they have been sitting for a while (maybe slouching) and when they go to move they feel a sudden sharp pain. This may be your nervous system communicating a state of insufficient nourishment in the tissues (like the muscle has been ‘wrung out’) while we have been still and that it needs some fluid to lubricate the tissues for the coming movements. Often if we pause for a few moments the pain passes, this is because the nervous system has directed fluid to the area.

There Are Somatic Components To Disease That Are Not Only Manifestations Of Disease But Also Are Factors That Contribute To The Maintenance Of The Diseased State: Dysfunctions in the body can often result in vicious cycles, for example, a painful knee such as runners knee commonly causes people to back off from most activity. Unfortunately, the lack of movement can also lead to an increase in thickened fluid in the knee and this results in a knee joint that is harder and more painful to move.

Implicit In These Philosophies Is The Belief That Osteopathic Intervention Has A Positive Influence On The Above: Osteopathy helped Adam improve his own well-being, now he’s ready to use his style of osteopathy to positively influence you.