Osteopathy
A gentle, yet effective manual medicine that takes your whole health into consideration
What is Osteopathy?
Osteopathy is a form of manual medicine that approaches the structures in the body as a whole.
We recognise the important link between how the muscles, bones, joints, nerves, organs, circulation and fascia all work together for optimal health and well being.
All osteopaths in Australia have undergone a 5 year university Masters degree and are required to fulfil continued professional skills development.They are regulated by the Australian Health practitioners Regulation Agency (AHPRA) and the Osteopathic Board of Australia.
The beauty of osteopathy is that we are based on a philosophy of medicine instead of treatment protocol. The heart of the philosophy is that the body is capable of self-regulation, self-healing, and health maintenance. Our key principles are that structure and function are reciprocally interrelated and the parts of the body are made up of a unified whole. Rational treatment is based upon the understanding of these principles.
We use a wide range of approaches to enhance function, from direct techniques such as massage, mobilisation, stretching and manipulation to more gentle and balancing techniques such osteopathy in the cranial field, balanced ligamentous tension and myofascial release. We then help you with exercise therapy and programming, at home management, education and lifestyle advice.
With such a tool bag of treatment options and a basis on philosophy, each osteopath will creatively apply our skills and knowledge differently. This also opens our ability to cater to what each unique patient best responds to.
Osteopathy for babies
Treatment on babies should always be gentle. Their joints are not yet fully formed and so any sharp manipulative treatment is not appropriate. Osteopaths whom treat babies have undergone extensive post graduate training to understand the anatomy, physiology and development of neonates and infants.
Paediatric osteopaths have a specialised touch, paying attention to a very fine and developed palpation to interact with what the body tells them. It is similar to a sommelier picking up fine notes within a wine, or a trained musician hearing each note and chord from every instrument in an orchestra. An osteopaths hands can pick up on very subtle details and can do so with a very gentle palpation and calm sense to allow the baby’s body to move into a neutral point from which they can begin to integrate and unwind.
