He began to experiment and found his way back into the anatomy lab and put his hands to work learning all he could about the body and its function. This, in addition to his medical knowledge, combined to create a unique hands-on discipline that has grown into one of today’s most efficient ways of diagnosing and treating patients. He began treating all types of abnormalities using his hands such as diphtheria, cholera, irritable and inflammatory bowel disease, musculoskeletal problems, viruses and bacterial associated diseases to name a few, and was exceedingly successful treating them especially at a time when antibiotics were not discovered and medical treatments were archaic.

Osteopathy Gains Recognition

Osteopathy has grown significantly to this day in which there are 20 osteopathic medical schools in the United States and several abroad including Europe, Australia and New Zealand, South America and Canada. Only in the United States are D.O.’s. or doctors of osteopaths, given the rights to practice medicine as are the M.D’s. and dentists. In fact, osteopathy is a full medical discipline that teaches its students medicine in addition to a unique hands-on discipline in our schools. It is this unique hands-on discipline that is the center of what traditional osteopathy is about.

Commonly, you will see mentioned a certain discipline that came from one of Dr. Still’s students, William Garner Sutherland called, cranial osteopathy or osteopathy in the cranial field. Dr. Sutherland’s work on the cranial concept evolved into a treatment focused on the whole patient and it was an integral evolution to Dr Still’s gift to us. There will be more about this later.

Treating the Mind, Body and Spirit

Osteopathy, in general, was given its name by Dr. Still as a means to treat patients holistically meaning looking at all aspects of health: mind, body, and spirit. It is a medical discipline that centers on finding the cause of problems rather than treating symptoms. The standard Allopathic (MD) paradigm is focused on symptoms and treating those symptoms in order to eradicate them. The same paradigm is seen in the dental field (D.D.S or D.M.D) in which the dentist focuses on the problem rather than what is in the background that is causing the problem.

The traditional osteopath understands that the body has an innate ability to heal itself and works to understand, both didactically and perceptually, how the body is functioning not only in its normal state, but also in its diseased state to synchronize with health and facilitate the patient to heal. This ability to synchronize is not primarily on the disease, but rather on how the person is functioning in relationship to it. The presence of disease in a person’s life can be just as important as health, as the disease process may be acting as a fulcrum to help the patient evolve. This is a very important concept as the way in which a physician approaches a patient can have a huge impact on the outcome of their care.

Practice Based on a Medical Model

This is why we must understand that osteopathy gains its roots from medicine and looks to integrate all the medical disciplines to come together and focus on health rather than disease. It was meant to be an alternative discipline giving the physician the licensure to practice medicine but at the same time integrate the traditional principles of holistic care utilizing a hands-on approach. This includes the integration and application of nutrition, perceptual training, lifestyle and exercise regimens and the integration of other disciplines to help our patients.

The majority of D.O.’s in the United States practice no differently than the M.D.’s and do not employ the traditional aspects of osteopathy as given to us by AT Still. Thus, the unique hands-on discipline is not integrated in their practices.

Allopathic physicians and dentists are the other medical disciplines in the United States that are routinely taught in the osteopathic concepts. Their education is a fundamental aspect to practicing traditional osteopathy as it is necessary in order to come to its understanding. In addition, they are also presented with patients that require holistic treatment and must understand that the body acts as a unit and cannot be separated into parts.

Problems in the mouth can have an adverse affect on the rest of the patient thereby causing and contributing to several disease processes. Similarly, allopaths whose medical training is similar to osteopaths except for the hands-on training which is not a part of their curriculum, need to treat the patient the same; as a whole. Certainly, a specialist may be needed to diagnose and even treat a patient, and surgery may be indicated but we must never disregard what is happening in the whole. Even if the physician does not employ hands-on treatment, he or she can still practice holistically. More articles will be written in the future regarding this subject to help us all to understand the importance of the whole and how we work with it.

Cranial Osteopathy

Cranial osteopathy, as stated above was defined by Dr. William Garner Sutherland. It is the primary method that I utilize in my practice. I refer to it as “traditional osteopathy” as it is a treatment focused on the whole patient, not just the head, and is utilized to integrate all aspects of health, disease, and prevention in my practice.

The Beginning Stages

Dr. Sutherland first came into contact with the cranial concept in 1898 at the age of 25 and first introduced it to his colleagues 31 years later in 1929. His first experience with it was rather crude and mechanical but over 25 years of experience and exploration, it evolved into a fine perceptual science. His hand placements initially were very heavy, direct and mechanical and were often accompanied by bandages that were tightly woven to a patient’s head and left there for several days. This was, over a period of years, replaced by moving away from a mechanical model to one that was very fluid-like and indirect in which his hands were very light and soft. This latter model began to overshadow the mechanical model not only in hand placement, but also in its clinical results as it was far superior and non-invasive to the patient.

A cranial rhythm was also discussed and over the years became a hot topic by many osteopaths as well as therapists outside the medical field. The rhythm is classically identified as moving at a rate of eight to 14 cycles per minute and has been used as a common diagnostic and therapeutic tool by many in their treatment regimen. In traditional osteopathy, however, this rhythm is not important and is not seen to have any therapeutic significance as it is coming directly from the central nervous system (CNS).

One of the most precious gifts that we can offer the human race is to learn how to bring the CNS into balance, which is a prerequisite to treatment. It is where the treatment begins, is the foundation of an efficient treatment, and an important fundamental principle in traditional osteopathy. This principle of CNS balance has universal applications.

Treatment Techniques

The cranial rhythm is commonly used by those performing a therapy called “craniosacral therapy” which is often confused with cranial osteopathy. The two treatments have no

association and are not similar in any respect at all. Cranial osteopathy is not a therapy and gets its foundation as a medical science. The treatment is not always exclusive to the head or the sacrum, but a holistic treatment that can, and will have an impact on the whole person. Course offerings in this field in the United States are restricted only to medical physicians D.O.’s and M.D.’s, dentists, and medical students in training.

There are also other methods of osteopathic hand’s on treatment that employ spinal and soft tissue manipulation as well as other techniques that, when employed properly, are also very effective. The importance of the practitioner is to employ these principles in reference to the whole patient, not exclusively on the symptoms.

A Simple Approach to Healing

In summary, osteopathy is a medical science given its name by Dr. Andrew Taylor Still. It was designed as a holistic science focused on finding the cause of disease and working with disease in relationship to health. Health, in any diseased state, is always present and simply, one can be trained to work with it no matter the condition. The hand placements are configured in a very gentle way and are taught to listen rather than perform.

An understanding of anatomy, physiology, embryology and clinical medicine is a prerequisite to understanding its applications. It is not considered a technique, but rather a simple approach to a patient based on health. Its application is not automatic and in fact two people with a similar diagnosis and similar symptoms will invariably be approached differently. A patient receiving this type of treatment is often very surprised, as it does not appear that the physician is doing much but this could not be further from the truth. Most patients will fall asleep and wake up feeling different.