What is osteopathy?

What is osteopathy?

osteopathy is a holistic, manual examination and treatment method in medicine that grasps the human being and their body as a whole. In Switzerland, it is considered a form of alternative or complementary medicine. Thanks to its success and its answers to contemporary medical challenges, backed by growing scientific evidence, osteopathy is steadily gaining significance and recognition in both Europe and Switzerland.

The concept is built on the understanding that the body possesses self-regulating healing mechanisms that can be thrown off balance by a wide variety of circumstances. This can lead to a diverse range of Conditions and problems of various origins, where the pain is often not felt at the actual site of the issue, but may manifest in entirely different tissue.

Above all, osteopathy addresses functional disorders and dysfunctions of the human organism.

It seeks out the root causes and, once identified, resolves them to eliminate symptoms and stimulate the body's own healing powers. The focus is not primarily on diseases, but on the interplay of various structures that inhibit the self-healing of the human organism. This imbalance is what disrupts the body and leads to functional disorders.

Osteopathy is divided into three main areas, which are interconnected and influence one another.

First is the parietal system, which deals with the musculoskeletal system—the skeleton with all its bones, joints, muscles, tendons, and ligaments. The internal organs with all their ligamentous suspension systems, and body tissues such as nerves, blood and lymph vessels, fascia, and septa, belong to the visceral system. Finally, the craniosacral system or craniosacral osteopathy encompasses the skull and sacrum, along with the central nervous system (brain, spinal cord, and cerebrospinal fluid) and the autonomic nervous system (parasympathetic centers and their connections).

All of these tissues work together to form a highly functional unit.

Understanding how all these individual structures interact and behave, both in health and during illness or dysfunction, plays a vital role and is at the very heart of osteopathic examination and treatment.