History of Osteopathy

How We Got Here

Osteopathy was founded by Dr. Andrew Taylor Still in 1874. Dr. Still was years ahead of his time when he identified the significant relationships between structure and function in the human body. He recognized the importance of sufficient arterial and venous blood flow, lymphatic and neurotrophic flow and their relationship to the patient’s overall health. He began to develop a form of manual medicine which is currently practiced worldwide.
Osteopathy is a philosophy as well as a science. It is a holistic form of hands-on medicine, which recognizes that the Spirit, Soul and Soma are a whole. Osteopathy is about supporting the health of the patient, and not sacrificing the whole to treat a part. As a very spiritual man and divergent thinker, who overcame several life challenges, Dr. Still always lived very close to nature and he taught that Osteopathy is the expression of the natural world. It is said that Osteopathy was alive well before Dr. Still put it into a format. Our goal as Osteopathic Practitioners is to learn about the natural laws using our perceptual skills which we develop in our training and daily practice