What is "osteopathy"

osteopathy \os`te*op"a*thy\, n. [Osteo- + Gr. pa`qos suffering.] (Med.)

1. Any disease of the bones. [R.]

2. A system of treatment based on the theory that diseases are chiefly due to deranged mechanism of the bones, nerves, blood vessels, and other tissues, and can be remedied by manipulations of these parts. Modern practitioners use the therapeutic and diagnostic techniques of modern medicine as well as manipulative procedures.

1857, "disease of the bones," from Greek osteon "bone" (see osseous) + -pathy, from Greek -patheia, comb. form of pathos "suffering, disease, feeling" (see pathos). As a system of treating ailments by the manipulation of bones, it dates from 1889.

n. 1 (context alternative medicine English) The branch of therapy based on manipulation of bones and muscles. 2 (cx rare English) Any disease of the bones.

n. therapy based on the assumption that restoring health is best accomplished by manipulating the skeleton and muscles

Osteopathy is a type of alternative medicine. It is a health care system of diagnosis and treatment that emphasizes the relationship between structure and function in the body, and the ways it can be affected through manipulative therapy and other treatment modalities. Its name derives from Ancient Greek "bone" (ὀστέον) and "sensitive to" or "responding to" (-πάθεια).

Osteopathy as practiced in Europe and other countries around the world differs greatly in scope and approach from osteopathic medicine in the United States, where osteopathic physicians are trained and certified to practice all modern medicine. Elsewhere osteopaths are trained only in manual osteopathic treatment, generally to relieve muscular and skeletal conditions, and are thus referred to as osteopathic practitioners. In the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Australia and New Zealand osteopaths are registered and regulated by law as therapists but may not practice medicine (although Germany, like Canada, allows US-trained osteopathic physicians to practice). The two branches of the osteopathic profession are distinct and function as separate professions.

Thus Britain's National Health Service advises that, while there is "good" evidence for osteopathy as a treatment for low back pain and "limited evidence to suggest it may be effective for some types of neck, shoulder or lower limb pain and recovery after hip or knee operations", there is no, or insufficient, evidence that osteopathy is effective as a treatment for health conditions "unrelated" to the bones and muscles, "such as headaches, migraines, painful periods, digestive disorders, depression and excessive crying in babies (colic)"; an explicit reference to the claims of osteopathic manipulative medicine. Osteopaths are not certified for medical practice in Britain, while European osteopaths are not allowed to practice in the USA lest they be mistaken for physicians who are still commonly called osteopaths there. Hence studies prepared in different countries must be applied with care in reference to one another.

Furthermore, although there have been several studies and data meta-analyses according to different criteria, research on osteopathic treatment is unable to employ double-blind, placebo-controlled trials since researchers are unable to blind both the practitioner and the patient.