Osteopaths

Osteopathy is a form of medical care that focuses mainly on musculoskeletal problems on the neck and back. Osteopaths are primary contact health professionals who may have attained a degree in osteopathy. Osteopaths must be registered health practitioners in order to practice; the regulating body is the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency.

Osteopaths make independent judgments in the examination, diagnosis, treatment, prevention and care of conditions of the human body to the extent of their individual competence. Osteopaths work in private practice, and the majority of private health insurance providers cover treatment performed by osteopaths. The osteopathic medical philosophy is defined as the concept of health care that embraces the concept of the unity of the body’s structure (anatomy) and function (physiology). The osteopathic profession has evolved into two branches, non-physician manual medicine osteopaths and full scope of medical practice osteopathic surgeons. Osteopathic surgeons or physicians hold a qualification as a Doctor of Medicine, M.D., and practice the full scope of medicine as well as osteopathic manipulative medicine.

Osteopaths use the therapeutic application of manually guided forces to treat somatic pain or dysfunction. Somatic dysfunction is an immediate or short-term pain, impairment or altered function of related components of the somatic (body) framework. It is characterized in early stages by vasodilation, edema, tenderness, pain, and tissue contraction. Osteopaths are different from chiropractors, although they may perform many of the same osteopathic manipulative treatments.