Osteopathy is an alternative medical practice created by Andrew Taylor Still in the late 19th century. It operates on the idea that some illnesses are caused by disturbances in the muscles and bones, and that by correcting this the body will be able to heal itself.

As of this year (2001), Osteopathy became an official school of medical practice in the United States according to the Federation of State Medical Boards. A Doctor of Osteopathy (a DO) can do the same things any MD can do, such as prescribe medicine or perform surgery. Typically DOs concentrate on muscular and skeletal problems, and common therapy is a manipulation of these structures called osteopathic manipulative treatment (That is, applying pressure to various areas of the body).

Os`te*op"a*thy (?), n. [Osteo- + Gr. &?; 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.

 

© Webster 1913.

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