History of Osteopathy

The idea of osteopathy was born in the United States of America by Dr. Andrew Still (1828 -1917) in 1874.

With the knowledge of current medicine, Dr. A. T. was unable to prevent the death of several of his children and his first wife. This inability forced him to look for new approaches in medicine. He was convinced that most diseases could either be healed or at least improved without applying the means of current medicine (phlebotomy, emetics, mercury).

After extensive anatomy studies, he realized in his work with patients that minor alterations of bones, joints and muscles had an influence onto the whole organism. Thus, well-functioning of the vascular system was an important factor to Dr. A. T. Still. He named his concept "osteopathy" which is a combination of two Greek words. The bone (gr. "osteon") was Dr. Still's starting point to asses the cause of pathological conditions (suffering, gr. "pathos"). By removing these dysfunction in the bodily mechanics, he exerted influence onto vessels and nerves and so activated the powers of self-healing. In his concept of the "triune man" (triple differentiated unity of man), the unity of body, mind and spirit, Still recognized the recuperative meachnisms perfected by the creation of mankind. Religious A. T. Still regarded man and his body as a perfect creation of God.

In 1892 Dr. Still founded the American School of Osteopthy in Kirksville, Missouri, today's  Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine. Dr. A.T. Still's concept of osteopathy spread rapidly. One of his scholars, Dr. Garner Sutherland (1873 - 1954) concentrated on the cranium and its connections and thus added the scope of cranioscacral osteopathy. In the early 1980ies, the approaches of palpation and treatment of the inner organs were seized and improved  by the French osteopthy Jean-Pierre Barral, D.O. , amongst others. Visceral osteopthy was born. For further information, please click here.

With Dr. John  Martin Littlejohn (1865 – 1947) osteopathy came to Europe. Dr. Littlejohn, a scholar of Dr. A. T. Still founded the first European school of Osteopathy, the British School of Osteopathy in London. Starting in England, the concept of osteopathy spread all over Europe. Please click here, for further information.