History of Osteopathy
Osteopathy was started by a man named Andrew Taylor Still. His father was a doctor and he himself became a Union doctor during the American Civil War.
Dr. Still realised that his patients' health was affected by the way they used their bodies. He used to clear his own headaches by cracking his own neck.
In 1874, Dr. Still formed a new method of treatment that used spinal and peripheral manipulation, which he called Osteopathy. In 1892, Dr. Still opened the first school in Kirksville, Missouri, where he worked as a principal and a tutor. In 1917, the first English school of osteopathy was opened by Dr. Martin Littlejohn, a student of Dr. Still's. It was called the British School of Osteopathy.
Osteopathy has become a popular form of healthcare with people coming to see osteopaths as the 'first port of call' with muscular and joint pain. The number of osteopathic medicine schools is increasing in England with more students graduating every year. Currently there are eight schools of osteopathic medicine in England.