Osteopathy

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A holistic approach to healthcare that seeks to diagnose and treat conditions through the manipulation of bones and muscles while emphasizing the connection between structure and function
2. This form of alternative medicine focuses on manipulating the skeletal system to enhance health and alleviate ailments by addressing the body's interrelated systems
3. A therapeutic method that promotes health by using manual techniques to adjust the body's musculoskeletal system while reinforcing the integral relationship between bodily structures and overall well-being

Etymology: Osteopathy was devised in the 1870s by Andrew Taylor Still, an American physician in Kirksville, Missouri, who believed that most disease came from misaligned bones and that correcting them would let the body heal itself. The name combines the Greek "osteon," meaning "bone," with "-pathy," from "pathos," meaning "suffering" or "disease," and the same suffix appears in older words such as "homeopathy" and "naturopathy." The word "pathy" in these coinages does not mean a belief system or a set of doctrines, as it might seem to modern readers. It names a method of treating illness, which is why Still's chosen label sounded like a rival to the medicine of his day. Osteopathy therefore reads as "bone-suffering" or "bone-disease" treatment, a name that tells you exactly where Still located the problem.

Synonyms: manual therapy, physical therapy, chiropractic, holistic medicine, alternative medicine