As osteopaths we believe that individuals’ wellbeing depends on their bones, muscles, ligaments and connective tissue functioning smoothly together. Osteopathy aims to achieve this optimum performance on our bodies, offering both physical and psychological benefits.

Shefford Osteopathic Clinic was established in 2000. Since then we have helped well over 20,000 patients, the vast majority of whom, after a course of treatment, have enjoyed some or all of the following benefits:

• Relief from aches & pains
• Enjoying relief from back pain
• Improved general mobility
• Extra flexibility
• Improved posture
• Improved health
• A happier life
• Better relationships with family & friends

Osteopaths can offer advice on lifestyle and diet as well as exercise and physical ailment and are recognized by the NHS as Allied Health Professionals.  Most osteopaths work in private practice, and we are working increasingly within the NHS and with other healthcare professionals like your GP.  You can find a more detailed look at the NHS view of osteopathy at https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/osteopathy/

In their training, osteopaths are taught a variety of treatment methods and techniques, ranging from the well-known “high velocity thrust” with its dramatic clicks, to the very gently applied methods used by so called “Cranial Osteopaths”.

Osteopaths vary in their treatment methods depending on their education, their own preference and individual patient’s problems.

“Cranial Osteopath” is the name by which osteopaths who work at the gentler, subtle end of the spectrum of different treatment approaches have become known. Osteopaths may have different specialities, including sports injuries, paediatrics, visceral (treating the internal organs of the body). Cranial osteopathy embraces all of these.

All of the osteopaths here at Shefford Osteopathic Clinic are trained in cranial osteopathy.

Osteopathy is a philosophy and form of alternative healthcare that emphasizes the interrelationship between structure and function of the body, as well as the body’s ability to heal itself.

Osteopathy is a form of drug-free non-invasive manual medicine that focuses on total body health by treating and strengthening the musculoskeletal framework, which includes the joints, muscles and spine. Its aim is to positively affect the body’s nervous, circulatory and lymphatic systems.

This therapy is a unique holistic (whole body) approach to health care. Osteopaths do not simply concentrate on treating the problem area, but use manual techniques to balance all the systems of the body, to provide overall good health and wellbeing.

Dr. Andrew Taylor Still established the practice of osteopathy in the late 1800s in the United States of America, with the aim of using manual ‘hands on’ techniques to improve circulation and correct altered biomechanics, without the use of drugs.

This page was written to help you learn more about the history of osteopathy.

To begin with the term “osteopathy” was first used by Andrew Taylor Still in 1874.

Who was Andrew Taylor Still?

Dr Andrew Taylor Still was a “doctor of the people”, a Christian who retained an independent nature characteristic of the frontier people of the United States of America. AT Still was born in 1828 in Virginia. He was the son of a physician and Methodist preacher, and elected to follow his father into medicine. After studying medicine and a working apprenticeship with his father, he entered the American Civil War as a hospital steward. However, his autobiography suggests that he was able to perform some surgery after showing a degree of medical knowledge and competence.

His rejection of traditional medical treatment in those days arose from the death of three of his children from meningitis in 1864 and his feelings of inadequacy and helplessness to do anything to help them survive. Dr Still concluded that the orthodox medical practices of his day were frequently ineffective and sometimes harmful, such as using mercury chloride, arsenic, strychnine and antimony in medical procedures. Andrew Still devoted the next 30 years of his life to studying the human body and finding better ways to treat disease, which would ultimately become osteopathy.

Dr Still also mentions that in his early childhood, he was a persistent headache sufferer, and used to effect some relief by suspending a rope swing between 2 trees and resting his head and neck on it: one of the many experiences which were to be incorporated in the development of osteopathy.

After the Civil War, Dr Still became known as the “Lightning Bone Setter” and his reputation for the ability to treat many conditions from dysentery to sciatica spread.

The therapeutic system of treatment he devised has its origin in a number of treatment philosophies available at that time. These include phrenology, mesmerism, magnetic healing, bone setting and conventional medicine.

What was unique about his ideas to health?

Andrew Still’s ideas centred on how our body’s systems are interrelated and dependent upon one another for good health, and were revolutionary at that time. More than this, he thought that he had stumbled upon a unique causation of disease – that “bones out of place” could damage blood and nerve supply hence causing illness.

His research and clinical observations led him to believe that the musculo-skeletal system contained all the elements needed to restore health, if properly stimulated. By correcting problems in the body’s structure by manual techniques, the body’s ability to function and heal itself could be greatly improved. He also promoted preventative medicine and endorsed the philosophy that osteopaths should treat the whole patient not just the disease.

When was the first School of Osteopathy founded?

By 1890 Andrew Still’s fame had spread so widely that Kirksville, Missouri became a place of healing, with people travelling hundreds of miles to seek his help. The railroad company was even forced to lay on more trains to cope with the ever-increasing demand. In 1892 he opened the first osteopathic medical school with the help of William Smith, an Edinburgh medical school graduate. By 1897 Smith had secured standards of training equal to those found in US medical schools and osteopaths were registered as independent medical practitioners by the State Legislature. By the beginning of the twentieth century, there were 4,000 osteopaths, over 10 schools and 17 states had recognised them as physicians and surgeons. Through the succeeding decades, what started as an alternative medical cult became a successful profession and by 1930 osteopathy accepted the materia medica as part of their training and treatment.

When did osteopathy come to Britain?

One of the early osteopathic students was a Church of Scotland minister John Martin Littlejohn, who had been sent to the US to find a climate more conducive to his health.

After qualifying under Dr Still’s tutelage, Littlejohn returned to the UK where he is thought to have given the first UK lecture on osteopathy in 1898.

Littlejohn’s experiences and belief in the new treatment were such that he went on to establish the British School of Osteopathy (BSO) in 1917 in Buckingham Gate London. The school stayed on this site until the 1980’s when it moved to Suffolk Street and then in mid-1990’s to its current site on Borough High Street in London.

The initial intake was 20 students who would qualify with a Diploma in Osteopathy.

There are now five main training schools and several smaller schools. The main five schools are University College of Osteopathy (formerly The British School of Osteopathy) near Tower Bridge, London; The European School of Osteopathy in Maidstone Kent; The British College of Osteopathic Medicine in North London; The London School of Osteopathy in Grange Road, London and The London College of Osteopathic Medicine in London which caters for doctors training to be osteopaths.

Yes there is a recognised official body for osteopaths.

We are regulated by and have to be registered with The General Osteopathic Council – which ensures that we are safe to practice and you are in safe hands.

It is the General Osteopathic Council which ensures patient safety.

There is also the Institute of Osteopathy (iO).   The iO supports, cares, represents, advises and protects its members.

The iO used to be the British Osteopathic Association which was a merger of the three professional bodies representing osteopaths and was formed in 1998.

The purpose of the Institute is to unite, promote, develop and support the osteopathic profession, for the improvement of public health and patient care. By working collaboratively with osteopathic institutions at local, national and international levels we strive to raise the standards of care by osteopaths, and improve the understanding and awareness of the public and fellow health professions to the benefits that osteopaths bring to the resource and cash strapped health economy.’

Yes, believe it or not we are a primary care physician – the same as a GP is – the main difference being that we are not trained in surgery or pharmacology, but studied the art and science of osteopathy instead.

Osteopathy is regulated and was the first complementary therapy to have undergone statutory regulation by Parliament. This gives an osteopath similar status to a doctor or dentist and guarantees a patient the equivalent high level of protection.

All osteopaths in the UK are regulated by the General Osteopathic Council (GOsC).

The Statutory Register of the General Osteopathic Council (GOsC) was opened in May 1988. The term ‘Osteopath’ was protected in law in May 2000.  It is against the law for anyone to call themselves an osteopath unless they are registered with the GOsC, which sets and promotes high standards of competency, conduct and safety. The GOsC can, and will, prosecute individuals who practice as osteopaths when they are not on the GOsC Register.

To qualify, your osteopath will have undergone a 4-5 year accredited course at an established osteopathic institution. This training and qualification ensures that your osteopath is safe and competent to practice.

Osteopaths are required to renew their registration each year and GOsC provide registrants with an annual license to practice. As part of this process, the GOsC checks that osteopaths have current professional indemnity insurance, remain in good health and of good character, and have met mandatory continuing professional development requirements.

All the osteopaths at Shefford Osteopathic Clinic are registered with GOsC.

 To check if your osteopath is registered you can go to Finding An Osteopath on the General Osteopathic Council’s website. If you can’t find the osteopath you are looking for or you need further help, contact the General Osteopathic Council at info@osteopathy.org.uk or phone 020 7357 6655 ext. 242.

How long does an osteopath train for is something all patients want to know, and they are always surprised at how long it is and the depth of knowledge that we have to learn.

All osteopaths practicing in the UK have completed rigorous training. Students of osteopathy follow a four or five-year degree course, during which they study anatomy, physiology, pathology, pharmacology, nutrition and biomechanics. In addition they undergo a minimum of 1,000 hours of clinical training. Qualification generally takes the form of a bachelor’s degree in osteopathy – a BSc (Hons) Ost, BOst or BOstMed – or a masters degree in osteopathy (MOst).

As well as completing the necessary training, osteopaths must also prove themselves to be in good health and of good character, and have professional indemnity insurance cover.

The General Osteopathic Council sets the standards of osteopathic education, and requires qualified osteopaths to update their training throughout their working lives, a process known as continuing professional development.

More information can be found in the Standards of Osteopathic Care leaflet on the General Osteopathic Council’s website.

Each professional will have different interests, such as:

• They may specialise in treating certain areas, for example frozen shoulder.
• They may train in additional therapies to add to osteopathy – for example acupuncture.
• They may specialise in treating sports or pregnancy and children.

Our osteopaths have trained at different institutions and have different interests; thereby we are able to offer you a huge wealth of experience all under one roof.