Osteopathic treatment does not use drugs and is non-invasive (in contrast to most medical approaches). As a result osteopathy is often considered an alternative or complementary medicine. Although no drugs are used the treatment has a powerful effect. By helping to achieve a better physical alignment the osteopath will work to improve the central nervous system, the lymphatic drainage system and the circulation of blood. Patients are treated by massage, mobilisation of joints, and by the gentle practice of cranial osteopathy.

How osteopaths help

Osteopaths treat all kind of injuries and conditions. The most common issues patients present to osteopaths are back pain, neck pain and pain in the limbs, arms and legs, joints, shoulders, hips and pelvis. The reasons patients attend fall into two categories. First, pain caused by traumatic injuries such as slips, trips, falls or accidents; and secondly, chronic pain resulting from poor posture or degenerative disease such as arthritis. A very common reason for active people to visit and osteopath is an injury suffered whilst playing or training for sport or during physical activities such as dancing.

However patients also visit osteopaths with a wide variety of conditions which extend far beyond the back-related pain. Depending on their training and experience, osteopaths working with our Network also treat women's issues such as pain during pregnancy, period pain and post-partum discomfort; respiratory issues such as asthma and chronic predisposition to chest infections; bowel and digestive tract disorders, including Irritable Bowel Syndrome; and stress, ME and chronic fatigue.

Depending on the condition, 0steopaths treat patients with a variety of techniques including massage, mobilisation of joints, gentle manipulation (if appropriate and safe) and by the gentle practice of cranial osteopathy.

Cranial osteopathy

Cranial osteopathy is a sub-speciality practised by specially trained osteopaths. This technique is based on the fragile bones in the cranium and the sacrum where the pelvis joins the spine. Practitioners look for misalignments not just in the bones but also in the cranial rhythm, which may actually be the body's electro-magnetic field. A misalignment could be caused by trauma, such as a baby being squashed in the birth canal, or by emotional factors such as stress.

Finding Osteopaths in the UK

The distribution of osteopaths around the UK is weighted towards the South versus the North, largely explained by economic factors which mean that there are more patients with the resources to invest in private healthcare in certain parts of the country.

Osteopaths near London

The primary location for osteopaths in the UK is the southern capital city, London, which has more than 140 clinics registered with the Network. Areas with many clinics include Fulham, nearby Kensington and, next to the heath, Hampstead. Similarly, the northern capital, Edinburgh, the seat of local government for Scotland, is very well served with a number of gifted clinicians as is the largest city north of the border, Glasgow. Many of the daily visitors to London's offices live in the nearby Home Counties. To the east, Essex is the base for many investments bankers commuting into Liverpool St Station. Across the Thames estuary Kent is dotted with towns and villages in which osteopaths practice, whether daily or even for a couple of half days each week. Further west, the affluent county of Surrey, south of the capital, is a green and affluent belt with many practitioners serving young families and footballers wives. Moving towards the coast, East Sussex is home to the trendy Brighton and Hove which are both strong centres for alternative medicine. West Sussex is also increasingly densely served by osteopathic clinics due to the combination of older retired folk and young families enjoying the advantages of coastal living. These conditions are equally true for Hampshire which runs from the coast up to the M3 technology corridor and includes Southampton, with its university and Guildford with its stockbrokers and wealthy families.

Osteopathy North West of London

Directly to the west and north of London, Middlesex, is home to a wide valley of suburban living with fairly densely populated towns and substantial health assets including hospitals and alternative health practitioners. Further west out towards Reading is the county of Berkshire with it beautiful villages and towns with charming pubs along the river. Next door Buckinghamshire is equally beautiful with its open fields and pretty towns. More urban, but equally interesting is the county of Hertfordshire which is centred on the growing commercial centre of Watford which has grown rapidly over the last 20 years as a shopping and office precinct. Less than an hour up the A40 from the city is Oxfordshire which is not just home to the famous university town of Oxford, but it is also renowned for its bucolic pastures, market towns and pleasant villages.

East Anglia Osteopaths

East Anglia is the ancient heartland of England with ancient churches and monuments as a backdrop to modern health facilities such as osteopathy clinics. Bedfordshire is the most developed county to the north of London. Further to the south and east Cambridgeshire is a rural county with rich livestock facilities, particularly for horses and rare cattle breeds. Famous for the wet fens, the county is also the home for Cambridge university whose rowing and rugby teams are well-tended by local osteopaths. Norfolk is also wet with the broads and centuries old canal systems. These waterways were the source of trading routes to Norwich which, 1000 years ago, was the heartlands of England's wealth through the wool trade. Wool was also the source of much of the wealth of Suffolk which has left us with stunning Romanesque churches and the quaint village of Gainsborough country.

South West England and Wales Osteopathy

The West of the UK is dominated by Wales which is no longer known for industrial wastelands and coal mining but for modern services manufacturing including medical devices. Back in England, Avon is a pocket-sized county with two stunning treasures. Bristol is a stunning port city with golden-stoned architecture and amazing shops and restaurants. By contrast, entering Bath is like stepping back into the 18th century with breath-taking Georgian architecture. Bath is a local centre for alternative health, especially osteopathy. Further south Devon is a coastal realm with rural dominated by the cathedral town of Exeter with its hospitals and university. At extremity of the island, Cornwall has stunning coastlines, surprisingly balmy weather and a buoyant surfing industry.

Osteopaths in Dorset are clustered around Bournemouth which is no longer a retirement community but is now a university town with night clubs and a youth culture. At heart of the wealthy Cotswolds, Gloucestershire is the natural home of alternative medicine in the centre of the country. By contrast, more rural Somerset has fewer osteopathy practices and patients will have to travel further for consultations. In Wiltshire coverage is better in the smaller towns with number of small practices, perhaps staff by semi-retired practitioners enjoying country sports.

Eastern Midlands Osteopath Practices

The county of Derbyshire is not particularly densely served by osteopaths, but patients will do better in Leicestershire, which has a number of particularly busy practices. Surprisingly Lincolnshire is well served, but the coverage is patchy with a bias towards the more affluent south-west of the large county. Northamptonshire is also a little underserved by the osteopathy profession for no reason it is easy to explain. However, further north, Nottinghamshire has a number of well-attended clinics with very experienced staff.

Western Midlands Osteopaths

Just inside the border with Wales, Herefordshire is a rural paradise with forests, farms and great food. It also has an active holistic medicine community from osteopaths to Reiki healers. Coverage of clinics in Shropshire is patch with strength in areas like Ludlow but weakness in Telford. In the neighbouring county of Staffordshire there is strong coverage with seven towns hosting an osteopath with 2 in Stafford and 2 in Tamworth.

Warwickshire is not well represented with only a single practice in Kenilworth. At the other end of the scale the West Midlands has a large number of practices with particular strength in Birmingham, Sutton Coldfield, Solihull and Wolverhampton. To the south the large county of Worcestershire has a number of practices with 3 in Malvern and Worcester also showing well.

North West England Osteopathy

The rich county of Cheshire is like a north-western version of surrey with leafy towns and villages and many substantial homes on large blocks. Across the Mersey in Liverpool and indeed throughout the Merseyside area we have a number of excellent practices throughout the county. The traditional centre of the north-west and is Manchester which has six osteopath clinics. Elsewhere in the Lancashire there are a couple of particularly well-known Bolton clinicians. Moving north to the less densely populated county of Cumbria we are under-represented with Kendal represented.

North East England and Yorkshire

In North Yorkshire there are 5 clinics across 4 different towns. Across the line in South Yorkshire the focus is the increasingly vibrant town of Sheffield with its universities and student café society. West Yorkshire makes a strong showing with 7 practices, particularly with great strength in Leeds with four. In Cleveland there is nothing outside of Yarm. Similarly in County Durham the only town with a registered osteopath is Darlington. In Northumberland we are represented only by an excellent clinic in Morpeth. However Tyne and Wear is strong with some very good clinics in Sunderland.

Osteopathy Regulation and Education

Osteopaths in the UK are regulated by the General Osteopathic Council which maintains a statutory register of qualified practitioners, hears complaints from members of the public and has the power to strike-off from the register any person unfit to practise as an osteopath. In Australia the peak professional body is the Australian Osteopathic Association which works closely with universities in developing some extremely high teaching standards.  

In the UK the British School of Osteopathy is one of six tertiary institutions offering a very high level of training to students from Britain and overseas.