Osteopathy emerged in the USA in the 19th century in reaction to the classical medicine of the time.

Its founder, Dr Andrew Taylor Still, considered that the medicine of his time failed to take account of how the human body functioned or its self-healing capacities.

The basic principle formulated by Andrew Taylor Still is that we have all the necessary remedies within ourselves and that there is no need to inject chemicals to obtain healing.

Osteopathic medicine developed during the 20th century in parallel with classical medicine and they have gradually come together in the last decade. Today, osteopaths collaborate fully with all medical and health professions.

Since its inception, structural and functional concepts have influenced osteopathy in different ways.

Both ideas are followed by our osteopaths, which enhances the range of treatments we can provide to patients.

Currently, osteopathy is characterised by a mechanistic approach to the human body. The mechanistic view explains the functions of the body by permanent readjustments of the shape of the joints, tissues, and organs to meet needs and ensure optimal nutrient exchange (in a synergy of biomechanics and biochemistry). This characteristic is given by the architecture of the connective tissue (also called conjunctive tissue or extra cellular matrix). Lifestyle and ageing alter the qualities of the connective tissue, which then loses its mechanical qualities. When this alteration is still reversible, the osteopath can, thanks to the adapted manipulative gesture, restore the mechanical qualities of the altered tissue.

Some of our osteopaths have developed areas of expertise in disorders of the lesser pelvis.

• Pelvi-perineological and uro-gynaecological osteopathy