What is the difference between chiropractic and osteopathy?

Question

Which is better to see; a chiropractor or an osteopath? I am having problems with either my muscles or my nerves in my back (not sure, different doctors have said different things.) and I am getting a lot of sharp pains to my neck and a lot of head aches under pressure and stress. I was on bed rest for 3 days as I couldn't lift my head or turn my neck.

Answer 1

It really depends on your goals and philosophy of health. Chiropractors believe the power that created the body, heals the body. They view your body as a whole, and think of you as a self healing organism. They adjust the spine to free up the nervous systems of subluxations (fixation in your spine that may or may not be causing you the pains, but when present they interfere with your nervous system making you less healthy). With a freely moving spine, your nervous system will function optimally and heal itself. Neck pain, head aches, and pain are just symptoms, chiropractors treat the cause which is subluxation derived from fixations in the spine from trauma, stress, poor posture, and exposure to toxins.

To clear up the misconception of education, Chiropractors spend 3-4 years in Chiropractic college, and have a very similar curriculum as Medical Doctors. Just replace the surgery and pharmaceutical classes with adjusting technique and nutrition classes. In British Medical Journal May 2003, "Who pays for the pizza?", it is said that 60% of the medical research and 2/3rds of the medical institutions have economic ties to the pharmaceutical companies" So although it may be longer, future doctors are being taught what Big Pharma wants, not what is always best for you.

Only 10-15 % of osteopaths practice manipulations, which means close to 80% will just write you a prescription for pain meds. If you want to treat the symptoms and do not care about correcting the cause of your pain, then this may be a good solution for you.

We are not genetically programmed to be sick, we are built to be well and thrive. There are no drugs that will make you healthier. Chiropractors study wellness, MD's and DO's study pathologies. If you wanted to get rich, would you study a rich person or a poor person? If you wanted to be happy, would you study a depressed person or a motivated upbeat person?

I hope this answers your questions and raises a few more for you to consider, feel free to e-mail with any others

Answer 2

This Site Might Help You.

RE:
What is the difference between chiropractic and osteopathy?
Which is better to see; a chiropractor or an osteopath? I am having problems with either my muscles or my nerves in my back (not sure, different doctors have said different things.) and I am getting a lot of sharp pains to my neck and a lot of head aches under pressure and stress. I was on bed rest...

Answer 3

An Osteopath is a Doctor that studied medicine. They have all of the same privileges as any other doctor. They can operate & prescribe meds. The difference is that they also studied manipulation techniques. They can also perform the same adjustments that a chiropractor can. I think that they are the best of both worlds. They view that patient as a whole being, not just a set of symptoms. They are trained to find the cause of the problem. A chiropractor cannot prescribe medication that is sometimes needed. I personally chose an Osteopath.

Answer 4

Chiropractic is a complementary and alternative health care profession which focuses on diagnosing, treating, and preventing mechanical disorders of the musculoskeletal system, their effects on the nervous system, and on general health. Chiropractic's premise is that spinal joint misalignments, which chiropractors call vertebral subluxations, can interfere with the nervous system and result in many different conditions of diminished health. In contrast, the term subluxation, as used in conventional medicine, is usually associated with specific conditions which are a direct consequence of injury to joints or associated nerves.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiropractic#History

Osteopathy is a theory of disease and method of cure founded on the assumption that deformation of some part of the skeleton and consequent interference with the adjacent nerves and blood-vessels are the cause of most diseases. (Oxford English Dictionary).[citation needed] Practitioners of osteopathy, called osteopaths (or osteopathic physicians in the US), have a holistic approach; osteopathic philosophy requires addressing the whole person in diagnosis, prevention and treatment of illness, disease and injury, using manual and physical therapies (Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine, or OMM).

With its origins in the late 1800's, osteopathy was initially a variant of the contemporary Western medical approach, and became integrated with mainstream medicine in 1969. Outside the United States, osteopathy is considered a complementary or alternative therapy, and is limited largely to musculoskeletal conditions and treatment of some other conditions using OMM.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osteopath#History
for osteopathy in US:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osteopathic_medicine

Answer 5

Personally I would go to a chiropractor, especially because of the symptoms you are stating.

Chiropractors work on your spine to make sure everything is in line - inside your spine is your spinal cord which is attached to every nerve in your body. If there is a mis-alignment, it puts pressure on the spinal cord, and as a result, puts pressure on certain parts of the body. (this can cause anything from headaches to digestive problems and even false epileptic fits)

Osteopathy focuses mainly (but not solely) on muscles, and a lot of the time, medication is involved. (medication that most of the time is never necessary)

Quite frankly, medical doctors have no idea about the osteopathy or chiropractic fields and certainly don't specialize in them so they don't recognize the cause of the problem like a chiropractor or osteopath would. (which is why you have recieved different opinions from doctors) The best they can do is prescribe medication which does your body no good.

So yeah... I think a chiropractor is your best bet! Try and find a chiropractor who doesn't try to achieve a "quick fix" because there is no such thing - it took time to get your spine into the shape it is in now and it's going to take time to get you out of it too!

Hope this helps =)

Answer 6

I always thought an Osteopath was a medical doctor that uses some of the same methods as a chiropractor, spine manipulation etc. A chiropractor is not a true medical doctor (I don't think they go to medical school).

Answer 7

Osteopath Wiki

Answer 8

about $125

Answer 9

osteopaths are M.D.s .Chiropractors aren't. I have seen them both for health problems and I can't say which I prefer. They both have their good points.

One treatment that helped my back and head pain was cranio sacral manipulation. (also called cranio sacral therapy) You can find more info on it at http://www.upledger.com/home.htm
Both chiropractors and osteopaths do it. It's relatively painless. Some other types of drs. and massage therapists also do it. Not all do it or have even heard of it, so if you are interested, make sure you ask your practioner if they are familiar with it. I found that accupuncture in conjunction with cranio sacral really helped. Hope you feel better soon!

Answer 10

my osteopath did more then just stretch and crack. they handled most all of my medical needs...I believe they are medical practitioners as well as chiropractic's