- Although both are similar, these two practices have a few key differences. Chiropractic has always focused on the spine, pelvis and nervous system, whereas Osteopathy focused on a whole body approach believing that the body needs to be working in harmony to function at its best.
- Over time these beliefs have merged to provide similarities in treatment. For example both use manipulation techniques and are used to look at how your body is moving in relation to the spine and other parts of the body.
- Both treatments use a holistic approach to treating your health. Using the biopsychosocial model both Chiropractic and Osteopathy take into account a variety of factors, from biology and psychology to peoples environment.
- Another difference for us is the length of appointments. At Core Chiropractic treatments are shorter at 15 minute, compared to an Osteopathy treatment from 30 -45 minutes.
- Both treatments are hands on. The difference for us is Chiropractic appointments tend to be shorter with the aim to stimulate the nervous system and facilitate healing. This is done using certain tools designed to manipulate parts of the body. Osteopathy treatments are often given longer to provide a more gentle and softer approach geared around calming the nervous system rather than stimulating it. This is achieved using rhythmic mobilisations to encourage the body to relax.
So there you have our 5 main differences. We hope this helps improve your understanding when choosing a Chiropractor or Osteopath and deciding which one is right for you!
