What is the difference between osteopathy and chiropractic?

Chiropractors and osteopaths have a degree of overlap, especially in terms of spinal manipulation techniques (the ‘clicking’). However, they are very different; chiropractors see dysfunction in terms of spinal misalignment, whereas an osteopath may see spinal adjustment helping, but this is not always the case.

In an example of knee pain, a chiropractor would say that the knee pain is caused by nerves becoming impinged where they exit the spine, so causing knee pain. If that is the case, spinal adjustment is the solution. An osteopath may think knee pain is caused by such nerve root impingement, but this is not always the case – perhaps there is damage to the knee, or perhaps the ankle needs releasing to help the knee work better.

There’s a joke amongst osteopaths that whatever question we are asked, an osteopath begins by answering ‘it depends’ because for us, we focus very much on individual care, working out what is causing your problem and tailoring treatment individual to you.