Osteopathy was founded in 1882 by Andrew Taylor Still, the father of osteopathy and osteopathic medicine.

He was also a physician & surgeon, author and inventor. He was the founder of the American School of Osteopathy (now A. T. Still University), the world’s first osteopathic medical school, in Kirksville, Missouri.

After becoming disappointed with loosing patients to various diseases like pneumonia and influenza, Dr Still formed a philosophy of preventative medicine that involved the understanding and treatment of the cause of disease, instead of just the symptoms.

He considered the shape and form of the skeleton and so was borne the understanding that the structure of something will determine its function within the body.

He realised that if you understand the mechanics of the body, right down to the smallest cellular functions, then working out the origin of disease is possible.  Thus the principles which osteopathic treatment is based on were formed.