Osteopathy is designed to treat the whole person and not just the ailment. The practitioners of osteopathy believe that the person is one organism and all parts of the body act on each other and so you cannot treat one part and not the other. The basis of the treatment is physical manipulation, particularly of the spine to bring the body back into balance. Osteopaths will often use conventional medicines alongside body manipulations in order help the body to heal itself.

Many osteopaths will use therapies in order to help people maintain good health and keep illnesses at bay. Some of the illnesses that can benefit from osteopathy are back or neck pains, joint pains, arthritis, allergies, asthma, dizziness, carpal tunnel syndrome, menstrual pain, migraine headaches, sciatica, sinusitis, tinnitus (ringing in the ears), and problems in the jaw joints.