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Stillpoint Osteopathic Center is the private practice of Judith Lewis, D.O., American Osteopathic Association Board Certified in Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine and Neuromusculoskeletal Medicine.
Osteopathic medicine – the word osteopathy means the “study of the bone.” From this study of function by looking at the structure of the bones came a medicine that is in its foundation the study of health.
When Andrew Taylor Still, the founder of Osteopathy (also called Osteopathic Medicine), became discouraged with the sorry state of the medicine he had learned to practice during the time of the civil war, he began to study the anatomy of the bone to better understand how the body was designed to function. As he searched deeper into the understanding of function he was studying the body’s physiology and thereby, health. He began to apply these principles to the treatment of people and soon people came from around the world to be treated by him. He treated problems with the organs, encouraging healthy function and eating. Osteopathic medicine has continued to develop more understanding of health, exploring the importance of the fluid system of the body – the role of the artery, of venous return, and the power of the lymphatic system. Impaired function of any of these fluid systems impairs the health of the body, impairs the “homeostasis of the body.” Homeostasis is the internal mechanism of an organism to regulate and maintain its internal conditions to stabilize health and functioning.
Thus osteopathic medicine is the study of the health of the body. Great advances were made early in the development of the osteopathic profession in tools to further study homeostasis and how the osteopathic physician can assist the patient in achieving their health. Toward the middle of the twentieth century osteopathy began to evolve, to embrace more of the advances that were occurring in medicine. The profession developed a strong curriculum to teach allopathic diagnosis and treatment of disease while continuing to teach osteopathic principles and practice. Within that study of health, the osteopathic physician is trained to recognize and treat disease. The profession continues to delve into current research, both specifically in osteopathic principles, but also generally in advances in allopathic medicine.
Osteopathic physicians are fully licensed physicians, and can become board certified in all the major medical specialties. The osteopathic physician brings an additional dimension for healing, as they discover and treat the impairments of function and restore of the full function of your body’s own homeostasis or self-healing potency. In addition, the American Osteopathic Association offers a board certification for the osteopathic physician who chooses to specialize in Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine (and Neuromusculoskeletal Medicine.) This Board Certification is identified by OMM/NMM
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