Ostéopathy is a non-conventional therapeutic approach based on the idea that manual manipulations of the musculoskeletal and myofacial system can relieve certain functional disorders.

Created on June 22, 1874 by American physician Andrew Taylor Still (1828-1917), osteopathy is based on manual techniques aimed at preserving or restoring the mobility of the body's various structures. A therapeutic method with both preventive and curative aims, it is based on the idea that any loss of natural mobility of organs in relation to each other appears at the level of muscles, tendons, viscera, skull or envelopes (fascia) and induces dysfunctions1.

Osteopaths consider that restoring body mechanics to function can lead to regulation of homeostasis[ref. necessary]. Osteopaths consider that conventional medicine is necessary for any damage to the very structure of the body. Instead, they treat functional illnesses, possibly psychosomatic, which do not fall within the scope of physiotherapy rehabilitation. An osteopath can work with a patient whose body structure has been affected once it has been treated by conventional medicine.