Osteopathy - Evidence for osteopathy

To judge whether a health treatment is safe and effective, we need evidence. Evidence on a treatment is gathered by conducting fair scientific tests of the treatment.

When we use a treatment and feel better, this can sometimes happen because of a phenomenon called the placebo effect, and not because of the treatment itself. To find out more, watch a video about the placebo effect.

This means, although many people treated by osteopaths report good results, it is not always clear how effective the treatment actually is for certain conditions.

What evidence is there?

Most research into techniques used in osteopathy tends to focus on general 'manual therapy' techniques, such as spinal manipulation. Manual therapy techniques are used by physiotherapists and chiropractors as well as osteopaths.

However, there is some good evidence that manual therapy performed by osteopaths is an effective treatment for persistent lower back pain. This is why guidelines from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) on this condition state this can be considered as a treatment option.

NICE also recommends manual therapy as a possible treatment option for osteoarthritis, but osteopathy is not specifically mentioned.

There is no currently not enough evidence to suggest that osteopathy is an effective treatment for:

• asthma
• painful periods
• excessive crying in babies (colic) 
• glue ear
• problems affecting the jaw (temporomandibular disorders)
• the abnormal curvature of the spine (scoliosis)