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One early case illustrates his approach
at this time, and also shows the fairly primitive knowledge of the way the body functions, that was prevalent at that time. Despite this obstacle Andrew Taylor Still was able to evolve and construct a theory and
practical system of therapeutics which worked then, as it does now, because it recognised and was based upon natural laws.
In Andrew Taylor Stills autobiography he describes the case of a child with dysentery:
I placed my hand on the back
of the little fellow in the region of the lumber and found it very warm, even hot, while the abdomen cold. My only thought was as to help . . . and little dreamed that I was to make a discovery that would bless future
generations.
I thought it strange that the back was so hot and the belly so cold; then the neck and back of his head were very warm and the face, forehead and nose cold. I began to reason, for I then knew very little
about dysentery, more than the fact that it killed old and young and was worse in warm weather.
I did not know how to reason on diseases because all the authorities I had met could not get their eyes off the effects to
turn them to the cause.
I knew that a person had a spinal cord, but little of its use. I began to work at the base of the brain and thought that by pressing and rubbing I could push some of the heat to the cold places. While doing this, I found rigid and loose places in the child’s whole spine, while the lumber region was in a very congested condition. I worked for a few minutes on that philosophy and then told the mother to report to me the next day. She came early the next morning to report that the child was well. I had seventeen severe cases of dysentery in a few days and cured them all without drugs’.
This early case illustrates how the idea evolved. By trial and error he found that similar abnormal structural changes existed in many conditions and from these simple beginnings grew a new science.
Dr
Still’s fame spread rapidly and patient’s came from all over America to see him. He found that by careful palpation, i.e. examination by feeling the surface of the body, he could ascertain abnormalities and by careful
manipulation he could often restore normal function. In many case he found that he was able to achieve beneficial results, where previously he had failed.He recorded success with cases of pneumonia, asthma and many acute and
chronic ailments.
Osteopathy, to Still, meant diagnosis followed by specific manual techniques applied spontaneously until he felt the desired changes in the tissue or joints on which he was working. He did not apply
manipulation as a remedy for symptoms as such, but regarded himself as a mechanic of the living body, restoring or encouraging its natural powers of recovery.
Still’s gift as a great manipulator and healer are well documented. His contribution to the healing art was to offer an alternative to the heavy drugging of orthodox medicine
of that time. He also conceived the basic theories of his new approach and developed and originated the manipulative skills without an outside aid. A man of brilliance and dedication, he stubbornly persisted in his work, despite enormous opposition from the medical establishment.
In considering his contribution, it is as well to realise that medical knowledge, as we know it today was in its infancy. Antiseptic surgery was only just beginning, introduced by Lister, against Conservative
opposition. It was another twenty years before radiography was introduced, and the germ theory of Pasteur had only been established ten years previously.
It was within this dark age that Still worked out a practical
system of structural therapeutics. Dr Still emphasized the importance of the musculo-skeletal system as a major factor in the disease processes. He recognized the body structure as an important source of disruption. The result
of this view is to distinguish the patient from the ailment and to recognise finally that only by understanding the attributes of health, can the disease process be studied and corrected.
In order to cope
with the demands of some of his fellow doctors, Still trained them in his theories and techniques. This led ultimately to the founding of the first College of Osteopathy in Kirksville, in 1892. He based his school on the
fundamental principles of the osteopathic concept and included in its teachings all available methods which were useful in the care of the sick.
Sixteen men and three women graduated from this first Osteopathic College in 1894.
From that small beginning the growth of the profession has against all odds, been staggering. Dr Still was an eccentric individualist who
lived through a storm of abuse from the medical fraternity to the age of 89.
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