Osteopathy is a complete system of medical care. Its philosophy is to treat the whole person, and not just the symptoms. Its focus is the interrelationship of structure and function within the body. When there is impaired movement between different tissues of the body, the result is impaired functioning of the body, thus causing illness. The osteopath treats these impaired movements with gentle manual techniques designed to restore mobility, and recognizes the body's ability to heal itself. The goal is not to treat the illness, rather to stimulate the natural auto-correction system within the patient.