Nancy Nunn - Osteopath

11/03/2025

I usually post on Instagram on International Women's Day but this year's post comes several days late because it's taken me a few days to process the day.

This year, I was invited to speak at the Inspiring Women in Osteopathy conference organised by the Institute of Classical Osteopathy. Those who follow me here will know that I'm often lecturing/teaching, but attending a conference is quite different. Yes, I presented (with the usual time consuming prep and inevitable performance nerves, probably both disproportionate to the time I actually spent speaking) but I also spent most of my day listening to some amazing speakers. Hearing so many women talk passionately about osteopathy and meeting many osteopaths who's philosophy and practise sit so well with my own felt so special. I came away with things to apply in my own practise and am looking forward to revisiting the other speakers through the recording (the event was both live streamed and recorded).

Thanks Pindy for inviting me. It was a brilliant way to spend my day and I feel privileged to have been part of the UK's first conference celebrating women in our profession. From its beginnings in the late 1800s, women have been supported and encouraged to enter the profession, many developing into leaders who have shaped the way we work today. The legacy we have is one to be proud of, whilst also feeling like a tall order to live up to.

17/01/2025

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26/11/2024

I've been spending some time this afternoon on my admin day studying anatomy. My textbook of Netter's illustrations of the heart's anatomy and embryology are a fascinating follow-up for the weekend. I spent Friday to Sunday with the on the second of their new courses on circulation.

Fellow osteopaths reading this will be familiar with the value that osteopathy's founder AT Still placed on circulation - a strong theme in all of his writings highlights the importance of both blood flow and drainage in health and disease. When I meet patients, whatever their age and state of health, it's very common for me to notice issues that relate to the health and function of their vascular system. For example, when you injure yourself, the physiological consequence is inflammation and the, often painful, swelling you see in the tissues is evidence of normal changes in circulation. In health, this can help healing because it brings blood to the area but when this persists we see and feel that the surrounding tissue becomes congested and less healthy.

It was interesting spending time on the weekend exploring aspects of the body which disrupt or enhance the flow of blood. As my patients and students know, I use my hands to listen to a body. Blood is a fluid and it feels different, depending on whether it is in arteries, veins, or capillaries. When tissues have poor blood flow (particularly drainage), the organ, muscle, bone etc takes on a different texture which is noticeable when you are familiar with how bodies feel. Being autumn, there were lots of examples amongst colleagues of how lungs can been challenged by illnesses. These became opportunities to explore the influence that compromised lungs have on the body's whole circulation.

There's lots more I can say but instagram has a word limit. In summary, the technical detail of this course is very much the 'bread and butter' of my everyday work. Consequently, this course felt like an exciting opportunity to share ideas and learn. Also, it was a lovely end to my week, which had started with a trip to Milan to teach an attentive group of paediatric osteopaths at

04/10/2024

22/06/2024

On this day 150 years ago Osteopathy was founded by Dr Andrew Taylor Still (according to his autobiography). As a medical doctor who had lost several family members to meningitis, he became disillusioned with the medicine of his day and started looking for other ways to "find health" (medicine in the 1800s involved blood letting and purging - "cures" which were often worse than the ilness). Still's Osteopathy was founded on the principle that the body has the ability to heal itself (common with other complementary systems of medicine) and the job of the osteopath is to remove barriers to health. He had spent decades studying anatomy and physiology whilst working as a doctor. He became very interested in the musculoskeletal system and understood its connections to the body's organs and their function through its mechanics and changes to posture and it's ability to influence the pathway of the structures which pass through it, like nerves, blood flow and lymphatic drainage (think, standing on a hosepipe really doesn't help it to water your plants). These principles apply to my work today... so I guess that makes me a body mechanic, plumber and electrician, amongst other things. Studying the anatomy and physiology of the body fascinated me before I even trained as an osteopath and choosing to take my journey into paediatrics, pregnancy and the journey beyond for the mother, has opened another level of exploration into how bodies function and adapt at times of changing physiology, developing anatomy and emerging function. So I am grateful to the man in this photo because I have found a "job" I love; it satisfies my passion to learn...as a clinician and teacher, I am also always a student.

Coincidentally, yesterday marked 21 years since I qualified and today, I spent my day in the classroom with postgraduate paediatric osteopaths discussing the role of Osteopathy in the treatment of unwell children. As part of this, we discussed the unique perspective that Still's insights on osteopathy give us and how these help us to manage this group of patients.

09/06/2024

If you've been following my instagram stories, you'll know I've been away working. On Friday and Saturday, I spent two days working with the postgraduate paediatric osteopaths at the Osteopathic Centre for Children Italy. I spent time in the classroom discussing the development of behaviour in children and also neurodiversity and autism spectrum. On the second day, I had the lovely experience of working with the same osteopaths in their paediatric clinic.

Over 15 years ago, whilst completing my higher education teaching qualification, I had to reflect on why I teach. I remember concluding that I enjoy teaching because I learn too.... that has been so true this weekend - not just in the preparation I put into the lectures, but I learn from the questions I get asked and from listening to their experiences and understanding their thinking in clinic. In clinical practise, we're all on a learning journey as we gain experience. As a teacher, I have the privilege of joining others on their journey, too.

Now I'm home, tired from the journey (yes, there were delays) and from working in 30+ degree temperatures, but refreshed from the warmth of the faculty and students, and from staying in the mountains (with a little spare time to enjoy them alongside the generous hospitality offered).

Swipe some photos of the classroom and mountains. The last two were taken at the little oasis of calm, which was the B&B where I stayed.

08/06/2024