William Hauxwell

My Osteopathic Journey

Having studied Human Sciences at Oxford University, I had become aware of some of the shortfalls of modern medicine and Big Pharma. After a slow process of self analysis I came to the conclusion that I wanted to help heal with my hands and embarked upon studying Osteopathy. I graduated in 1998 from the British College of Osteopathic Medicine and after a couple of years in practice and teaching clinical osteopathy I married an Irish woman and moved to Dublin.

I set up my own practice in Dublin in 2001 and started working as an associate in Merrion Square Osteopaths in January 2002. The practice was founded by Jocelyn Proby who studied Osteopathy in Kirksville and was taught by the students of Andrew Taylor Still. Jocelyn returned to Dublin and set up practice in the basement of Oscar Wilde House in the 1950s. Jocelyn made several written contributions to Osteopathy, most notably “Osteopathy: Principles and Practice volume 1”.

As a classical Osteopath, Jocelyn put great emphasis on the role and treatment of the pelvis in a range of musculoskeletal disorders. Jocelyn encouraged Teran Synge who was the son of a family friend to study Osteopathy. Teran studied osteopathy at the BSO in London where he met his future wife and Osteopath Pamela. After graduating, Teran and Pam joined the practice in 1977. Jocelyn continued to practice until he was 90 in 1990. By the time I joined the practice Jocelyn had passed away.

When I first talked to Teran he told me that the Merrion square practice still had a strong emphasis on the pelvis and that his wife Pam and himself had developed a particular approach to palpating and manipulating the pelvis which he felt was more effective for the treatment of chronic lower back pain, pelvic pain and other conditions.

I was 2 years out of college and still felt that I had not got to grips with manipulating sacroiliac joints and saw this as a good learning opportunity. I had been living in Dublin for a year and started a 2 day associate position in Merrion Square Osteopaths. Teran told me to book my difficult patients in on a Thursday afternoon when he could come in and help me. With a waiting list of 3 months he told me he saw the patients nobody else could get better. I was open-minded but skeptical.

Every Thursday Teran would effortlessly manipulate my difficult patients and after a couple of sessions the majority of them became pain-free. As the months went by my skepticism melted away and I felt compelled to try to master his technique and achieve similar results. I was also determined to be able to help other osteopaths learn this approach.

I left Merrion Square in 2005 when I was only just beginning to climb the steeper part of the learning curve. Since then I have refined my skills and techniques and have slowly been trying to create a body of work to describe these techniques, analyse my findings and provide an anatomical and patho-physiological basis for them.

This body of work has become a CPD course. I have created a series of videos to mirror that course and to make the information freely available to anyone that may find it useful.