Osteopathy in Luxembourg: high in demand, but controversial

Take a deep breath, let go and crack – this is roughly how many people imagine the manipulations of osteopaths. Despite the fact that the effect of this alternative medicine, which originated in America, has not been proven in many studies, osteopathy has been enjoying increasing popularity for years. It has been recognised as an official healthcare profession in Luxembourg since July 2018. However, osteopathic services are not covered by health insurance – not yet, according to the hopes of many practitioners. Maryse Heintz has been one of them for 30 years. The trained physiotherapist is one of the first generation of osteopaths in Luxembourg, as there wasn't much on offer in the Grand Duchy when she first became interested in the field.

"I actually wanted to take a taping course because I did a lot of sport myself and worked a lot with athletes. However, my professor in Switzerland had a more holistic approach and convinced me to do a three-year course in energetic, manual and Chinese medicine as well as reflexology, " recalls Heintz. After graduating, she knew a bit of everything, but lacked the in-depth knowledge, so she decided to study acupuncture and osteopathy for a few more years at the International Academy of Osteopathy, which still offers a Master of Science in Osteopathy today.

Despite the scepticism

"In Luxembourg at the time, osteopaths were practising medicine illegally ("exercice illégal de l'art de guérir"), as the service was not recognised in this country." However, Heintz was not impressed by the general perception of osteopathy, as she was convinced of its effectiveness. "A person is not just their body, but also has a spirit, a soul. If there is a loss of movement, you have to look at where the different elements are no longer in harmony, because you can't separate them from each other." However, she drew a line between osteopathic treatments and physiotherapy, as she believes it is important to make a clear distinction between the two areas.

Despite successful treatments in her own practice, society remained sceptical about osteopathy: "We were exotic among therapists and those who were listed in the yellow pages received a letter from the Collège Médical telling them to remove their contact details immediately or they would be closed down." They were tolerated but ridiculed, says Heintz, but the patients came back: "As osteopathy is not reimbursed by the CNS, people usually have to pay for everything themselves, unless their supplementary insurance covers part of the costs. So you have to deliver results, because if people don't get better, they won't come back."