Nicolas André coined the French word orthopédie by deriving it from the Greek ὀρθός (correct), straight) and παιδίον (child) when he published his book Orthopedie Orthopedics or art
Reform and prevention of deformities in children in 1741. Although the name implies that he was initially developed to care for children, however, the repair of deformities of the spine and bones at all stages of life eventually became the cornerstone of orthopedic practice.
The idea of ​​founding was devised by the French doctor himself, Nicolas Andre, in 1741. At the University of Lyon at the time, in his book on correcting the errors of the skeletal system in children:
(L’orthopédie ou l’art de prévenir et corriger les difformités du corps chez les enfants)
And he sought to medicate children, contradicting the prevailing idea that the physically handicapped were so because God wanted that for them. And he relied on a drawing of a crooked tree that was tied to a long straight stake to straighten it. Thus, he brought his idea, which was spinning in his head at the time, closer to the parents of handicapped children with physical or orthopedic disabilities and the like. And even to doctors, the possibility of treating “crooked children”
The development of this science began after the interest of many doctors and their studies. Like the physician Jean-Pierre David, who wrote another important book in 1779.
Osteopathy began in the United States of America in 1874 by physician and surgeon Andrew Still