Osteopathy
What is Osteopathy?
Osteopathy is a primary healthcare profession, governed by statutory law, to provide the highest quality care for patients in the treatment of their muscular and joint pains. It is a hands-on therapy which helps to improve mobility, increase blood flow and optimise how the body functions so that the body heals itself.
Osteopaths are highly trained professionals with particular expertise in the musculoskeletal system which consists of the muscles, joints and their relationship with other systems of the body. Through our osteopathy treatment, we can effectively provide pain relief for muscular conditions, improve mobility and joint pain.
Osteopaths not only treat the body but we are holistic so we treat the person as a whole, not just the problem they present with. An osteopath will consider other factors that could be contributing to the problem, including other biological, psychological and social factors.
It is a misconception that we only treat back pain. We treat a wide range of conditions such as headaches, knee pain, tennis elbow, foot pain, whiplash etc. If you are not sure whether treatment can help, just ring us and you can talk to an osteopath over the phone before you book an appointment
What to expect
During your initial consultation, which lasts about an hour, we will:
Ask lots of questions about your past medical history (including medication), family history, etc. as well as your presenting problem, so that we can identify what has happened.
We will also explore other aspects of your life which may be a contributing factor such as work, lifestyle and hobbies. Some of the questions may seem unrelated to your problem but just ask us if you are unsure as to why we are asking a certain question.
We will then discuss our conclusions and carry out a physical examination to further help with our assessment of your problem. Osteopaths have excellent palpation skills (a highly developed sense of touch) which means we can identify joints which are not moving correctly and muscle strains in the tissues.
We may ask you to make certain movements and may perform some clinical tests, such as your reflexes, to ascertain what the problem is.
We will then treat you and discuss what we are doing as we are doing it. After treatment, we will often reassess you to see how your body has reacted and determine how many further treatments you may need.
Treatment
Treatment typically involves the use of a number of different approaches, including
- Soft tissue massage, articulation and stretching
- Joint manipulations (clicking techniques)
- Other methods such as medical acupuncture, postural advice and exercises
We will often give advice about exercise, sleeping position, diet and lifestyle.
Follow up Appointments
Following your first appointment we would ask to see you again over a period of a week or so. At your follow up appointment, we:
- See how you are feeling by asking specific questions about your pain level, mobility, sleep etc.
- Provide further treatment and discuss what changes we are able to palpate.
- Review our management plan and ascertain how many further appointments may be needed and the gap between treatments.
Patients usually come for 3-5 sessions, during which time their symptoms should improve and resolve completely. Other treatment options may be more suitable and we will discuss those with you.
Some patients may require further treatment, depending on their problem, and some patients receive ongoing care if their condition cannot be completely fixed (e.g. older patients with arthritis).
