Osteopathy

Osteopathy is an Allied Health Profession that takes a whole-person approach to health and tailors the treatment approach to the individual person.

Osteopaths work with people of all ages, providing safe and effective treatment and are highly trained health professionals, expert in the musculoskeletal (MSK) system: muscles, joints, fascia and how these impact the rest of the body.

Osteopaths will work on each patient’s unique combination of symptoms, making sense of each presentation by liking these with medical history, the patient’s lifestyle and will use hands on techniques to improve mobility and function and reduce pain.

Osteopaths work alongside other healthcare professions and can refer, when necessary, as well as give exercise advice.

What to expect from your first appointment and what you should wear

It is natural to feel a bit unsure when booking your first visit. We hope the below information will help you feel more comfortable about how the session will be structured and will answer some of your initial questions, however, please feel free to contact us should you have any doubts or need more information.

At the start of the session, we will take your case history; this will include not only your current symptoms but also your past medical history and some lifestyle questions to better understand how to help you. This will be followed by an active and passive examination of your body and its movement patterns; this might include areas of the body beyond the one that is causing you pain. This is because often the painful spot may not be the cause of your discomfort and other parts of the body may be ‘compensating’ for that area. For example, pain in your arms may be due to compression of a nerve root in your neck.

For this reason, please make sure you come to the appointment with underwear you feel comfortable undressing to or bring with you a pair of shorts with no metal parts or zips and a comfortable sports bra, preferably without metal clips.

Treatment plans will be discussed with you and will include manual therapy and exercise, some of which you may be prescribed to do at home.

You may experience some discomfort after the treatment for 24-72 hours, but this is quite normal and should then resolve. If pain persists, please do contact us for advice.