Osteopathy

What is Osteopathy?

Osteopathy is a system of assessing, diagnosing, treating and preventing a wide range of health problems.

We treat a wide range of conditions, most commonly those of a musculoskeletal nature,

Osteopathic patients include the young, older people, manual workers, office professionals, pregnant women, children, and sports people.

Osteopaths are trained to check for signs of serious conditions they cannot treat. In these circumstances, we would inform you fo what we believe is the problem and refer you to see your GP or hospital for further investigations.

What to Expect During a Treatment

Osteopaths are healthcare professionals who are specifically trained in diagnosing health issues. At the start of your first appointment, we will ask you questions about your medical history and lifestyle, as well as any symptoms you may be experiencing. This is very important, as it will help us make an accurate diagnosis and suggest appropriate treatment.

We will need to examine the areas of your body causing discomfort. Sometimes the cause of your problem may be in a different area to the pain, (for example, pain in your lower arm may be linked to the nerves in your neck) so we may need to examine your whole body.

If you are uncomfortable with any part of this, you have the right to ask us to stop at any stage.

What Type of Techniques Does an Osteopath use During Treatment?

Osteopathic treatment is usually a very gentle process and we work very hard to make treatment as painless as possible, but you may experience some discomfort during and after treatment. We will warn you if we think that the technique that we are about to use is likely to be uncomfortable and will stop if you tell them that you are feeling too much pain.

Osteopaths will use a wide variety of gentle hands-on techniques that focus on releasing tension, improving mobility, and optimising function, together with providing useful health advice and exercise if required.

Following treatment, you may experience some mild soreness in the area of their body that was treated, this will normally go away within 48 hours.

What to Wear for you Osteopathy Treatment

It may be necessary for your osteopath to ask you to remove some clothing. This is so they can see and touch the areas of the body causing you concern. However, we always want you to feel at ease, therefore if you feel uncomfortable undressing to your underwear, wearing clothing such as shorts and a t-shirt, or close-fitting garments such as leggings, will still allow us to work effectively.

You are also welcome to ask a friend or relative to accompany you and be present throughout your appointment.