Osteopathy
Your Osteopathic Consultation & Treatment
In view of the current pandemic, if you do not wish to attend the practice we are able to offer you an online consultation. We can take a history, diagnose and advise you on self-help treatment techniques. Please read the attached document on how online consultations can work for you (LINK to PDF is not available yet, please get in touch with us).
According to the Institute of Osteopathy: Osteopaths are healthcare professionals who are specifically trained in diagnosing health issues. At the start of your first appointment, your osteopath 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 them to make an accurate diagnosis and to suggest appropriate treatment.
Your osteopath will need to examine the area(s) of your body causing discomfort.
Sometimes the cause of the 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 they may need to examine your whole body. They will need to feel for any tightness in the muscles and stiffness in the joints and may need to touch these areas to identify problems. They will explain what they are doing as they go along.
If you are uncomfortable with any part of this, you have the right to ask them to stop at any stage, without prejudicing your future treatment.
Osteopathy may help with:
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Sciatica
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Back pain
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Whiplash problems
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Muscle stiffness
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Arthritis
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Spinal problems
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Sports injuries
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Work related strains
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Tension headaches
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Tendonitis
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Stress & anxiety
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Other conditions
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Your Treatment
Your osteopath will make a diagnosis and discuss a course of treatment with you. This may involve further visits for manual therapy – a range of gentle hands-on techniques that focus on releasing tension, stretching muscles and mobilising joints. Together with exercises that you can do at home and helpful advice designed to help you relieve or manage your pain, keep active and maintain the best of health. They will discuss the likely cost of this and ask for your consent to begin treatment.
Most osteopaths will begin your treatment at your first appointment, but sometimes they may require further tests first i.e. blood tests or scans. Occasionally they may diagnose an illness that they are unable to treat and may refer you to your GP or another appropriate health professional.
Is Treatment Painful?
Osteopathic treatment is usually a very gentle process and osteopaths work very hard to make treatment as painless as possible, but you may experience some discomfort during and after treatment. Your osteopath will warn you if they think that the technique that they are about to use is likely to be uncomfortable and will stop if you tell them that you are feeling too much pain.
Following treatment, you may experience some mild soreness in the area of the body that was treated, this will normally resolve within 48 hours. If you experience serious or unusual symptoms after treatment, you should contact your osteopath straight away for advice.
In addition to hands-on treatment, your osteopath will provide you with an exercise and rehabilitation programme as well as additional advice on health and lifestyle. We will provide you with information where to find images and videos of rehab exercises and stretches located on our website.
What to Wear
As with any healthcare appointment, 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. Your osteopath will want you to feel at ease, therefore if you feel uncomfortable undressing to your underwear, your osteopath may be able to suggest wearing clothing, such as shorts and a t-shirt, or close-fitting garments, that will enable them to work effectively, so please do discuss this with them. Towels may be provided to partially cover areas of your body.
You may wish to seek treatment from an osteopath of the same sex as yourself. You are also welcome to ask a friend or relative to accompany you and be present throughout your appointment.
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Our Consultation
The first consultation may take up to one hour. The osteopath will discuss your condition, its background and how this relates to your current lifestyle. Osteopaths are trained to perform a series of physical examinations and in some cases may need referral for x-rays or scans. These may be carried out privately or under the NHS.
Use the button below to view availability and to book an appointment:
