Osteopathy
What is Osteopathy?
Osteopaths subscribe to the principle that your overall health depends on healthy movement and function of your body. In the same way that a mechanic helps a car to run more smoothly and efficiently, Osteopaths help your body work better so that you can get on with normal life in comfort.
We use a combination of movement, stretching, massage and manipulation to improve flexibility, relieve pain and speed recovery from injury. We seek to understand the underlying cause of your problem to give you the best treatment and advice possible for your long-term wellbeing.
You don’t have to be in pain to see an Osteopath! We also want to help you perform at your best, whether that may be preparing your muscles for the endurance of a marathon, or making sure your back and hips rotate well to enable your most powerful golf swing.
You also need your body to work well for you at work. Osteopaths can help you get over the repetitive strain injuries of prolonged desk work which can be tiring and distracting, and help you get back to work after injuring your low back with heavy lifting.
What do osteopaths treat?
Most people who see an osteopath do so for help with conditions that affect the muscles, bones and joints, such as:
Neck pain
Shoulder pain
Arthritis
Problems with the pelvis, hips and legs
Sports injuries
Problems with posture caused by driving, work or pregnancy
Increasing the mobility of joints
Relieving muscle tension
Enhancing the blood supply to tissues
Helping the body to heal
We spend some time at the beginning of the consultation gathering details about your symptoms as well as your general health and lifestyle. This helps us start to work out what the problem may be. With your consent we will then examine you physically. This may involve asking you to move in certain ways, and we will also feel your muscles and joints to see how things are working. We will also look at your test or scan results if you are able to bring them along.
It helps osteopaths to be able to see or feel the problem areas easily, so we may ask you to remove some clothing. It isn’t a problem if you would prefer not to, but please wear loose, comfortable clothing so we can still examine you properly. You are welcome to bring someone to your treatment with you if that puts you at ease.
Your osteopath will make a diagnosis and discuss a course of treatment with you. We will also suggest what you can do at home to help manage your problem yourself. If we feel your particular complaint needs a different kind of treatment or investigation we will give you advice about how to do this.