Osteopathy takes a holistic approach to health and stresses the importance of the musculoskeletal system in a person’s health and well-being. Osteopaths focus on how the skeleton, joints, muscles, nerves, circulatory system, connective tissue and internal organs function as a holistic unit to promote mobility and restore the body’s balance.
Our aim is to identify your individual musculoskeletal pattern and use gentle, hands on, effective techniques such as stretching, joint mobilisation, massage, exercise prescription and manipulation to skilfully address the significant physical issues and dysfunction in your body that relate to your complaint.
The Philosophy of Osteopathy
Osteopathy is a form of drug-free non-invasive manual medicine that focuses on total body health by working primarly through the neuro-musculo-skeletal system, using holistic and patient-centred approaches.
The philosophy of Osteopathy is a unique holistic approach to health care. It emphasizes that all systems of the body are interrelated and that any adverse changes in one part of the body may impair the functioning of other systems or organs. If the structure of a joint is distorted in any way, this will affect the normal mechanics of the joint resulting in dysfunction, which patients often feel as pain and stiffness.
What we can do to help
Osteopathy, Clinical Pilates and Clinical Neurodynamics can be helpful in:
- treatment of lower back pain,
- improving posture, strength and flexibility,
- treatment of muscle imbalance,
- treatment of repetitive strain injuries,
- treatment of some physical symptoms of stress,
- diagnosis and treatment of musculoskeletal disorders with neural involvement,
- treatment of arthritic and sports injury pain.
What to expect on your first visit
At your first visit, we will take a detailed medical case history. You will be asked information about your symptoms, as well as your medical background to enable a full picture of your health to be obtained. After the case history, if you are comfortable you may be asked to undress to your underwear so that a detailed structural and functional assessment can be made. You are more than welcome to bring shorts and a vest if you will feel more comfortable wearing these during your examination.
We will discuss our findings with you and let you know what our aims and objectives will be for your treatment plan. Our treatment is tailored to suit you as an individual. The number of treatments needed will vary depending on the patient and the symptoms.
There are many different treatment approaches the osteopath can use ranging from soft tissue release, articulation (moving) of the joints, manipulation of the joints, down to the more subtle cranial and visceral techniques.
If you have had any previous investigations such as X-rays or MRIs and you have reports at home, please bring copies of these to your treatment.