Osteopathy
What To Expect when you come for treatment.
Going somewhere new can be a daunting experience, especially when you are in pain so find out more about what to expect when you go to an osteopath.
The first part of the appointment will be spent discussing your pain and how it started. I will ask questions about lifestyle, medical history, medications, and family history and other questions to rule out more serious causes of the pain.
You may be asked to undress to allow examination and treatment. If you are not comfortable with this, it would help if you could wear loose clothing allowing movement of the joints.
The Examination
The examination typically includes assessing active movements (where you move the joint/s to be examined) and passive movements (where I move your joints). I will feel the muscle tone and note any sensitive areas.
There may be tests including neurological tests to look at whether a nerve is ‘trapped’, tests for arthritis or other tests to rule out conditions that look like back pain but are in fact from a different source. A common example might be kidneys which can refer pain to the back.
In this instance, I will always contact your GP on your behalf with my concerns (with your permission of course).
The examination takes about 10-15 minutes and after this has been completed, I will tell you what I think the problem is and why, and what action I would recommend.
If I think your problem is mechanical and I can help then I will explain what the treatment will involve and roughly how many sessions you will require.
Treatment can vary from very gentle release techniques to strong manipulation where I ‘click’ the joints, although, this is of course not suitable for everyone and a plan will be tailored specifically for you. All treatment is only ever done with your fully informed consent.
After the treatment it is not unusual to feel some aching and discomfort for up to 48 hours.
Exercises will be given, usually in an email form with videos, after the session. If you have any further questions about what to expect please don’t hesitate to get in touch.
Got A Question?
If you have a question please don’t hesitate to get in touch and I will aim to get back to you very soon.