Osteopathy

Osteopathy is a recognised system of diagnosis and treatment based on the alignment of the spinal column and the corresponding muscles.

Emphasis is on the structural integrity of the body:  pain and disability stem from abnormalities in the function of the body structure, as well as damage caused by disease.

Your first appointment

Your osteopath will compile a detailed case history of your presenting condition and ask you some questions about your general health.  Any information you provide is, of course, treated as strictly confidential.

Your osteopath will take a good look at your standing posture and take into account the stresses being applied to your body through every day life, whether this is sitting at a computer all day or lifting and carrying young children.

Normally you will be asked to remove some of your clothing; you will then be asked to make simple movements and stretches to allow the osteopath to observe posture and mobility -  pain or stiffness experienced in one area may be linked to a problem elsewhere.

The health of your joints, tissues and ligaments is assessed using a technique called "palpation"  i.e. using the hands and a very highly developed sense of touch.  

By loosening up areas in the spine that are restricted, and releasing tight muscles, the osteopath can get your body working in harmony with your lifestyle and get you out of pain.

Treatment is gentle but thorough, and improvement can often be felt immediately, though long standing problems will need more than one session.

Osteopathy can help

• Arthritis
• Back pain (including due to pregnancy)
• Disc degeneration and injuries
• Hip pain
• Frozen shoulder
• Knee and ankle pain
• Migraine
• Neck and shoulder pain
• Repetitive strain injury
• Sciatica
• Shin splints
  
• Sports injuries
• Tennis elbow
  
• Tension headache
• TMJ (tempero mandibular joint)
• Whiplash
• Work-related injuries