About Us

What is osteopathy?

Osteopaths are trained to recognise and treat many causes of pain. Osteopathy is an established system of diagnosis and manual treatment, which is recongnised by the British Medical Association as a discrete clinical discipline.

Osteopathy uses many of the diagnostic procedures used in conventional medical assessment and diagnosis. Its main strength, however, lies in the unique way the patient is assessed from a mechanical, functional and postural standpoint and the manual methods of treatment applied to suit the needs of the individual patient.

Osteopaths use their hands both to investigate the underlying causes of pain and to carry out treatment using a variety of manipulative techniques.

These may include muscle and connective tissue stretching, rhythmic joint movements or high velocity thrust techniques to improve the range of movement of a joint. Gentle releasing techniques are often used, particularly when treating children or elderly patients.

What to expect at your first appointment

Visiting an osteopath for the first time can be a little disconcerting to begin with. The following will hopefully explain exactly what to expect and answer some of the questions you might have. If you have any concerns, please contact the practice by phone prior to attending your first appointment.

At the start of the first session, you will be asked questions about your problem, your medical history and lifestyle as well as your symptoms. This is very important as it will help to make an accurate diagnosis and appropriate treatment suggested. What you say is written down in your records and kept confidential in compliance to the Data Protection Act 1998.

The 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 (e.g. a leg length difference may result in compensations in the upper back which may result in neck pain) so they may need to examine the whole body.

The osteopath will need to feel for 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.

In order to examine you effectively, it may be necessary for your osteopath to ask you to remove some of your clothing as appropriate for your condition, which might mean undressing down to your underwear. If this is a problem, make the osteopath aware of this and discuss whether it might be appropriate for them to treat you while you wear loose clothing e.g. shorts and t-shirt.

The osteopath might suggest a course of treatment, which may require several visits. They will ask permission to provide treatment and you may be asked to sign a consent form.

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 or condition that they are unable to treat and may suggest that you consult your GP.

You may experience mild discomfort with some of the treatment techniques used, but osteopathic treatment is usually a gentle process. The osteopath will let you know if any discomfort is likely and it can be helpful to let them know what you are feeling. If pain persists after treatment, contact the osteopath for advice.

You are welcome to bring someone with you for all or part of your consultation. Children should always be accompanied by an adult.

If you have any other questions, please do not hesitate to ask the osteopath.