About Osteopathy

The Osteopath Act 1993 means that all practitioners now calling themselves osteopaths must be registered with the General Osteopathic Council, fully trained at a recognised school of osteopathy and fully insured. All our osteopaths satisfy these criteria. If you would like clarification, please do not hesitate to contact the General Osteopathic Council who hold a current list of qualified osteopaths.

Osteopathy is a system of diagnosis and treatment which works mainly on the musculo-skeletal system. By taking a full case history and performing a relevant examination an osteopath is able to determine the underlying cause of the symptoms. This diagnosis then allows an effective and efficient treatment to be planned, taking into account the needs and degree of pain the patient is in.

The examination will depend on what the symptoms are. An osteopath is skilled in carrying out the relevant examination be it neurological or orthopaedic to enable them to rule out any serious pathological process in the body. Assessment of the musculo-skeletal system will make up a significant part of the examination. This is done with the aid of simple active and passive movements, palpation (feeling the quality and quantity of that movement) and muscle tests. For the examination and treatment you will be asked to remove your shoes and jacket/coat only.

Many people have severe back pain or neck pain when they arrive at the clinic for their first consultation and our practitioners are skilled in dealing with these people in a calm and reassuring way. Unfortunately, we usually have to work on the painful area of the back or neck meaning that any pain is as a result of the problem rather than the treatment. Soft tissue release and manipulation may be used and this may be uncomfortable depending on the area being treated but if this is likely the osteopath will explain exactly what to expect.

This depends on factors such as where the problem is, how acute or chronic the condition is, how long the problem has been present and whether your work or hobbies aggravate the symptoms. Often the symptoms ease considerably within one or two osteopathic treatments but the osteopath will be able to advise you how much treatment may be necessary following the examination.

This is often the case. There is no reason why you should know whether you need osteopathic treatment, acupuncture, physiotherapy or massage. For this reason we offer a free osteopathic assessment during which our osteopath will conduct a full case history, relevant examination and complete explanation of the diagnosis including whether you need osteopathic treatment or treatment of any other kind.