Osteopathy

About Osteopaths

Osteopathic practice is a safe and effective form of prevention, diagnosis and treatment for a wide range of health issues. Osteopaths see people of all ages from babies to the elderly and everyone in between, including pregnant women and elite athletes.

Osteopaths are high trained healthcare professionals who are experts in the musculoskeletal system (joints, muscles and associated tissues) and its relationship to other systems of the body, to keep you a healthy as you can be. You do not need to consult your GP before you visit and Osteopath, although you may wish to do so.

How do we treat the person, not just the symptoms?

We work holistically, this is to consider that various factors are contributing or are root-causes to your symptoms. We then tailor our treatment in partnership with you. We aim to achieve individual care, selecting the best decision we can, based on evidence, experience and what’s important to you (Greenhalgh, Howick and Maskrey, 2014). Our goal is to get you back to doing things you love as quickly as we realistically can. Advice and exercises are aimed at helping you stay active and in good health.

What to expect

When you first visit an Osteopath, you’ll be asked about your current symptoms and medical history. All information will be treated as confidential by the standards of practice set out by the General Osteopathic Council and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), May 2018. It is natural in most circumstances to worry about your symptoms and the cause. You can be confident that your Osteopath will always complete a routine examination that checks for more serious diagnoses and will advise you any further action that might be required.

Your treatment may begin at your first appointment. You may experience mild discomfort afterwards, but in most cases, this will pass within 24 hours.

Your Treatment

Osteopaths use a wide range of gentle hands-on techniques that focus on releasing tension, stretching muscles and mobilising joints. These are often used together with exercise and helpful advice designed to help you relieve or manage your pain, keep active and maintain the best of health in the fewest sessions.

Nationally there is a very high rate of patient satisfaction, with 30,000 people consulting an Osteopath every day (GOsC, 2006).

Whom can we treat?

MSK disorders in a wide range of people, not just back/spine! For example: Joint pain, sports and performing arts injuries, muscular spasm, older people, mechanical imbalances, workplace injuries, expectant mothers, children.

This is good evidence that we can help with: arthritic and joint pain, digestive problems, nerve pain, generalised aches and pains, back pain and sciatica, inability to relax, cramp and muscle spasm, migraine, cervicogenic headaches, knee and hip osteoarthritic pain alongside standard care, fibromyalgia, rheumatic pain, uncomplicated neck pain.

Is it safe?

The health risks associate with having osteopathic treatment are extremely low. Studies have shown that:

• 99% of patients experience mild or no treatment reactions
• Around 50% of patients experience mild to moderate, short-lived reaction to treatment (|aching, a minor increase in pain, feeling tired, babies may cry slightly more) this mostly resolves in first 24-48 hours.  Usually, there is an improvement in symptoms alongside or after this reaction to treatment.
• More serious treatment reactions (moderate) occur in an estimated 1% of patients (defined as not lasting more than a few days and not requiring medical attention (increased pain, numbness/tingling).

Training and Regulation

In the UK, the Osteopathic profession is regulated by the General Osteopathic Council (GOsC) and by law, an Osteopath must be registered with GOsC to practice. To remain registered, they must comply with strict regulatory requirements, high standard of professional practice and regular professional development.

These requirements give patients the same sort of guarantees and protection as those given by doctors and dentists. Osteopaths are trained to degree level attaining either a Bachelor of Science (BSc) or integrated Masters (MOst). Training take a minimum of four years and include a requirement to have over 1000 hours of supervised clinical experience with patients before registration.

Osteopaths are recognised by NHS England as Allied Health Professionals, playing a critical role in the diagnosis, treatment and care of people of all ages.

Useful Information Resources

• General Osteopathic Council: http://www.osteopathy.org.uk/home/
• Institute of Osteopathy: http://www.iosteopathy.org/
• International Federation of Orthopaedic Manipulative Medicine Therapists http://www.ifompt.org/

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Meet the team