What does an osteopath do?

Following the case history, our osteopathic assessment focuses on a range of movement tests. We use our hands to feel which muscles or other structures are not moving properly, and where muscles are particularly tight. As osteopaths, we will examine not only where it hurts, but other parts of your body too. (Often one part of the body affects another. Sometimes the pain is not at the ‘causing’ part but at the ‘affected’ part. We want to find the ‘causing’ part). Then we may perform some standard orthopaedic tests for your joints, or neurological tests if we think that any of your nerves have been affected. These tests are the same as those you may get from your doctor. Having explained our findings to you and after obtaining your permission, we move on to treatment. Osteopathy is not a technique, but an approach that involves appraising your body from top to toe in order to assess where the problems are stemming from (not necessarily the same site as where the pain is) and applying any of a large array of hands-on techniques to help improve the situation. We may test the problem by asking you to move in certain ways, and we may measure improvements in the way you make those movements. Often we will recommend specific exercises to support your progress, and to help you to avoid having your problem recur. Our preventative advice may embrace your office set-up, your computer position, your car and advice about your usual activities of daily living. We will also tell you if we think you need to come back for treatment and how often this might be. Each person is different and we do not give our clients generic ‘treatment plans’ involving multiple sessions per week, or intensive courses of treatment that may last a number of months.