What is Osteopathy
What happens when seeing an Osteopath
A typical visit to an Osteopath

 

 

 

What is Osteopathy

Osteopathy is a long established, recognised system of diagnosis and treatment, with an underlying philosophy that the body has a natural tendency to heal itself but this can be disrupted by imbalances in the musculoskeletal system, this in basic terms means if the body is used badly the muscles will be out of balance with uneven pressure onto the joints. This has many implications as injury can be caused simply by not being fit for purpose or activity, this is very obvious when considering exercise such as weights, football or hiking where you have to be fit to participate, unfortunately the principles of working with our daily activities is not always obvious, such as gardening for a day, driving long periods or even hunched over a laptop. An osteopath will help you understand your body as the better our health, strength, flexibility and overall fitness the better our ability to carry out our activities, this also implies quicker recovery time and rehabilitation with less time visiting the osteopathic clinic, and when considering exercise remember its purpose, if you have a job which requires lifting and reaching into awkward places such as an electrician, gardener or looking after young children then you need an activity to improve and maintain flexibility, mobility and strength, this will reduce your chance of injury not just at home, but work and sport.

 

 

What happens when seeing an Osteopath

When you find an osteopath what happens when visiting one? Our osteopaths in Manchester will firstly take a consultation and use many orthopaedic assessments which are common to osteopaths and doctors, a bio-mechanical assessment is performed looking at body function and structure, ie how it works. On completion a specific treatment plan is followed and regularly reassessed for optimum recovery. Osteopaths look to restore how the body functions so to reduce/eliminate symptoms and improve health. 
The following is considered with an osteopathic approach 
Health - past and present
Joint and Muscular imbalances
Injury
Posture
Exercise
Osteopaths believe that given the right environment a body will try to heal itself and assist this process utilising massage, soft tissue techniques and manipulation, with exercise for addressing imbalances and rehabilitation on a functional basis.

 

 

A Typical visit to an osteopathic clinic

The osteopath will ask why you attended the clinic and have an In depth discussion of you presenting symptoms such as pain down the leg, pins and needles sensation or knee pain etc this confirms which tissues are involves, muscle, joint, disc or nerves etc. Your osteopath will then take a full medical consultation which will include past which may influence you present health such as work injuries or back pain from a road traffic accident, your osteopath will consider your present health to separate any differential diagnosis which may contra-indicate osteopathic treatment or mimic a muscular-skeletal condition, an example could be kidney problems which can give a dull ache or pain into the lower back. A physical examination is undertaken by the osteopath to highlight body movement, function, restrictions and imbalances. 
Osteopathic treatment can vary from osteopath to osteopath and it may involve physical modules such as massage, osteopathic manipulation and soft tissue techniques to improve movement and function. Exercise programs are prescribed for addressing imbalances and rehabilitation on a functional basis and are a very important aspect of osteopathic treatment, Which ever approach is most appropriate it  will be discussed with yourself
If your osteopath is to improve movement and function then we need to keep it moving considering lifestyle changes such as postural influences which may include work activities like sitting or standing long periods or leaning over worktops etc, and dietary advice where necessary.

Osteopaths work closely with doctors and other therapists referring when necessary and are more than happy to write reports for other therapists and doctors informing what they have found, treated and any recommendations.
We also work with solicitors and accident case management consultants where there may be insurance involvement such as a road traffic accident.