Gentle and Effective pain relief for muscle and joint pain
What is Osteopathy ?
Osteopathy is a form of manual medicine. It uses massage, joint mobilization and other techniques to relax muscles, improve circulation and fluid drainage as well as encouraging normal movement of joints. Exercises to stretch and strengthen your muscles and ergonomic advice is often given to aid treatment and prevent recurrence. Osteopathy is graded to suit the pain and the person it can be gentle enough to treat children, pregnant women and senior citizens.
Osteopaths treat a a range of conditions including:
Osteopathy is a form of manual medicine. It uses massage, joint mobilization and other techniques to relax muscles, improve circulation and fluid drainage as well as encouraging normal movement of joints. Exercises to stretch and strengthen your muscles and ergonomic advice is often given to aid treatment and prevent recurrence. Osteopathy is graded to suit the pain and the person it can be gentle enough to treat children, pregnant women and senior citizens.
Osteopaths treat a a range of conditions including:
- Low back and neck pain
- Sciatica
- Sports injuries
- Nerve pain
- Headaches
- Shoulder pain
- Frozen shoulder
- Golfers and Tennis elbow
- Arthritic pain
What to expect at the first consultation
The consultation starts with a case history – this is where I find out all about your injury, past injury history and your general health in case it is contributing or causing your pain. I then carry out an examination. You may be asked to remove some items of clothing to expose the area; this sometimes can be avoided if you wear appropriate clothing such as a vest top, leggings, tracksuit bottoms or you bring shorts to change into. It is important to us that you feel comfortable with the examination and treatment.
During the examination you will be asked to perform some movements to assess the injury. I will also feel the tension in your tissues and move your joints around. I may carry out some test such as testing your leg or arm nerves. I may also look at other areas of the body which are not causing you pain but may be contributing to the cause of your pain. Other tests, such as taking your blood pressure, may be done if I have concerns about your general health.
After the examination the osteopath will explain what is the cause of your pain. Sometimes further tests such as MRI scans are needed and you will be referred to your doctor or directly to a scanning unit.
Treatment is carried out within your comfort range. Treatment consists of massage, muscle energy techniques, and joint mobilization to reduce muscle tone and improve the flow of blood and inflammation. This also increases the mobility of your joints to reduce stiffness, improve strength and improve nerve and joint function. Sometimes ultrasound, dry needling or taping methods are used to help with the pain, this will be done after a discussion with yourself. You may also find that I work on other areas of the body to take tension off the painful area.
Osteopaths frequently give exercises and advice to aid your rehabilitation.
It is common to get a small degree of aching following treatment. This frequently happens later on that day or the next day and usually lasts less than 24 hours.
You will usually need more than one treatment, commonly, 4-6 sessions. In some cases I may recommend a regular treatment.
