What can I expect on my first visit to an Osteopath?

 When you first visit an osteopath they will spend some time taking a medical history, which will include questions about your general health and lifestyle as well as asking you about the symptoms or injuries that you are seeking help with. With your consent they will then perform a physical examination which is likely to involve the osteopath touching the areas of your body that are experiencing pain and asking you to move around. They may also look at test results, x-rays and scan reports if these are available.

It may be necessary for the osteopath to ask you to remove some clothing, so that they can see and touch the areas of the body causing concern. If you are uncomfortable undressing to your underwear the osteopath may be able to suggest clothing, such as shorts and T Shirt, or close fitting garments, that will enable them to work effectively without making you feel uncomfortable, so please do discuss this. You are welcome to bring someone with you into the examination room if this puts you at ease and you may wish to seek an osteopath of the same sex as yourself, we can help you find an osteopath that suits your needs.

The osteopath will make a diagnosis and discuss a course of treatment with you. This may involve visiting them a few times for manual therapy, some exercises that you can do by yourself and some lifestyle changes. They will discuss the likely cost of this treatment and ask for your consent to begin treatment. If the osteopath believes that your condition would not be improved with osteopathic treatment they will refer you to your GP or another suitably qualified professional and may provide you with notes explaining their diagnosis and why they feel osteopathic treatment would not help you.

Who and what do Osteopaths treat?

Osteopathy is a system of assessing, diagnosing, treating and preventing a wide range of health problems.

Osteopaths are commonly known for treating back pain and postural problems including changes due to pregnancy, caused by driving or work strain, the pain of arthritis and minor sports injuries.

Please see ‘What We Treat ’ where you can find the common joint and muscle conditions that osteopaths treat.

Patients have also found osteopathy helpful for conditions such as digestive issues, circulatory problems, neuralgia and problems sleeping and for the symptoms of many others.

Osteopathic patients include the young, older people, manual workers, office professionals, pregnant women, children and sports people.

Osteopaths are trained to check for signs of serious conditions they cannot treat. In these circumstances, they should inform you of what they believe is the problem and refer you to see your GP or hospital for further investigations.