Who and what do osteopaths treat?
Osteopaths’ patients include the young, older people, manual workers, office professionals, pregnant women, children and sportspeople. Patients seek treatment for a wide variety of conditions, including back pain, changes to posture in pregnancy, postural problems caused by driving or work strain, the pain of arthritis and minor sports injuries.
What is Osteopathy?
Osteopathy is a system of diagnosis and treatment for a wide range of medical conditions. It works with the structure and function of the body and is based on the principle that the well-being of an individual depends on the skeleton, muscles, ligaments and connective tissues functioning smoothly together.
To an osteopath, for your body to work well, its structure must also work well. So osteopaths work to restore your body to a state of balance, where possible without the use of drugs or surgery. Osteopaths use touch, physical manipulation, stretching and massage to increase the mobility of joints, to relieve muscle tension, to enhance the blood and nerve supply to tissues, and to help your body’s own healing mechanisms. They may also provide advice on posture and exercise to aid recovery, promote health and prevent symptoms recurring.
Osteopathy is now recognised as an effective treatment for a wide range of painful disorders. It helps restore the function of the musculoskeletal system (joints, muscles and ligaments) The aim is to relieve pain and get you going again as quickly as possible. Patients of all ages can obtain benefit. The treatment is tailored to suit.
The Treatment
Osteopathic treament consists of gentle manipulation and stretching of the muscles, ligaments and joints. Treatment is not painful and rarely uncomfortable.
Conditions treated by Osteopaths
Osteopathic treatment can help many musculoskeletal conditions. These include aches and pains due to strains, falls and overuse, arthritic pain, backache, back pain, circulartory problems, cramp, joint pains, sciatica, muscle spasms, rheumatic pain, minor sports injuries and tensions. It can often alleviate the problems associated with stress and tension.
COVID 19
For existing patients, the stringent infection control measures that osteopaths are advised to implement may lead to an experience that is different to what they had been used to before the pandemic – for example, the osteopath may be wearing personal protective equipment (PPE), spacing out their appointments to allow time to clean the room between patients, and they may be minimising waiting times within the clinic. These measures will be aimed at keeping patients and practitioners safe as the pandemic continues, and should not affect the high levels of care that patients are entitled to expect from osteopaths.