What to Expect when Visiting an Osteopath

Keywords – What to Expect when Visiting an Osteopath

Osteopaths, and osteopathy in general, are recognised by the NHS as Allied Health Professionals and play a critical role in the diagnosis, treatment and care of people of all ages.

In the UK, the osteopathic profession is regulated by the General Osteopathic Council and osteopaths are trained to degree level, taking a minimum of four years, including over 10,00 hours of contact time with patients at undergraduate level.

Therefore, you can be confident that your qualified osteopath has the highest level of training and expertise, and will provide a safe and effective diagnosis and treatment for you.

Phases of an Osteopathic Appointment

Your initial consultation will usually last up to an hour and will be typically broken down into 4 phases:

Questions about Your Symptoms, Medical History & Lifestyle: This is very important as it helps your osteopath make an accurate diagnosis.
Physical Assessment: The Osteopath will then ask your consent to go on to conduct a physical assessment. Here, you may be asked to dress down depending on the problem area. Specifically, they will examine areas of the body causing discomfort as well as palpating the muscles and joints. In addition, other potential problems areas which could be contributing to the issue may also be identified.
Diagnosis / Prognosis: The Osteopath will then go onto to explain their diagnosis to you and their professional opinion on it. Moreover, they will discuss the course of osteopathic treatment in addition to other advice designed to help manage or relieve the pain and maintain your health. Also, they will discuss the cost of this depending on the level of care you would like.
Treatment: Pending time treatment will take place near the end of the appointment. It is very important to take time with the previous 3 steps to ensure the right assessment is made. Therefore, effective treatment can be planned and conducted at subsequent appointments that you understand and are happy with. Occasionally, if they are unable to treat the issue as it can be outside their scope, they may refer you to a GP or other health professionals.

Osteopathic Treatments

Osteopathic treatment utilises a variety of techniques which aim to improve your soft tissues, such as muscles, ligaments etc, your joints, as well as your nerves.

Most techniques in osteopathy are usually quite gentle and osteopaths work very hard to ensure you experience as little discomfort as possible.

On occasion, it is possible to experience some discomfort during and after treatment. However, in any case, your osteopath will advise you if they think that the technique that they are about to use is likely to be uncomfortable and will stop if you tell them that you are feeling too much pain.

Following treatment you may experience some mild soreness in the area of their body that was treated. However, this will normally will go away within 48 hours.

Your Osteopath will be happy to be contacted following treatment should you have any concerns, questions or require advice.

To learn more, or to book an appointment, please get in touch today.