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WHAT TO ExPECT

ON Your first visit

you're in

safe hands

Case History

At the start of your first appointment, your osteopath will ask you questions about your medical history and lifestyle, as well as any symptoms you may be experiencing. This is very important as it will help them to make an accurate diagnosis and suggest appropriate treatment. They will write down what you tell them in your records. These will be treated as confidential.

Treatment

Your osteopath will make a diagnosis and discuss a course of treatment with you. This may involve further visits for manual therapy – a range of hands-on techniques that focus on releasing tension, stretching muscles and mobilising joints. This will usually be accompanied by exercises that you can do at home and helpful advice designed to help you relieve or manage your pain.


On most occasions, treatment will begin at your first appointment, but sometimes you may require further investigations first e.g. blood tests or scans. Occasionally your osteopath may diagnose an illness that they are unable to treat and may refer you to your GP or another appropriate health professional.

What to Wear

As with any healthcare appointment, it may be necessary for your osteopath to ask you to remove some clothing. This is so they can see and examine the areas of the body causing you concern. Your osteopath will want you to feel at ease, so if you feel uncomfortable undressing to your underwear, you may wish to bring shorts and a t-shirt or vest top.
You can ask a friend or relative to accompany you and be present throughout your appointment. Covid-19 procedures currently discourage this, but if it is necessary, you must inform your osteopath in advance so that they can carry out a COVID-19 risk pre-screening telephone call with them.

When visiting an osteopath for the first time, it is natural to feel a little unsure of what to expect. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us, prior to attending your appointment.

Examination

Your osteopath will need to examine the area of your body causing discomfort. Sometimes the cause of the problem may be in a different area to the pain, (For example, pain in your lower arm may be linked to the nerves in your neck) so they may need to examine other areas. They will need to feel for any tightness in the muscles and stiffness in the joints and may need to touch these areas to identify problems. They will explain what they are doing as they go along.
If you are uncomfortable with any part of this, you have the right to ask them to stop at any stage.

Is Treatment Painful?

Osteopathic treatment is usually a gentle process and osteopaths work hard to make treatment as painless as possible, but you may experience some discomfort during and after treatment. Your osteopath will warn 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. This will normally resolve within 48 hours. If you experience serious or unusual symptoms after treatment, you should contact your osteopath straight away for advice.

Training and Regulation

You can be confident that your osteopath has the highest level of training and expertise and will provide a safe and effective diagnosis and treatment for you. 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 1000 hours of contact time with patients at undergraduate level.
Osteopaths are also recognised by the NHS as Allied Health Professionals and play a critical role in the diagnosis, treatment and care of people of all ages.

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