What to Expect on your First Visit
When you arrive at the Osteopath’s Surgery for the first time a detailed case history is taken to build up a picture of your present problem, previous musculo-skeletal problems and past medical history. It is important to know about your past medical history, even if it goes back a long way and seems irrelevant to you now. Osteopaths need to consider how your body has been affected by old illnesses, accidents and operations, and even by your own birth. We also need to know what medication you are on and what you have taken long-term in the past, since this might have an effect on your bones and thus make a difference to the kind of techniques we use during treatment.
After the history is completed the osteopath will do a standing examination in order to observe how you carry out active movements, and then get you to sit or lie down in order to carry out a passive examination. We are specially trained to assess the function/dysfunction of bones, muscles, ligaments and joints. We are then able to make a diagnosis and work out a treatment plan. Osteopaths work holistically, i.e. we look at the whole body function, not just at the affected area. This means that we often work on areas that appear to be unrelated to the presenting problem.