Osteopathy
Cranial Osteopathy
Back Pain
Babies and Children
Learning difficulties
Pregnancy
Getting Older
Dentistry

Your First Visit

The first consultation lasts between an hour and an hour and a half.
The osteopath will take a detailed case history including the symptoms you are suffering at present, when they started and how they affect you in your every day life. He or she will ask detailed questions about your general health, accidents and trauma that you have suffered in the past, your past medical history including illnesses and operations, dental treatment (especially extractions and orthodontics), and any other relevant areas of health such as emotional stresses you are suffering or have suffered in the past.

This is followed by a full examination and treatment. The osteopath will look at your body, assess your posture and where relevant observe how your spine and other joints move. Any appropriate tests, such as taking your reflexes or blood pressure, will be performed, and then your osteopath will gently put hands on some part of your body to feel for the general health state and any particular strain patterns. For the osteopath our palpation is like reading a book, and we try to quietly 'tune in' to the body to allow it to reveal aspects of its health state. From this we make our holistic diagnosis.

The examination and treatment are both very gentle, and all parts of the body are considered because the cause of a problem is often some way away from the area of symptoms. For example do not be surprised if you come in for headaches and find the osteopath spending a great deal of time releasing stresses and strains in your pelvis!

The osteopath will be trying to get a complete picture of you as a person, when and why your health started to go wrong. By understanding the true cause of the problem (which may have been something like a car accident 20 or 30 years ago), the cause of the problem can be treated, which is so much more effective than simply treating the effect (ie the symptoms) - when it is likely that the problem will recur in the future.  Osteopathy is a truly holistic system of health care.
Your osteopath will discuss his or her findings with you, and outline a treatment plan. Where possible he/she will try to give you an idea of how long the treatment will take. You may be given advice about lifestyle or exercises that you can do to help the treatment.

What should you wear?
You will probably be asked to undress down to your underwear for the examination. Undressing is not usually necessary after the first visit, but loose clothing is easier and more comfortable for us to work with than heavy tight jeans and thick belts.