Our Appointments
Osteopaths recognize that a patient is an
integrated whole.
When all the body's components are in balance,
a person feels complete and in total health.
What a Manual Practitioner of Osteopathy Does
- When the Initial Assessment and Treatment Appointment is booked, the patient is given an Intake form to complete and return prior to the appointment.
- At the Initial Assessment and Treatment Appointment, a detailed health history is taken from the patient followed by a careful examination. This information aids the process of putting together a 'story' of why symptoms have developed.
- The Practitioner conducts a physical examination ruling out major health concerns and ensuring a safe treatment can be provided.
- The Practitioner assesses all systems and structures that may be related to the chief area of concern. Symptoms may not come from the area that the patient is complaining about. There may be several factors contributing to the symptoms that the patient is experiencing. You will be asked to perform a series of prescribed movements, postures and functional tests.
- Osteopathic treatments are done with the clothes on, and patients are asked to wear loose clothing, thin fabrics, or shorts and a t-shirt for their appointment.
- You can expect a range of hands-on techniques, like gentle, soft tissue stretching, deep tactile pressure, and manipulation of your joints using hands-on pressure or pressure applied to your limbs.
- Using very subtle and gentle techniques, the accumulated stresses and strains in the body are gradually released.
- After your treatment, you may experience immediate relief of your symptoms and increased mobility in your body. Some conditions may take longer to respond to treatment.
- Osteopathic treatment is aimed not only at the relief of symptoms, but towards helping the body function better in all respects. Patients often report an improvement in general well being, energy levels, sleep patterns, and also in areas of symptoms other than those that brought them to their appointment in the first place.
- Treatments are often administered once every one or two weeks initially. This is to allow the body to adapt to treatment. Follow up treatments are usually every 4 to 6 weeks.