Osteopathy
What is Osteopathy?
What education do Osteopaths have?
Who can benefit from Osteopathy?
What conditions do Osteopaths treat?
Can osteopathy help with arthritis?
Osteopathy in Pregnancy
Osteopathy for new mothers
Osteopathic treatment for babies and children
Osteopathy for sportspeople and weekend warriors
Osteopathy for the elderly
Osteopathy for workplace injuries
What to expect when you visit an osteopath
Osteopathic Treatment
What is Osteopathy?
Osteopathy is a world recognised system of diagnosis and treatment practiced by qualified and highly skilled practitioners. It is a wholistic approach to the human body that uses a wide range of techniques to treat musculoskeletal problems and other functional disorders of the body.
Osteopathy aims to address the cause of your problem and not just treat the signs and symptoms. Osteopaths believe that the whole body’s structure is essential to good health, and that by keeping the structure working well and improving mobility the body will function at its best. Any problem with the structure of the body might disturb the body’s self-healing ability, because the circulation of blood or action of the nerves or organs can be affected. Examples of such disturbances include injuries, poor posture, muscle spasms, joint misalignments, pelvic imbalances and spinal curvatures.
In order to ascertain the cause or causes of your problem, your osteopath will take a detailed medical history including past injuries, falls and accidents, as well as illnesses and current medications.
Osteopaths use a wide range of gentle, safe and effective manual techniques to improve physical function, reduce pain and enhance health. These include soft tissue techniques (similar to massage), joint mobilization and manipulation, muscle stretching, “position of ease” techniques, and very subtle “cranial” and “visceral” osteopathic techniques.
We also teach exercises and advise on suitable sport or leisure activities. We can offer ergonomic advice and help with posture at work.
Because every person is different, your osteopath will devise your treatment programme to suit your particular needs and help you to self-manage in future.
What education do Osteopaths have?
In Australia Osteopaths are nationally registered primary health care practitioners who have completed post-graduate level education and training which includes detailed study of anatomy, physiology, pathology, and medical and orthopaedic diagnosis, as well as osteopathic philosophy and treatment techniques.
Currently osteopaths complete five years of full time study graduating with a Bachelors degree in Clinical Health Science and a Masters degree in Osteopathy.
Osteopaths are highly trained in palpation skills to assist with evaluation and diagnosis. Because of their high standard of clinical education, osteopaths are able to recognise conditions that require medical referral.
Osteopathy is recognised by the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA).
Who can benefit from Osteopathy?
The gentle wholistic approach of Osteopathy makes it suitable for treating people of all ages including infants, children, pregnant women, adults, the elderly and athletes.
What conditions do Osteopaths treat?
We regularly treat musculoskeletal conditions including:
- Back and neck pain, stiffness and lack of mobility
- Headaches
- Sciatica and other syndromes of nerve impingement.
- Pain and dysfunction in other joints such as
hips, shoulders, knees, and ankles
- Work related injuries, tendonitis and RSI
- Sports injuries
- Trauma from car accidents and head injuries
- Arthritis and rheumatism
Our Osteopathic treatment can also be of assistance in other areas, including:
- Women’s health: menstrual problems and pregnancy care.
- Babies and children: excessive crying, colic, sleeping problems, breastfeeding difficulties.
- Immune system: supporting free flow within the circulatory systems can assist chronic illnesses.
- Internal organs: asthma and digestive problems.
- Mental and emotional: stress, depression and fatigue.
- General health, posture, wellbeing.
We can also offer advice on exercise, healthy eating, and maintaining a healthy lifesyle.
Can osteopathy help with arthritis?
Osteopathic treatment can assist with the management of pain in arthritic and other rheumatic conditions. By gently easing the joints and releasing tense muscles, osteoarthritic symptoms can be alleviated.
Osteopathy in Pregnancy
Back pain is a very common problem in pregnancy and our gentle effective treatment can be very helpful in reducing back pain during your pregnancy. Regular osteopathic treatment and advice while you are pregnant can help you prepare and be at your best for childbirth.
Osteopathy for new mothers
After the delivery your osteopath can help your body recover and return to health and fitness. This may be especially beneficial if you have had a difficult or complicated delivery.
Osteopathic treatment for babies and children
Osteopathic treatment can be extremely effective for babies. The techniques used are amazingly gentle and use the special sensitive palpatory skills of “osteopathy in the cranial field” or “cranial osteopathy.” We gently feel the baby’s head and body to find and ease strains and tensions in the tissues of the body.
Osteopathy can be helpful for infants:
- Breastfeeding difficulties
- colic
- reflux or vomiting
- neck strain and torticollis
- constipation
- difficulty settling
- after a long or difficult labour
- after an assisted delivery
Osteopathic treatment is gentle, safe and thorough.
We can help toddlers, children and teenagers:
- after falls or injuries
- ear infections and glue ear
- scoliosis
- back pain or other joint pain
Osteopathy for sportspeople and weekend warriors
- help speed your recovery from strains and sprains and
- help you return to exercise more quickly
- help you adjust your technique to avoid future injuries
Osteopathy for the elderly
- Help maintain mobility and use of joints
- Improve balance and ability to perform activities of daily living
- Improve general health by enhancing respiration, blood and lymph flow
Osteopathy for workplace injuries
Repetitive strain injury and desk disease are all too common. Osteopaths can improve your body function, reduce symptoms and help you use your body more efficiently to prevent recurrence.
What to expect when you visit an osteopath
A typical first treatment will include a comprehensive case history, careful examination and hands on treatment.
We wish to find out the cause of your problem in order to help you overcome it. For this reason we take a detailed case history at the first visit, asking about your complete history of injuries, falls and accidents as well as your health history to determine how these things may have led to your current situation.
We then ask you to perform some movements so that we can see how your spine and joints are working. We may use a stethoscope, take your blood pressure, or perform other orthopaedic tests. You may be asked to remove your shoes and outer clothing, you can put on a gown if required. The osteopath will palpate your joints and muscles to find areas of dysfunction.
Osteopathic Treatment
As osteopaths we use our highly developed sense of touch or palpation to locate and treat points of weakness or excessive strain throughout the body. We use a wide range of safe, gentle and effective treatment techniques including soft tissue work, articulation of the joints, muscle stretch techniques, ligament balancing techniques and cranial techniques, which decrease tension within the connective tissues and restore a sense of balance within the body.
Your consultation will include advice to help you manage your condition. This may include stretches and self-mobilization exercises, postural advice, workplace ergonomics, rehabilitative exercises and dietary and lifestyle advice.
We may also be able to support your health and recovery by offering nutritional information and advice. We stock a small range of high quality nutritional supplements and herbal combinations to help reduce pain and speed the healing process.