What to expect at your first appointment

Your first visit to see the osteopath will last about an hour. A full medical history will be taken and important information about your lifestyle and diet will also be discussed. You will also be asked about your symptoms and factors that affect them.

You will then be asked to undress to your underwear and asked to perform a series of simple movements. This allows the osteopath to identify which structures in your body are causing you the pain or discomfort and to assess whether your body as a whole is moving as well as it can. A full examination will then be made, which may include orthopaedic (bones and joints), neurological (nerves), respiratory (lungs) and circulatory (heart and blood vessel) examinations. With your permission, further tests may be requested from your doctor.

Once a diagnosis has been made, you will then be treated if it is appropriate to do so. Osteopaths work closely with General Practitioners and other Health Care Professionals. We may wish to refer you if osteopathic treatment is not appropriate for you, or if you would benefit from medical intervention. A dramatic example for referral would be - if following a full examination, it was indicated that the pain in your shoulder was caused by your heart. It would be appropriate for you to see a medical practitioner in that instance and osteopathic treatment would not be given.

Osteopathy is also a preventative therapy and when used in this way, may improve health and well being, avoiding long periods of discomfort.

Please feel free to contact the Backworking Osteopathic Practice if you would like further information or to talk anything through…