What do osteopaths do?

The nuts and bolts of what osteopaths do, is that they aim to improve your health and restore some sort of balance between the structure and function of your body. I know it sounds a bit airy-fairy, doesn’t it? But that’s it in a nutshell! So how do we do this? Well, by understanding how your skeletal system is moving in relation to all the external forces that are being imposed on it, we can see if there are disturbances in the functions you are trying to perform. e.g. if you break your leg (altered structure), you can’t walk (altered function), or if you tear a muscle in your shoulder, you can’t throw a ball for your pooch. The structure/function relationship is reciprocal. e.g. if you continually overload the liver with alcohol (altered function), your liver will scar, as with cirrhosis (altered structure).

So, restoring your body’s ability to operate in a more balanced and efficient way will lead to an improvement in your general health, as well as allowing you to carry out the functions that may have been impeded i.e. throwing the pooch’s ball.

To allow us to assess your structure/function relationship, we will carry out a series of observations and tests, including; posture, range of movement, skin texture, co-ordination etc. This will allow us to build up a picture of how your body is coping with the forces imposed on it. After this, treatment may involve a wide range of techniques, including articulation (wiggling and waggling), soft tissue massage and mobilisations (clicks and cracks), stretching and exercises. All of this is aimed at restoring you to your most structurally efficient self. And hey, we even throw in improved function too!