Your first appointment
Our Adelaide Osteopaths take an holistic approach to your health. We, therefore, require a lot of information from you to help us accurately understand your problem and then work to provide you with the most suitable treatment. At your initial consultation, we will ask for a comprehensive history of your complaint. We will need to know about your medical history, including any previous surgery and illnesses, your family history, and details about medications and your lifestyle.
We will need to do a physical examination. Osteopaths do skilled examination by touch, looking for details that help us determine areas of joint restriction, muscular tightness, inflammation, and other changes that may be related to your current complaint. Our physical examination will involve careful consideration of the painful region and assessing it in relation to the rest of your body. We may also need to performed other tests, such as a neurological examination.
Following the physical examination we will have a good idea as to what has happened and will discuss with you how best to address the issue. In most cases, with your consent, we will then be able to start osteopathic treatment so you can start feeling better.
FAQs
Who can osteopaths help?
Age or health status is not usually a barrier to osteopathic care. Babies from days old, to patients in their 90’s plus and everyone in between can benefit from a personalised osteopathic approach to their health care if it is appropriate to their complaint.
Does treatment hurt?
Osteopathic treatment should not hurt and we do our best to ensure that you are comfortable throughout treatment. Occasionally, some techniques used can feel awkward but they should not hurt.
How will I feel after treatment?
This depends entirely on the nature of your complaint. Some people feel immediate relief, while others may need a long course of treatment before significant improvement is achieved. While it is rare for you to feel worse after treatment, occasionally you may be more aware of your symptoms for a short time.
Is osteopathic treatment safe?
Yes. Osteopaths in Australia have an excellent safety record. Extensive training over five years and government regulation ensures that osteopaths have the skills necessary to care for you safely. Most treatments are gentle and are aimed at getting maximum healing from the minimal necessary intervention.
What about my exercise or sports routine?
Sometimes it may be necessary to modify your exercise routine or physical activity until your condition has improved. We will often recommend some simple exercises that you can incorporate into your current routine.
What is the difference between Osteopathy, Physiotherapy and Chiropractic?
Since each of these three professions treat the same conditions, this is one of the most common questions we are asked. It is not our role to define other professions and the question is probably best answered by comparing your experiences with each approach. Osteopathy has been at the forefront of manual medicine treatments for nearly 150 years and many of the manual treatment approaches used in other professions originated in osteopathy.