Osteopathic practice is a safe and effective form of therapy aimed at promoting health as well as preventing, diagnosing and treating a variety of health problems. Osteopaths are highly trained, healthcare professionals who are experts in understanding and assessing where the muscles, joints and ligaments and fascia of the body have become dysfunctional in motion and movement.
Osteopaths use a wide range of hands on manual therapy techniques that focus on releasing tension, stretching muscles and mobilising joints to restore motion, improve local nutrition and restore health. Techniques can target a range of tissues including ligaments and the fascia that covers and contains all structures in the body. Osteopathic hands-on treatment is often used together with exercises and advice designed to help patients to relieve or manage pain, keep active and maintain the best of health.
Hannah can use direct techniques like those listed above, or indirect techniques such as cranial-sacral therapy which works gently with pulls in tissues to allow a reflex change that releases tension.
Osteopathic care is suitable for people of all ages from babies to the elderly. People from a wide range of backgrounds seek osteopathic treatment, whether elite or recreational sports people, pregnant women, manual workers or office professionals. Patients seek treatment for a variety of conditions, including back pain, changes to posture in pregnancy, postural problems caused by driving or work strain, the pain of arthritis and minor sports injuries.
Osteopaths also work closely with other health care professionals, providing onward referral if required. Since 1993, when osteopathic practice underwent statutory regulation, the demand for and popularity of osteopathic treatment has been steadily increasing. Today osteopaths carry out around 7 million treatments in the UK alone, increasingly within the NHS and around 30,000 people consult an osteopath every working day.
What can Hannah help with?
Arthritic pain
Circulatory problems
Cramp
Digestion problems
Fibromyalgia
Frozen shoulder/ shoulder and elbow pain/ tennis elbow (lateral epicondylitis arising from associated musculoskeletal conditions of the back and neck, but not isolated occurrences)
Headache arising from the neck (cervicogenic)
Joint pains including shoulder, elbow, pelvic pain, hip, knee, ankle, foot pains
Joint pains including hip and knee pain from osteoarthritis
General, acute & chronic backache, back pain
Generalised aches and pains
Migraine prevention
Sports injuries
Muscle spasms or muscle pain and health
Neuralgia or nerve pain
Tension and inability to relax
Rheumatic pain or pain from inflammation
Sciatica
Neck pain
What can’t osteopaths treat?
• osteoporosis
• fractures
• acute inflammatory conditions, such as a rheumatoid arthritis flare up
• infections
• blood clotting disorders, such as haemophilia
• cancer
• multiple sclerosis (MS)
Patient satisfaction and confidence with osteopathic practice is very high
93.2% of patients felt that their experience of osteopathy was very good
The General Osteopathic Council commissioned research into patient’s expectations of osteopathic care (2009-2010)
Over 50% of patients reported an improvement in their symptoms one week after osteopathic treatment and 73% reported an improvement in their symptoms at 6 weeks post treatment
National Council of Osteopathic Research, Patient Reported Outcome Measures questionnaire results
Osteopathy has an extremely safe reputation and major adverse event occurrence is very rare, rarer than from taking medication
Carnes, Dawn, Mars, Tom S., Mullinger, Brenda, Froud, Robert J. and Underwood, Martin (2010) Adverse events and manual therapy: a systematic review.
Hannah Beard Osteopath 