An osteopathic consultation is the first step of your osteopathic treatments, and it is also the most important.
Your osteopath will need to ask you a series of detailed questions about your current problem, including where the pain is, how the pain came about and things that make it better or worse. The point of these questions is for your osteopath to get an understanding of the tissues or structures causing the problem.
From these basic questions your osteopath will go into your medical history to get an idea of previous injuries or health conditions that may be contributing to your current problem. During this whole process your osteopath is constantly asking questions that will help them rule out any possible Red Flags.
The people we see in and around North Finchley are generally quite healthy with health conditions that are fairly common and ones that are being managed by the GP. However there have been a small percentage of cases where we have picked up on some conditions that hadn’t been spotted and acted accordingly.
An osteopath is a primary healthcare practitioner which means that they are qualified to diagnose and treat various musculoskeletal conditions without you needing to go to see your GP first for a referral. However this also means that from time to time someone will present with symptoms that are perhaps worthy of further investigation or even in need of more urgent assistance.
It is for this reason that your osteopath asks the amount of questions they do, because you cannot always rely on other practitioners to pick up on important details due to the short amount of time they spend with you.
Once your osteopath has asked you enough about your problem they will ask to examine the problem area and the areas around to get an idea of what is not working very well and how it relates to your problem. Your osteopath may perform various tests to try to confirm or rule out possible causes of the pain or discomfort.
During this process you will be expected to undress to a certain extent so that your osteopath can see the areas clearly. You are welcome to wear shorts, or a stapped top for the females.
Now that the osteopath has examined the whole area they should have a good understanding of what needs to be done, and assumning you are safe to treat they will then go ahead with your treatment.
The osteopathic consultation usually takes between 45 and 60 minutes depending on the complexity of your problems. Please be sure to answer all the questions truthfully and in as much detail as possible as this will help with your osteopath’s diagnosis and treatment plan. Some questions may seem irrelevant to you, but be assured that all the questions are important in making sure you are fit and well and safe to treat.
If you would like to know more about our osteopaths or about osteopathy, or you would like to make a booking then give us a call today on 0203 356 7060 or email us at info@precisionwellbeing.co.uk