Active Osteopathy

Welcome to Active Osteopathy

A general osteopathic practice where everyone is welcome and with special expertise in Osteopathic Sports Medicine.

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About Us

At Active Osteopathy we take our time. A standard consultation will take 40 minutes.

This allows enough time to discuss, diagnose, treat, evaluate the treatment outcome and plan for further prevention. We believe that shorter consultations do not do justice to the complex nature of most problems...taking less time means a less specific treatment for your particular needs.

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Our Osteopaths

Joel Bell

Joel is the principal osteopath at Active Osteopathy in South Perth. Joel is 33 years of age, married to Julie and the proud father of Finn and Mats.

After 10 years living and working in Antwerp, Belgium, Joel and his family returned to Perth to open Active Osteopathy. While in Belgium Joel was managing his own private practice and loved the regular opportunity to lecture in post-graduate osteopathic courses in Belgium, Holland and Denmark.

In Europe Joel trained as an Osteopath, adding to his Podiatry degree from Curtin, providing him with a unique perspective on ways to influence functional issues with the human body. His own experience as a sportsman (Aust. hockey representative and WA junior baseball representative) and continuing commitment to staying fit have also helped him develop a well-rounded total approach to sports-related complaints.

Joel takes pride in giving full attention to each individual at each session and believes not only that each individual is different but that an individual can be different at each session! Improvement and on-going positive results are often found in the small details.

Georgia Ellis

Georgia Ellis is proud to be part of the team at Active Osteopathy after making the move from Melbourne at the completion of her Osteopathic studies at RMIT.

Georgia loves swimming and running in the Perth sunshine. Her other passion lies in netball and she has been privileged to reach up to levels of State League in Victoria. In recent overseas travels, she has also taken a liking to trekking up big mountains; summiting Mt. Kenya (4985m) in 2010, and trekking to Everest Base Camp in 2007.

During her time at university, Georgia completed her Certificates III and IV in Fitness and enjoyed working as a gym instructor and personal trainer, helping people achieve their goals and rehabilitating them from injuries. She has also worked as a masseur and sports trainer for the Southern Saints from the Victorian Netball League to assist in injury management and prevention in players.

As an osteopath Georgia has found satisfaction in not only treating patients but also educating patients about their bodies - providing perspective on why injuries can occur and how injuries can be prevented. Georgia loves treating people from all backgrounds, offering osteopathic care from elite athletes to general family care.

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Osteopathy

What is Osteopathy?

Osteopathy is a "whole body" system of manual therapy, based on unique biomechanical principles, which uses a wide range of techniques to treat musculo-skeletal problems and other functional disorders of the body, and has developed to the point where it is now widely recognised throughout the world as one of the most scientifically validated and effective "complementary" therapies.

In Australia, Osteopaths are statutorily registered practitioners and five year, full-time university training is available, which covers anatomy, physiology, pathology and general medical diagnosis in addition to Osteopathic technique and osteopaths are considered primary care practitioners.

What conditions do Osteopaths deal with?

Osteopathy is best known for the treatment of a wide variety of musculo-skeletal problems, but it also has a role to play in the management of a number of other conditions. The most common complaints for which patients consult Osteopaths include:

• back and neck pain,


• sciatica,


• headaches,


• pains in peripheral joints such as shoulders, knees and ankles, tendinitis and muscle strains,


• work-related and repetitive strain injuries, and


• sports-related injuries.

However, Osteopathy can also play a significant role in pain management in arthritic conditions, and when used in conjunction with medical treatment, can be of value in reducing the severity of symptoms in many common conditions.

How do osteopaths treat?

In carrying out treatments, Osteopaths can call upon what is probably the largest range of techniques used in any manual therapy. These include:

• Massage and stretching techniques


• Articulation techniques, in which joints are mobilised by being passively taken through their range of motion.


• Muscle Energy techniques, in which contracted muscles are released by alternately being stretched and made to work against resistance.


• Counterstrain techniques, which achieve release of restriction by placing the affected joint or muscle in a position of comfort, while applying a "Counter" stretch to the antagonists of the tight muscles.


• Functional techniques, which involve gentle mobilisation of joints in a way which "probes" barriers to normal movement until a way is found through the restriction.


• Manipulation, which may be used where it is appropriate and safe to do so, though it is not the mainstay of most Osteopathic treatments. Osteopathic manipulations are carried out using minimum force levels in order to maximise safety and minimise patient discomfort.


• Visceral techniques are used in the management of conditions affecting internal organs. These involve gentle and rhythmical stretching of the visceral areas.

Osteopathic treatments are tailored to the requirements of the individual patient, and techniques are selected which are appropriate to the patient’s needs.