Holistic Bodyworks

What Is Osteopathy?

Osteopathy takes a whole-body approach to injury and pain management.

The body is made up of your muscles, skeletal system, circulation, nerves and everything in between. Together, these disparate parts facilitate structure, movement and function.

Osteopathy recognises that dysfunction of the musculoskeletal system can influence other parts of the body. Thus, treatment for injuries and chronic pain needs to look beyond localised pain and consider whether your musculoskeletal system is functioning properly as a whole.

All osteopaths are AHPRA-registered primary healthcare practitioners. Using their formal training in musculoskeletal anatomy, physiology, biomechanics and pathology, they prescribe tailored treatment programs that:

• Decrease muscle tension and tightness
• Increase joint range and mobility
• Improve musculoskeletal alignment and symmetry

In addition to manual therapy, our team recognise the role that work, lifestyle and nutrition play in your health and wellbeing. To ensure these aspects of health are also looked after, we may prescribe at-home techniques and advice designed to ensure that every facet of a patient’s health is cared for.

This holistic approach to health can help insulate patients from future injury and promote the body’s inherent ability to heal itself.

When should you see an Osteopath?

If you have pain or mobility issues

The body is a system of interconnected parts – as such, pain relief and injury management strategies can’t just look at individual joints or muscles.

In many cases, pain in a particular muscle or joint can be a flow-on effect from conditions elsewhere in the body. By looking beyond the affected area, osteopathy may be able to find the cause of your pain and help you overcome it.

If you’ve sustained an injury

An osteopath can assess and diagnose your injury and provide the right recovery treatment and timeline to safely get you back on the court or simply living a pain-free life.

Osteopathy provides strategies to help manage pain associated with injury, and may be able to assist with rehabilitation.

If you are pregnant or postpartum

To experience an optimal delivery, your Osteopath focuses on aligning and strengthening your body, which can help create the optimal conditions for your growing baby and upcoming childbirth.

Post-partum, Osteopathy helps by correcting the changes your body undergoes while it carries a child, allowing your body to return to its baseline.

If you want to improve overall health like posture, alignment, and strength

The way your body is aligned influences weight distribution and ultimately function, which can cause and aggravate pain elsewhere in your body.

In addition to looking at your muscles and joints, an Osteopath can also advise on your work habits, diet and lifestyle – each of which has a dramatic impact on overall health.

If you suffer from health conditions like asthma

People with respiratory disorders like asthma tend to experience tension in key muscles that connect to the ribcage and postural related pain due to this tension.

This reduces flexibility, and can further impede breathing – by relaxing these muscles and correcting misalignments in these areas, your Osteopath may be able to improve breathing and help cope with postural pain.

WHAT TO EXPECT AT YOUR FIRST OSTEO APPOINTMENT?

• We’ll ask you detailed questions about your symptoms or pain, and if you’ve had any prior treatment to address it
• If you have any previous x-rays or scans, bring them along with you to your session
• We’ll take a thorough past medical history to help complete the picture
• We then conduct a physical assessment where we look at movement and restriction in the body, particularly problem areas like the spine, neck, and back
• Perform any relevant diagnostic tests such as blood pressure, reflexes, special tests to confirm the diagnosis
• We’ll then discuss the prescribed treatment plan, including what’s involved, how long it will last for, and how often you should visit us
• We’ll also recommend any accompanying home care advice and complementary treatments (like Clinical Pilates) that can help improve your recovery
• Osteopathy involves deep tissue techniques, so it’s completely normal to feel a little sore or stiff after your first treatment session

What Happens During A Treatment?

A thorough examination of the body is conducted in order to diagnose the true cause of the injury not just the presenting symptoms. As your body is a unit, any joint or muscle injury must be treated within the context of the rest of the musculoskeletal system.

Manual techniques are used to encourage the body to heal itself. These include soft tissue massage, stretching, joint articulation, manipulation and muscle energy technique.

What Happens Next?

The treatment plan also extends beyond the clinic and involves diet, work and lifestyle advise, stretches and strengthening exercises for rehabilitation and prevention of further injury. We encourage you to take responsibility for your own long term health and well being by identifying lifestyle and environmental factors that may be contributing to your particular condition.

Osteopaths are government registered primary healthcare practitioners. You don’t need a GP referral, and on the spot health insurance claims are available through HICAPS.

Conditions Treated

• Sports injuries
• Back & neck pain
• Headache/migraine
• Sinus pain
• Arm & leg pain
• Arthritis/joint pain
• Postural problems
• RSI
• Muscular strains
• Sciatica

For more information about whether an osteopathic treatment is right for you or to ask a question, just give us a call or send us through an email

For more information about the best services for your needs or to organise an appointment - just give us a call!