What to expect at your first consultation

On your first appointment, our Osteopaths will take a thorough consultation, perform an examination and provide appropriate treatment all with your consent and in partnership with you. We allow up to 70 minutes for this as we believe it is very important to have a full picture and allow time to discuss our diagnosis & treatment options without you feeling rushed and to allow you to ask as many questions as you need to.

The information we take during the consultation itself will include your personal details, details of your presenting complaint(s), lifestyle, medical history and a system check. This is to ensure we direct the examination correctly and that it is safe to proceed.

For the examination itself, we may ask you to undress to your underwear (during which time we leave the room), so you may wish to bring a pair of shorts (although a towel is provided to protect your modesty if you require one). This enables us to perform a full thorough examination and ensures that aberrant movements are postural imbalances and not hidden by clothing. 

It is likely the examination will include a postural observation, followed by palpation of the area(s) of the complaint as well as surrounding and connected structures. Following this we may ask you to perform movements of the body that relate to the site of your complaint(s), then we will ask you to lay or sit on the couch so that we can then replicate these movements for you. In the videos section, there are some examples of what these tests may involve.

Further testing may then be carried out if deemed necessary, such as active resisted muscle testing, muscle strength testing, muscle length testing, gait analysis, Orthopaedic tests and Neurological tests.

When we have finished, we will explain our diagnosis and discuss the options for treatment and possible side or adverse effects of treatment with you, so that you can make an informed choice in your recovery back to full health

If after our examination, we require further information or we are not able to treat you for medical reasons, we may need to refer you to your GP or a specialist for further assessment.