Verwood Osteopathy

Say “osteopathy” to most people and they’re likely to tell you that it’s something to do with bones. That’s certainly true. But in fact we use osteopathy to diagnose and treat a whole range of musculoskeletal conditions that affect the bones, muscles, ligaments and other tissues – including low back pain, neck pain, arthritic and other types of joint pain, leg symptoms and other nerve-related problems.

If you’re suffering from any of these or similar conditions, you can count on our experience and specialised knowledge to improve your health problems with a range of hands-on treatment techniques including manipulation, mobilisation, stretching and massage – all without drugs or surgery. Designed to loosen, strengthen, mobilise or stabilise specific areas of your body, osteopathy is a complementary therapy that’s not only curative but also preventative. In other words, not only get you pain free but also help you function better and make you less prone to recurrences.

“On the road to recovery thanks to Jayde! I was recommended to Jayde by a friend when I wasn’t seeing any improvements in treatment elsewhere. I had chronic back pain. Thank goodness I did as Jayde is the best! She is so knowledgeable and professional and knows exactly what you need! I have no hesitation in recommending her to anyone who needs help with pain! You will see real results quickly and safely! The practice is modern and lovely too!”
– Amy Collins

A professional diagnosis

We don’t believe that treating symptoms alone is ever enough. That’s why we’ll always aim to find and treat the cause of your symptoms too. It’s why we approach your body as a whole – assessing your structure as well as your functional movements to get to root of the problem. And it’s why, if you need to, you can also tap into a range of other Body Consultancy specialisations including chiropractic, physiotherapy, podiatry and massage therapy.

The right treatment for you

Our osteopaths will find and apply the treatment that’s right for your condition and right for you as an individual. We treat people of all ages from babies to the elderly – and many different types of people including pregnant women, sports men and women and desk-based workers.

Your treatment is likely to include a combination of hands-on techniques including manipulation, mobilisation, stretching, massage and rehabilitation exercises. It will help to restore normal function, relieve any pain or discomfort, and also address the root of your problem to help prevent the same or similar conditions happening again.

Proven results

Osteopaths are primary health care practitioners, trained in the diagnosis and treatment of a variety of ailments. Osteopathy itself is safe, effective, drug-free and surgery-free. It’s an established, regulated profession dating back more than 100 years, and one that requires a high degree of education including a minimum training period of four years.

There is clear scientific and medical research and evidence that osteopathy can make a big difference in improving health problems by treating a wide range of complaints – from low back pain, neck pain and arthritic pain to shoulder pain, tennis elbow, trapped nerves and knee pain.

At the same time, please note that there is no guarantee of specific results with osteopathic treatment and that results are variable between patients.

During your first osteopathy appointment we’ll take the time to look with you at the full history of your condition, as well as your lifestyle and general medical history. We’ll find out everything we can about your symptoms, including when they’re at their best and their worst. All this will help your osteopath to recommend the most effective individual treatment plan that will work best for you.

You might find you’re asked questions that may not seem relevant – for example about other areas of your body. This is because it’s important to rule out pathologies that can sometimes present with other pains. Feel free to ask the osteopath their reasoning at any stage!

Analysing your body movement

Body Consultancy osteopaths will treat you holistically. That means we’ll assess very closely how you hold yourself, how you walk and how you move.

To help us do this you’ll need to undress to your underwear.* Your osteopath will then examine you to find the exact cause of your problem and guide your treatment. This may involve a number of physical tests, and inevitably your osteopath will need to touch various areas of your body. This will only happen with your consent – and if you feel uncomfortable at any point, just say.

* We have private changing facilities and will provide you with a gown to wear over your underwear. If you’re unable to undress for religious or other reasons, please talk about this with our reception staff and the osteopath before your appointment. Headgear of any kind does not normally present a problem.

Recommending your treatment

After completing your assessment and examination, your osteopath will explain what’s wrong and recommend a plan – including an outline of roughly how many treatments you may need.

If we find a problem that won’t benefit from osteopathic treatment, we’ll refer you elsewhere without delay.

“Keeps me mobile I’ve been regularly treated now for over a year and have been very happy with my treatment. I have ongoing neck and back problems but regular maintenance with the Osteopath keeps me comfortable, mobile and able to tackle everyday life.”
– Anonymous

It’s likely that your osteopath will find restrictions and areas of tightness in your joints and surrounding tissues. The treatment to deal with these usually consists of soft tissue techniques to loosen or strengthen different tissues, including massage and stretching.

You may also find manipulation to certain joints being recommended in order to reduce restriction or pain. Over a short course of treatment, these adjustments will return the joint and its surrounding structures to their normal working state. You might hear a popping sound when a stiff joint is freed up. Although the adjustment itself isn’t painful, there can sometimes be a feeling of soreness to the area afterwards. A popping noise does not indicate any damage to the joint being treated.

Continuing care

At the end of your short initial treatment plan you should be feeling very much better and free of symptoms in most cases. It’s important to remember that while osteopathic treatment aims to restore the problem area of your body to its normal state of function, it may not / won’t cure your problem permanently. Your osteopath will therefore give you expert advice as to how best to maintain your improvement.

If the cause of your complaint is something like poor posture, your working environment or some other complication that would be harder to change permanently, then you may have to manage the problem. This means it may be necessary to continue maintenance visits at regular intervals – a bit like having your teeth checked regularly by your dentist.

Your plan might also include changes in your lifestyle that can help you to keep fit, healthy and pain-free – for example tips for good posture, exercises for injuries or simply rest.

“Professional services: Jayde at Body Consultancy has been excellent in greatly reducing pain and discomfort in my back and shoulders and highly recommend their services.”
– Andy Knowland

An established profession

Osteopathy is a safe and effective form of treatment for a wide range of conditions. The practice of osteopathy began over 100 years ago and since then has gained a significant evidence base for its use for many ailments.

Effective treatment

Osteopathy is a holistic form of treatment. Holistic means that your general state of health and your work and social lifestyle will be taken into account, not just the area that’s causing you pain. Your osteopath will always look at the cause of your problem, not just the symptoms, to prevent it coming back. You’ll be given advice and exercises to help prevent your problem recurring.

Degree education and statutory regulation

Osteopaths study for a minimum of four years to gain their degree. In this time they study anatomy, physiology, pathology, pharmacology and biomechanics. All osteopaths in the UK are regulated by the General Osteopathic Council (GOsC). Osteopaths must register with this body each year in order for them to continue practising. The name ‘osteopath’ is protected by law. It is against the law for anyone to practise as an osteopath without being registered with the GOsC.

Multi-disciplinary approach

As well as osteopathic expertise, we can refer you within our clinic to professionally qualified chiropractors, physiotherapists, sports therapists and massage therapists. We also have an excellent relationship with local consultants and surgeons.

Disease screening

As primary care practitioners, we’re trained to screen for and refer any very serious medical conditions. We don’t treat life threatening disease. Prolonged pain with no specific onset should always be investigated further because many illnesses first show up as aches and pains.

Research

The information on this website has been correlated by the professional practitioners at Body Consultancy to explain the services we provide and the conditions we treat. It’s based on the latest scientific research and gives us the most accurate picture in regard to our scope of practice within the clinic.

In no clinical case can we at Body Consultancy guarantee a successful outcome. The prognosis for any clinical presentation of a patient depends on too many variables to guarantee success.

We do not treat complaints where there is no scientific evidence that our treatment modalities taken individually or as a whole programme may be successful. Please refer to the references below for further information:

  • Licciardone JC, Brimhall AK, King LN. Osteopathic manipulative treatment for low back pain: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders. 2005;6:43.
  • http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16080794?itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_RVDocSum&ordinalpos=9
  • Licciardone, J. C., Buchanan, S., Hensel, K. L., et al. Osteopathic manipulative treatment of back pain and related symptoms during pregnancy: a randomized controlled trial. American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology. 2009; Sep 19 (Epubahead of print). http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19766977?itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_RVDocSum&ordinalpos=1
  • Licciardone JC, Stoll ST, Fulda KG et al. Osteopathic manipulative treatment for chronic low back pain: a randomized controlled trial. Spine. 2003;28:1355-1362. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12838090?itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_RVDocSum&ordinalpos=11
  • Bronfort, Gert et al. 2004. Efficacy of spinal manipulation and mobilization for low back pain and neck pain: a systematic review and best evidence synthesis. The Spine Journal , Volume 4 , Issue 3 , 335 – 356
  • Anderson, R. E., & Seniscal, C. (2006). A comparison of selected osteopathic treatment and relaxation for tension-type headaches.Headache: The Journal of Head and Face Pain, 46, 1273–1280.
  • Posadzki P, Ernst E. Spinal manipulations for tension type headaches: a systematic review of randomized controlled trials. Complement Ther Med. 2012;20(4):232-239.
  • Department of Health. Musculoskeletal Services Framework for England and Wales. 12 July 2006
  • National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence. Early Management of persistent non-specific low back pain. 2009 May.
  • Bronfort G, Nilsson N, Haas M, Evans R, Goldsmith CH, Assendelft WJJ, Bouter LM. Non invasive physical treatments for chronic/recurrent headache (review). Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2004 issue 3.
  • Papa L, Mandara A, Bottali M, Gulisano V, Orfei S. A randomized control trial on the effectiveness of osteopathic manipulative treatment in reducing pain and improving the quality of life in elderly patients affected by osteoporosis. Clin Cases Miner Bone Metab. 2012 Sep;9(3):179-83. Epub 2012 Dec 20
Service
Price

15 minute consultation

Free

Initial consultation and treatment
Under 18

£65
£61

Standard follow up treatment
Under 18

£45
£41

Rehab or Internal Referral
Under 18

£65
£58

Our three phases of care

Treat – professional assessment

We believe in working with the whole person – not just the painful area. So we’ll spend time really understanding not only your current symptoms, but your daily activities, interests, experiences and goals. This phase involves regular bi-weekly treatment, normally lasting between two and four weeks depending on the duration and complexity of your complaint. We’ll then agree with you what we see as the most likely timetable and commitment from you during the next phase.

Stabilise – stability

We’ll advise you on what needs to change in the way you, move and hold yourself so that your problem doesn’t re-occur. We’ll help you build new habits to support your continued progress to full mobility and movement – while being realistic about what’s possible and what improvements are likely. But we can’t do the exercises for you, or be there to remind you about your posture at your desk, in the car or in front of the TV … so this phase calls for your active participation. The treatments in this phase are weekly, fortnightly or monthly, depending on how chronic and complex your condition is. Normally though, treatment intervals quickly spread apart. Our philosophy is that you hold the key to the success of the treatments and rehabilitation phases of care.

Maintain – ongoing movement

Our role here is to engage and empower you and your body to do what’s natural. So you need to in to confirm that what we planned together is still possible and working. You’ll stay fully supported by professionals who are on your side for getting the very best out of what life has to offer. This ongoing phase is usually especially important for conditions we refer to as chronic (over 6 month), sub-acute (over 3 months) or acute (last few weeks) with significant re occuring previous episodes.

Ready to change your movement?

We know you may want to check us out and get a feel for us before you commit! That’s why we offer any new client thinking of coming to us a short free initial assessment. Click the “Get in touch” button below to get the contact details to call or email us to book today at a time that suits you!

Our osteopathy team