Online Help - February 2008
Prevention = Cure
Most people initially seek osteopathic treatment when they have pain which will not go away. Typically, they may have had similar pain before which has eased off after a few days, but which won’t settle down this time. The pain and disability may be preventing them from carrying on their daily life.
They may have a few treatments (usually four to six, occasionally more, and sometimes fewer) and then decide to stop treatment as the pain has gone.
But what happens then?
Osteopaths view pain as resulting from impaired function or structure of an area, for instance in arthritic joints, where there is altered structure due to wear and tear. But often the problem is due to postural habits which cause more weight or strain being put through one side of the body or one particular area.
If this habit is not corrected, the problem will recur. This can even be seen in sports people who have a predisposition to particular injuries because of postural habits. Have you ever wondered why you always strain your left ankle, never you right? Or why your back pain is always just to the left of the spine, not dead-centre? Or even why you get pain through your right eye when you have a headache – it can all be related to posture.
Regular osteopathy treatment prevents recurrent episodes of a problem. It can also enable the osteopath to work on areas which are not currently symptomatic but which are likely to become so or are contributing to the underlying problem. None of us likes to think about getting older, but it’s an inevitability, and research shows that in a given population, 60% of 60-year-olds, 70% of 70 year-olds and 80% of 80 year-olds will have some degree of osteoarthritis.
Regular treatment to help keep joints loose and healthy and avoid prolonged pressure on any one area can help lessen the severity of the degeneration and so reduce the likely level of pain in the future.
Lots of our patients already have regular “MOT” treatments, at intervals from four weeks to six-monthly, depending on individual need.
Why not come along for a check up and stop the problems before they start?
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