What To Expect At Your First Appointment With Nonica?
It is normal not to know what to expect from your first visit to the osteopath!
Your consultation:
At the start of your appointment, Nonica will ask you simple questions about the symptoms you have been experiencing and your medical history and lifestyle. This is very important as it will help her to make an accurate diagnosis and suggest appropriate treatment. She will keep a record of everything you say, which will be treated as confidential in accordance with standards of practice set out by the General Osteopathic Council and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
Nonica will conduct a full osteopathic assessment involving various clinical tests. This may involve diagnostic, orthopaedic or neurological tests, postural assessments, and functional assessments. Osteopathy takes a holistic approach to treatment, so osteopaths may look at other parts of your body, as well as the symptomatic area.
For example, if you have a sore hip, Nonica may also look at your ankle, knee, pelvis and back. Sometimes the cause of the problem may be in a different area to the pain. She will need to assess any tightness in the muscles and stiffness in the joints and may need to palpate (fancy word for examining your body with touch) these areas to identify problems. She will explain what she is doing as she goes along.
If you are uncomfortable with any part of this, you have the right to ask Nonica to stop at any stage, without prejudicing your future treatment.
What Do I Need To Bring With Me?
Bring along any X-Rays, MRIs or other scans or test results that you may have. As with any healthcare appointment, it may be necessary for Nonica to ask you to remove some clothing. This is so she can see and assess the areas of the body causing you concern.
She will want you to feel at ease, therefore if you feel uncomfortable undressing to your underwear, you can bring with you clothing, such as shorts and a t-shirt, that will enable her to work effectively. You are welcome to ask a friend or a relative to accompany you and be present throughout your appointment!
Your Treatment
Once Nonica arrives at a diagnosis, she will discuss a course of treatment with you. This may involve further visits for manual therapy (or ‘hands on’ therapy). Osteopaths use a combination of movement, stretching, targeted soft tissue massage and manipulation of muscles and joints to improve function, relieve pain and aid recovery.
You will also be given rehabilitative exercises that you can do at home and helpful advice designed to help you relieve or manage your pain, keep active and maintain the best of health.
Is Treatment Painful?
Osteopathic treatment is usually a very gentle process and osteopaths work hard to make treatment as painless as possible, but you may experience some discomfort during and after treatment. If you find treatment uncomfortable, Nonica can always modify it to suit your needs.
Following treatment, you may experience some mild soreness in the area of the body that was treated, this will normally will go away within 48 hours. Research shows that 50% of patients experience mild soreness after treatment. If you experience serious or unusual symptoms after treatment you should contact Nonica straight away for advice.
Safety & Regulation
Osteopaths are regulated by the General Osteopathic Council (GOsC). It is against the law to call yourself an osteopath unless you are qualified and registered with the GOsC. The minimum qualification for an osteopath is completion of a four or five year degree, which includes at least 1000 hours of supervised clinical practice. Many osteopaths also study for Masters degrees. We must then continue to update and expand our knowledge by logging a minimum of 30 hours per year of continuing professional development. GOsC can remove an osteopath from the register if they fail to maintain a strict code of professional practice. You can check whether an osteopath is registered by visiting the GOsC website.
Osteopathy is very safe. It is estimated that between 1 in 50,000 and 1 in 100,000 patients will suffer a reaction to osteopathic treatment that is serious enough to require further medical treatment or does not resolve within 48 hours.