FAQs

Osteopathic practice is a safe and effective form of prevention, diagnosis and treatment for a wide range of health issues.

 Osteopaths are highly trained healthcare professionals who are experts in the musculoskeletal system (joints, muscles and associated tissues) and its relationship to other systems of the body, to keep you as healthy as you can be. 

Osteopaths see people of all ages from babies to the elderly and everyone in between, including pregnant women and elite athletes. 

In the UK, the osteopathic profession is regulated by the General Osteopathic Council and by law, an osteopath must be registered with the Council to practise. 

To remain registered, they must comply with strict regulatory requirements and high standards of professional practice. They must also maintain regular professional development. 

These requirements give patients the same sort of guarantees and protection as those given by doctors and dentists. Osteopaths are trained to degree level attaining either a Bachelor of Science (BSc) or integrated Masters (MOst). 

Training takes a minimum of four years and includes a requirement to have over 1000 hours clinical experience with patients prior to registration. Osteopaths are recognised by NHS England as Allied Health Professionals, playing a critical role in the diagnosis, treatment and care of people of all ages. 

Osteopathy

15 Minute Consultation | FREE

Initial Appointment (45) | £93

Follow Up (30) | £85

Sports Massage

15 Minute Consultation | FREE

60 Minutes | £87.50

45 Minutes | £82.50

Discounts:

Partnership | 10%

If you have cover with a private (cash-back) health scheme - e.g. SimplyHealth - you will need to pay for each treatment and claim back the cost yourself (a receipt will be provided for this purpose). 

To avoid disappointment, please check with your insurer before receiving treatment that the therapy is covered by your scheme. Osteopathic and Sports Massage treatments should be covered by all health insurance schemes. 

Osteopathy focuses on the diagnosis, management, treatment and prevention of musculoskeletal and other related disorders without the use of drugs or surgery. Commonly treated conditions include back and neck pain, postural problems, sporting injuries, muscle and joint deterioration, restricted mobility and occupational ill-health. 

When visiting an osteopath for the first time, it is natural to feel a little unsure of what to expect. The following fact sheet has been developed to explain what happens and answer any questions you may have. If you have any other concerns, please don’t hesitate to contact the practice by telephone, prior to attending your appointment. 

Your Consultation

Osteopaths are healthcare professionals who are specifically trained in diagnosing health issues.  At the start of your first appointment, your osteopath will ask you questions about your medical history and lifestyle, as well as any symptoms you may be experiencing. This is very important as it will help them to make an accurate diagnosis and suggest appropriate treatment.

They will write down what you tell them in your records. These will be treated as confidential in accordance with standards of practice set out by the General Osteopathic Council and the Data Protection Act 1998. If you wish, you may request a copy of your notes, but you may be charged an administration fee for this.

Your osteopath will need to examine the area(s) of your body causing discomfort. Sometimes the cause of the problem may be in a different area to the pain, (For example, pain in your lower arm may be linked to the nerves in your neck) so they may need to examine your whole body. They will need to feel for any tightness in the muscles and stiffness in the joints and may need to touch these areas to identify problems. They will explain what they are doing as they go along.

If you are uncomfortable with any part of this, you have the right to ask them to stop at any stage, without prejudicing your future treatment.

Your Treatment

Your osteopath will make a diagnosis and discuss a course of treatment with you. This may involve further visits for manual therapy – a range of gentle hands on techniques that focus on releasing tension, stretching muscles and mobilising joints. Together with 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. They will discuss the likely cost of this and ask for your consent to begin treatment.

Most osteopaths will begin your treatment at your first appointment, but sometimes they may require further tests first i.e. blood tests or scans. Occasionally they may diagnose an illness that they are unable to treat and may refer you to your GP or another appropriate health professional.

As with any healthcare appointment, it may be necessary for your osteopath to ask you to remove some clothing. 

This is so they can see and touch the areas of the body causing you concern. 

Your osteopath will want you to feel at ease, therefore if you feel uncomfortable undressing to your underwear, your osteopath may be able to suggest wearing clothing, such as shorts and a t-shirt, or close-fitting garments, that will enable them to work effectively, so please do discuss this with them.

You may wish to seek treatment from an osteopath of the same sex as yourself. You are also welcome to ask a friend or relative to accompany you and be present throughout your appointment.

Unfortunately at this location we do not have the ability to install accessible ramps or lifts. However, it is extremely important to us that our services and support can be accessible to all, so we do offer home/ mobile visits to you *(dependant on location and logistics) or possibly another clinical location close with accessible treatment rooms. 

Osteopathic treatment is usually a very gentle process and osteopaths work very hard to make treatment as painless as possible, but you may experience some discomfort during and after treatment. Your osteopath will warn you if they think that the technique that they are about to use is likely to be uncomfortable and will stop if you tell them that you are feeling too much pain.

Following treatment, you may experience some mild soreness in the area of the body that was treated, this will normally resolve within 48 hours. If you experience serious or unusual symptoms after treatment, you should contact your osteopath straight away for advice.

If you have a complaint or concern about the level of care you have received from an osteopath or any member of staff, please let us know.

Our promise to you is that we shall: 

• Treat your complaint seriously 

• Work to resolve your complaint promptly and in confidence 

• Learn lessons and use them to review and where appropriate improve our service 

Make your complaint to the practice manager / practice principal either in person, by phone or in an email (hello@osteomotion.co.uk) or by letter. 

If you telephone us or speak to us in person, the complaint will be logged and whoever takes your call will attempt to resolve the issue for you. If you are not satisfied, we will tell you when it is likely that the principal/practice manager will be free to ring you to discuss the matter or invite you to come to the practice to do so. 

We will investigate your complaint during the following few days and will aim to:- 

• Find out what happened and what went wrong.

• Make sure you receive an explanation and apology if this is appropriate.

• Deal with your complaint and reach an amicable solution.

• Identify what we can do as a practice to ensure that this problem does not arise again.