What Can I Expect During My First Osteopathy Appointment?

First of all - Welcome! Welcome to Body Beliefs an Osteopathy Practice based in Billericay, Essex. It is with great pleasure that we welcome and thank you for choosing us to help assist you!

We know that if you are reading this, it is more than likely your first time visiting Body Beliefs and quite possibly your first osteopathy appointment.

The first time going somewhere is always daunting, whether driving a new road, the first day at a new job or visiting an Osteopath for the first time. In this blog, we set out to explain what to expect in your first osteopathy appointment.

Arrival

Body Beliefs are located at two Billericay locations, Stock Brook Country Club and Oakdin Clinic. You won't have to stress about parking, both locations have FREE and plentiful parking. You can notify your Osteopath that you have arrived for your first osteopathy appointment by clicking the arrival text you would have received on the day of your appointment. Your friendly osteopath will come and greet you.

Case History

During your first osteopathy appointment, your Osteopath takes a comprehensive case history to understand your symptoms, medical history and lifestyle ensuring they fully understand your complaint. This helps us make an accurate diagnosis of the cause of your issue and help formulate a treatment plan with you, that will achieve the best outcome. The first step of this is an in-depth analysis of the main issue, for example where the pain is, how long you have had the pain, how you would describe the pain and activities or movements which aggravate or relieve it. This allows us to work out precisely where the problem is. It is important for Osteopaths to get a full picture of all the stresses and strains we may have suffered with our bodies, we call this a holistic (whole health) approach. To gather this information we ask about previous injuries and trauma, as well as understanding your lifestyle.

Assessment and Examination

Once all the questions have been asked and we have a complete history, we will begin to assess the complaint. This often involves you undertaking some simple movements and for your osteopath to examine areas to feel for any tightness in the muscles and stiffness in the joints to identify problems.

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 your osteopath may need to examine your whole body. You may find that your osteopath may undertake other examinations, such as blood pressure or nerve checks, or even refer you for tests such as x-rays, MRIs or blood tests. Occasionally we may diagnose an issue that we are unable to treat and may refer you to your GP or another appropriate health professional.

Now we have a detailed case history and completed a thorough assessment we will then inform you of our diagnosis, making sure you truly understand what this means.

Treatment

Your first osteopathy appointment will include treatment (unless we diagnose an issue we are unable to treat!) But before your osteopath starts any treatment, they will explain what is involved. Osteopathy often involves manual therapy – a range of gentle hands-on techniques (including mobilisation, massage, dry needling and manipulation) that focus on releasing tension, stretching muscles and improving mobility. Because the treatment is tailored to you, our sessions may vary from person to person and from appointment to appointment.

Advice & Exercises

At the end of your first osteopathy appointment, your Osteopath will demonstrate exercises and discuss other helpful pieces of advice, for example, the use of heat or ice. Occasionally there may be times when you experience discomfort during or experience some mild soreness after treatment, this is normal and will typically go away within 48 hours.

Our goal is to develop a treatment plan tailored to you by combining osteopathy, massage techniques, dry needling, and manipulation together with exercises and helpful advice designed to help you stay pain-free, move better and back to doing what you love!

How Do I Book My First Osteopathy Appointment?

We take pride in making things easy and simple. You can book your first appointment in 2 ways:

We look forward to meeting you at your first osteopathy appointment!