Things that contribute to the likelihood of back pain are:
Poor health and nutrition
Increasing Age
Marked scoliosis
Reduced fitness
Loss of hamstring flexibility
Smoking
Psychological problems such as stress anxiety and depression
Drug abuse
Headaches
Neck pain
Stomach pains
Obesity
Poor quality of sleep
Excessive sitting
Pregnancy and caring for small children
For LBP in children (incidence 20-50%)
Too much TV and computer time
Competitive sports
Loss of hamstring flexibility
Birth strains and congenital anomalies
There are often many causes for the pain in your back and Osteopaths are highly trained to figure out what has gone wrong, give you advice and treat appropriately so that most of the time your pain goes away quickly and you can avoid long term back pain, injections or surgery.
Osteopaths study for five years full-time at university to become very much a doctor of the musculoskeletal system. We study anatomy in great detail, along with physiology which is about how the body functions. We are trained to take a medical history, perform appropriate tests and refer for X-rays and ultrasounds to help us come up with a list of possible causes for your problem. Its always preferable when the cause of your pain is something we can treat and that is the case most of the time. When the cause is something else, we refer appropriately.
All our practitioners are trained to look for the CAUSE of the problem and fix that rather than condone long term use of pain killers or anti-inflammatories to mask the pain which left untreated, often has a tendency to get worse.
Why is it called Osteopathy? Dr AT Still who discovered osteopathy in the late 1800's in America said "You start with the bones". But its only a start and osteopaths look not only at your bones but muscles, ligaments, tendons, fascia, nerves, arteries, lymphatics and viscera. We look at your posture, your body type and your illness and accident history. We basically check you out from top to toe!
How do we fix things? Osteopaths have a wide range of technique approaches from the very gentle such as cranial which can be used on a new born baby, through functional, fascial, balanced ligamentous tension, muscle energy technique, GOT, and short lever manipulation. Osteopaths are known for their gentle approach, using only as much force as necessary to achieve a result. A hip, knee or foot problem may in fact be coming from the back and once the nerve and blood supply are improved, the hip, knee or foot are healthy and pain free again. So often we hear from patients: "Oh it's just me getting old" (then the treatment works wonders by getting the body functioning as its designed to). Mostly we see our patients through personal referral from another patient who has been helped.
Cranial osteopathy is very useful in trauma, for example where a fall has injured the ligaments of the back and normal movement and exercise have been limited for many years due to pain, a skilled osteopath is able to gently remove the strain and help restore normal function. Its not uncommon to treat an injury that has been there many years and all discomforts ease away.
If you have had an accident within the last year, there is no need to see your doctor first, our Reg. Osteopaths can put you on ACC to help cover treatment for osteopathy and also for acupuncture.
ACC statistics from 2001-2009 covering around a half a million claims, shows that Osteopathy gets people better in half the number of treatments compared to Physiotherapists or Chiropractors. The average number of treatments required is 2-3 for Osteopaths vs 5-6 for Physios and Chiropractors.
Everyone's back problem is unique and will require a unique solution. That is why we have many skilled practitioners, with over 125 years combined clinical experience, all working together at City Osteopaths. We want to help you back to health so you can get back to enjoying life quickly and with long lasting results. Give us a call today 04 499 1439
www.cityosteopaths.co.nz
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