Image of shoulder and neck massage at Charlotte Knight's St.James's Surgery

Image of deep tissue massage at Charlotte Knight's St.James's Surgery

What to expect

Your medical history

On your first visit, we will spend time taking a detailed medical assessment. We take time to listen to you and ask questions to make sure we understand your medical history and your day-to-day routine. We’ll ask you about things like diet, exercise and what is happening in your life, as these may give clues to help our diagnosis.

We may feel your pulse and check your reflexes. We may also take your blood pressure and refer you for clinical tests, such as x-rays, if we think you need them.

Your posture

We will also look at your posture and how you move your body. You will be asked to perform a series of simple movements so that the mobility of your body can be evaluated. We may also assess what happens when we move it for you and see what hurts, where and when.

Treatment

Using a gentle and specific application of a highly developed sense of touch, we will assess the areas which are sensitive or tight in order to identify what’s going on.

Once a diagnosis has been made, a treatment plan will be discussed. We may sometimes feel that Osteopathy is not appropriate for you and refer you to your GP or another specialist such as an Orthopaedic Surgeon.

Osteopaths use a wide range of gentle non invasive techniques such as soft tissue massage, joint articulation, stretching and manipulations, to help relieve pain and mobilize your joints. Treatment is different for every patient, depending on your age, fitness and diagnosis. Sometimes, when we move joints you may hear a ‘click’. This is just like the click people get when they crack their knuckles.

Charlotte uses myofascial acupuncture or ‘dry needling’ when necessary to compliment their osteopathic techniques. It can be very effective to aid pain relief as it works by inhibiting the perception of pain. It compliments osteopathic treatment extremely well.

We may discuss exercises that you can do to improve your posture and movement in your workplace and everyday life.

Baby and Child treatment

During your baby's first visit you will be asked about the baby's pregnancy, birth and medical history. Subtle, gentle cranial techniques are often used for babies. The baby can often stay on the parent's lap, and may even feed during treatment. Some find the treatment so relaxing they often fall asleep.

For older babies and children, there are books and toys for them to play with during treatment.

Osteopaths at St.James’s are keen to make you feel at ease and they will communicate what they are doing. You will be free to ask questions at anytime during your consultation if you are unsure.

We are keen to treat your symptoms to get you pain-free, but also tackle the underlying cause of the problem to prevent recurrence.

If you are unsure whether you would benefit from treatment please feel free to ring the surgery and one of our Osteopaths or reception will be happy to talk to you.