Commonly Asked Questions

As with any healthcare appointment, it may be necessary for your osteopath to ask you to remove some clothing from the area being treated. This is so they can see and touch me areas of the body causing you concern. Your osteopach will want you to feel at ease, therefore it is not compulsory for you undress and you are welcome to wear loose fitting garments such as jogging trousers, shorts, t-shirts or vest tops so you feel comfortable.

You may wish to seek treatment from an osteopath of the same gender as yourself, at East Grinstead Osteopaths we have male and female practitioners so please just mention this when you book an appointment with our receptionist. You are also welcome to ask a friend or relative to accompany you and be present throughout your appointment.

Osteopathic treatment is usually a very gentle process and osteopaths work very hard to make treatment as painless as possible, but you may experience somes slight 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 discomfort.

Following treatment, you may experience some mild soreness in the area of the body that was treated, this will normally resolve within 2-3 days. If you experience serious or unusual symptoms after treatment, you should contact your osteopath straight away for advice.

Your osteopath will make a diagnosis and discuss this and a course of treatment with you. As osteopathic care is based on the individual needs of the patient it varies depending on your age, fitness levels and diagnosis. Therefore, each treatment is tailor made to each individual patient. Your osteopath will use a wide range of gentle, hands on techniques that focus on releasing tension, stretching muscles and mobilising joints.

Research has shown that maual therapy can have beneficial effects, especially for back pain, helping you to return to ordinary movement and activity, The health risks associated with having osteopathic treatment are extremely low. If you have any concerns about your treatment, we encourage you to raise these with your osteopath who will be happy to discuss these with you.

Most osteopaths will begin your treatment at your first appointment, but sometimes we may require further tests to be conducted such as blood tests, x-rays or scans, to reach a diagnosis. So you may be referred to your GP or another appropriate health professional for further tests before we can treat you.