Online Osteopathic appointments

Sorting out your pain problems when we aren’t in the same room…

The Coronavirus Lockdown means that I have not been able to carry out any face-to-face osteopathy appointments as the clinics where I work have been closed.

As an osteopath my goals have always been to resolve your pain and get you back to doing the things you enjoy as quickly as possible. With no premises to work from I wasn’t sure if it would still be possible to treat aches and pains as I have always though osteopathy needed a hands-on approach. That was until I started looking at whether or not online appointments could be an effective and valid option.

While this involved a major rethink on how I worked, the more I investigated the more realistic an online osteopathic treatment became.

For me to have confidence in an online treatment it would have to meet my key criteria which meant:

  1. Simple, cost-effective technology with a high-level of security.

  2. A treatment approach that worked for you, the client, despite there being no hands-on examination or treatment (this is not strictly true but more of that later).

This is what I found:

1.Technology

There is a lot of software available that meets my criteria in terms of being simple to use, very secure and most importantly Free!

Options include:

While Zoom is a good option my preference is Teleport as a link will be included in your booking confirmation. All you need to do is click on the link in the confirmation to start the appointment.

For Zoom I would need to send you a separate email containing the appointment link

2. Appointment approach

A traditional osteopathy appointment would involve

  • Discussion of your current problem

  • Documenting past problems, medication, family history, sports/ exercise etc. to build a detailed picture of ‘who’ you are, followed by a physical examination to work out ‘what’ is happening

  • Diagnosis and treatment (usually a mix of hands-on and exercises)

This would not change too much to provide an effective online appointment. The key difference is there would not be a hands-on examination although there are options e.g. examining a joint /muscle where I would ask if something is painful to touch you can do that and report back to me. Treatment will involve advice on ways to reduce pain together with a demonstration of stretches/ exercises and self-massage techniques to help speed up the healing process.

You can find out more about how this would work in practice by booking an online appointment

Do online appointments work?

Having identified the software and appointment approach that met my criteria the next step was to prove that it could work in ‘the real world’ and this is what I have been doing for the last couple of weeks. I have been working with some volunteers to fine tune the process, identifying potential flaws and making sure they were addressed.

I now have a process that works really well and I have been offering this to existing clients with great results. The added benefit is that I am not limited by geographical location with one of my volunteers being based in New York so I can now treat you wherever you are based.

Is it worth it?

We now know that an online osteopathic appointment is a very effective treatment approach but you might be wondering why it costs the same as a face-to-face appointment when there is no ‘hands-on’ treatment?

I initially had the same thoughts then I realised that what you are actually paying for is to have your pain problems resolved. In the end it doesn’t matter how we get rid of your pain as long as the treatment is effective and we can get you back to doing all of the things that you enjoy pain-free.

What next?

Let me know if you have any questions and you can always book a Free 15 minute assessment if you want to find out more about why you are in pain and how I can help you.

You can book an online appointment here

If you don’t want to use an online approach I will always be happy to carry out your appointment over the phone so contact me on 01604-532853 or email info@sollushealthcare.co.uk.

If you have been in pain for a while and you are not sure what to do next, why not try an online osteopathic appointment? You have nothing to lose but your pain!

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