Much as you see your general physician for checkups, following up with your osteopath has many benefits. The truth is that many patients only choose to visit their osteopath when something major has gone wrong with their body. For instance, maybe they were bending over and working in the garden and hurt their back. Or maybe they were out for a nice game of golf when something went wrong with their elbow or knee.
In these cases, the patient is quick to call in for an appointment, hoping to get in fast for fast treatment and healing. This is normal; however, regular visits and follow ups are just as important with your osteopath. Checkups or treatment sessions may be useful to keep your condition stable. The osteopath may be able to help reduce the frequency of injuries with regular routine maintenance.
What an Osteopath Can Do for You
Osteopaths are trained to treat your entire body. While they focus on the muscles, ligaments, joints and tissues, they also work with other functions and systems of the body. They take a holistic approach to treatment.
So, when you have something wrong and visit your osteopath, they may already be able to discern what’s wrong and how to fix it, even before you explain the reason for your visit. This is because an osteopath is trained to observe how you move, your posture, how you hold yourself and more.
Along with their osteopathic body manipulations, an osteopath can also help treat a wide range of health issues and can even provide advice on preventative measures to keep you healthy.
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How Often Will I Need to See the Osteopath?
This question doesn’t have a specific answer; instead, the number of visits required are based on various factors. It may depend on if you need more than one visit to heal, the type of condition you’re being treated for, and more.
Each person and their condition are unique; however, on the average it may take anywhere from 6-8 weeks (6-8 treatments) to heal your condition. In most cases, the body will take over the healing process once everything is corrected. You should return to normal. It just depends on the condition that needs to be treated.
Factors that determine how many visits you may need include:
- The intensity and type of injury
- The length of time you’ve suffered with the condition (if it’s for a long time, then it will take longer to heal)
- Age may also play a factor, as younger people usually heal faster than older people
And even if you’ve healed up well, it can be very helpful to have regular checkups with your osteopath.
Why are Periodic Checkups with an Osteopath Beneficial?
As we said earlier, regular checkups with your osteopath are just as valuable and beneficial as annual checkups with your general physician. What kind of benefits can you expect? Let’s take a look.
1). Improve your overall health and wellbeing: osteopaths work with you to heal the entire body, not only the part that’s hurting. When you’ve received treatment and healed, going back for a checkup can help the osteopath see if you’re developing new conditions that could be treated now, rather than allowing them to worsen. The longer you take to deal with an injury, the longer it will take to heal.
If you do a lot of office work, participate in sports, and more, the osteopath can check to see if your posture is still good, or if you’re developing new issues such as back, neck or even problems with your arms and legs.
Preventive treatments can stop problems before they become large and horribly painful. This is much the same way a visit to your GP each year helps to spot any health problems and treat them early. Preventive visits are a huge benefit for you and your health.
2). Improve your exercise routine: staying healthy and fit requires regular exercise, no matter what your age. Osteopathic osteopaths are also able to help finetune your exercise routine. Or they can even develop a plan for you, if you’ve not exercised in quite a while.
An osteopath has knowledge of how exercise affects the muscles, joints, tendons and ligaments, and how these should move in relation to the rest of the body. If your osteopath finds an issue during your checkup, he can treat it, and then give advice on how to avoid making the issue worse. He can also help you avoid possible injuries by providing information on how to improve your exercise routine.
3). For your overall wellbeing: in our busy lives, we often take care of everyone else before caring for ourselves. However, in order to maintain caring for your family and work, it’s necessary to take care of yourself. Seeing your osteopath for checkups can help you stay healthier, while also caring for your overall wellbeing.
Osteopaths are trained to consider your entire being and lifestyle, which includes how everything affects you psychologically. They can offer insights and advice on changes to your life that may ease your mind, while also offer guidance on your physical wellbeing.
We hope this article has shown you the benefits of having a regular checkup with your osteopath. Your physician takes care of your entire wellbeing. They use holistic methods to keep you strong and healthy, no matter your age or lifestyle.
