First visit

The first visit will usually take about one hour and 15 minutes, and  follow-up treatments take from 45 minutes to one hour. The first treatment is longer to allow for time to take your case history, beginning with your current symptoms and how they are impacting your life. I will also be asking questions about your medical history, and any accidents, trauma, illnesses, including any emotional stresses that have occurred. Please bring any relevant X-ray or MRI reports with you, also a list of your current medications if you are taking any. After the case history I will make a thorough physical assessment, standing, sitting and lying down. I may ask you to go through certain gentle movements to assess mobility in different areas. Treatment is usually done lying down. During the assessment and treatment I may place my hands on different areas of your body, not immediately associated with the symptomatic area of pain, i.e., feet, head, sacrum; this is because cranial treatment is applied to the body as a whole, recognizing that pain or a problem in one area can sometimes be caused by something going on in another part of the body. Particularly during the initial visit you may need to partially undress so that I can examine your spine, posture etc. Usually you will be fully clothed during the treatment; it is recommended to wear something loose-fitting and comfortable. Occasionally I may use other treatment modalities where and when appropriate, these may include different soft tissue techniques derived from osteopathy. I will always discuss with you beforehand and explain what I am proposing to do. These are gentle techniques and are always performed with respect to you and your comfort at all times.