I have finally decided to put pen to paper or fingers to keyboard to write about what I do and how I can help people.
Let me begin with what happened a week ago before watching my son Oscar play football. As I was reliving my youth by attempting to hit glorious 40 yard balls to another dad (didn’t go well!) I was summoned over to look at a young lads foot. A friend of mine knowing that I practice Osteopathy thought I could help and I had no hesitation in helping him. What hit me next was that we are living in the 21st century and Osteopathy as a manual therapy has been around for 150 years. As I asked the boy to remove his shoe and sock the boys mother thought that Osteopaths just treat backs. After a laugh and a joke I spent some time explaining what i do and any soft tissue injury can be treated by an osteopath and we are trained to a high medical standard and through case history, examination, assessment we can hypothesise a differential diagnosis by working through and considering all the systems of the body.
On this occasion it was quite clear by observation and palpation of the 4th metatarsal that the boy had potentially fractured the bone. It helped him by telling him he’d done a ‘Beckham’ or a ‘Rooney’! I advised an x-ray asap and low and behold a few hours later he was a subject of a photo on social media with his foot in a boot and on crutches.
Don’t get me wrong it wouldn’t have taken Sherlock Holmes too long to see that the bone was broken but if people don’t know what an Osteopath does what hope has the profession got. It wasn’t the fault of the mother it’s our fault as a profession. It’s our job to get out there and promote and educate the public what Osteopathy is and that we just don’t treat backs!!
I found Osteopathy by accident. I wasn’t the subject of a treatment which rocked my world, in fact before I started studying Osteopathy I had never had an Osteopathic treatment. I work as a personal trainer and got to my mid 30’s thinking what next. After chatting to a graduate of the British School of Osteopathy (BSO) I became interested in the mixed mode course which was 3 years part time (I could still work) and 2 years full time (worry about that in 3 years). After attending an open day and an interview and taking an intense science course in the summer of 2010 I found myself back at university studying for a Masters in Osteopathy. 5 years on and I’m now working out of my own practice in Brentwood in Essex.
Although treatment is centred around osteopathy I also practice other modalities including sports massage, medical acupuncture and taping.
If you are local to Brentwood. Essex and suffering from joint pain, low back pain, neck pain, muscle aches, ligaments sprains, nerve compression or tendonopathy, please contact me at david@positivehealthclinic.co.uk or visit my website positivehealthclinic.co.uk. Online bookings available. Alternatively call me on 07943 044147
Next blog will be posted in 2 months. Please leave feedback and send me your thoughts.
David – Positive Health Clinic