osteopath

[Jo_dee]

This is really helpful thank you. Clearly i need a formal diagnosis sooner than i realised.

I've usually had to see her twice (one week, then the following week) in order to feel better. December last year was the first time it really got bad. I have to say it was my fault as i had been doing neck exercises that i found on the internet and i was tensing up too much when doing them, and because of this all the muscles in my upper back, shoulders, left arm and neck tensed up a heck of a lot. After the first session with the osteopath i hurt alot more but the second time allowed me to go right through Christmas, January and much of Feb without any problems. But then it came back and i'm currently recovering from the third session which was on Friday (two days ago).

Without the pain and general discomfort, ie often once my body has got used to however it should not be, the main thing i feel is that my arms and shoulders ache alot when i'm styling and putting my hair up.

What would be helpful to know is how i should feel after a session. You hear of people feeling better after seeing an osteopath or chiropractor but this month especially, i'm not so far. I see her usually on my days off and I'm getting tired of having to do very little after each time i go (ie i can do nothing on my days off) in order to not ruin what she's done. And also, what is the alternative? (besides pilates etc to prevent further stiffness and tightness). Who would i see instead?

[Itigo]

Hi. I'm off to my osteopath in a minute. He has only done one session where he did manipulation and it was done very gently. Still crunched etc. but not as high thrust as my physio likes to be. Mainly he does a lot of work with my fascia, shifting things around, and it really feels like he is just holding me! However, I can feel subtle changes and afterwards I feel good and the pain goes. I haven't been for over a month and I can feel it - my back is crappy again, I have headaches and things are just out. I think for us, we probably slip back more than non-bendies so may need more frequent treatments.

I was very sceptical of osteos before I started going, but I have to say, it's the treatment that's given the most relief so far.........

[Llaurin]

Hi all, I have taken the plunge and made an appointment with a local osteopath. I am waiting for a hospital referral for physio, but have no idea how long it's going to take.

I went to this osteopathy clinic four years ago for lower back pain (pre-HMS diagnosis), and was given some very gentle manipulation and massage and some exercises, and I only needed to go there twice to 'fix' my problem. I'll be seeing a different osteopath this time, and I've looked on the boards here and there seems to be a world of difference between one osteopath and another! Is there anything specific I should ask? The receptionist said that "osteopaths in general do understand about hypermobility syndrome" and treat to each patient's individual needs, which gives me hope that they've all at least HEARD of it!

Is there anything I should watch out for that is a 'danger signal' - something that the osteopath recommends or tries to do that means I should Get Out Now? I won't even let her touch me unless she sits down first and takes a full medical history from me, I'm not that daft! But is there anything I should watch out for?

I hate to be so suspicious of a 'medical' person, but it's MY back and I don't want it b****r up by someone who doesn't know what they're doing...

[loosebones]

I saw my osteopath yesterday and he is very cautious with me. He wont do manipulation - especially in the neck as there are so many nerves and arteries etc. He did some gentle mobilisation and applied some pressure with a bit of massage and managed to free up my upper back that had been totally locked. It's definitely worth it but you need to be aware of what can go wrong and that the osteopath knows about HMS/EDS

[Llaurin]

Well I did see the osteopath, she was fab - she either knew all about HMS anyway, or had done a ton of reading before I went to see her as she knew what to watch out for, what NOT to do, she was really good. She sat and talked with me for quarter of an hour before she examined me, then got me to bend 'comfortably' in different ways (she did go a bit when I bent double and put my hands on the floor, she said "Oh that would be the hypermobility then" ).

She said my back was incredibly tight, that the muscles had all locked to stop my spine moving around. I had no movement at all in the top and bottom of my back, but the middle was doing all the bending and had twisted due to the strain. She did a lot of massage, some of it quite 'deep', and some gentle stretching; she did 'pop' the middle of my back to straighten it but it was very gentle, she didn't do any big crunching movements. She told me to go home and put ice packs on my lower back and glutes where she had done the massage, and she was right to do that - I felt like I'd been kicked! But I had my first night's sleep in AGES without painkillers, and it all feels much more comfortable now.

She didn't prescribe a 'course' of treatment, just said to come back when I felt like it - she recommended about 10 days, but said to leave it longer if I felt ok. I didn't feel under any pressure at all to make more appointments, which was really nice (although I've already booked for the end of next week, the massage was definitely worth it!).

[Tilly22]

Hi everyone.
Well since the doctors keep wasting my time and feeling as though I'm going round and round in huge time wasting circles, I think it's time for me to look into an alternative. I was thinking about popping in to my local Osteopath and making an appointment there. Since I'm waiting up to 3 months at a time with the NHS it's getting quite frustrating and it feels as though nothing can be done for me, one doctor even said to me the other day, 'well you'll not be able to get rid of the aches and pains', well duh!!! I don't think many of them understand how we feel.
Of course it may be costly but at least I'll feel like I'm doing something about my condition rather than sat waiting for useless doctors reports. I'm currently awaiting physiotherapy so we'll see how long that takes ...
With regards to Osteopathy, how helpful do you guys think it is, compared to physiotherapy which would you say was most effective?
Thanks for reading guys, can't even put into words how amazing it is to come on here and vent everything to others who UNDERSTAND!

T x

[alice-emma-louise]

Isn't it funny that this thread is circulating right when I stumbled upon this website:

http://www.osteopathy.co.uk

I'm copying in full what is says in their "What is osteopathy?" section because I think it's important to highlight some of the concerns with osteopathy. I will stress, not all osteopathists will work this way and if you have an osteopath who works for you and you've researched in detail then fair enough but it's the lack of regulation that scares me - and the fact that *some* osteopaths believe they can cure things like childhood asthma with this manipulation meaning they encourage parents not to give their children life saving medication. Children die year in year out thanks to some alternative medicines so I really advise anyone looking to alt med (especially if they are going to move away from genuine medicine in order to persue it) to really research in a lot of detail and to talk to your doctor in detail before you do.

mod edit - quote removed for copyright reasons. Please do not quote from other websites, links are fine.
AELx

[chelseagirl]

Hi,

Someone suggested me seeing an osteopath as i keep getting muscle spasms in my neck and my whole upper body is very stiff. I asked him if he knew what hypermobility was and he said he knew that i shouldn't be stretched. My GP thought it was a good idea whilst my physio didn't ( although my physio has only seen me twice and said to me my muscles all over my body are very weak here is a sheet of exercises but ideally you should join a gym and i dont need to see you anymore)Well i finally went to see an osteopath today. The osteo has a more hands on approach than a physio.I can honestly say that my neck has loosened up slightly and i feel much better than i did. I will be going back for some more treatment in two weeks. He also asked me loads of questions about my hypermobility problems and suggested some exercises for my upper body which the physio didn't give me

[Rosie]

Hi all

chelseagirl, please be careful with your osteopath. If all he knows about hypermobility is that they shouldn't be stretched, that is not much. Have you asked him if he knows about HMS/EDS-H? It is good that you are feeling benefits from it, and other members of the boards do receive help from osteopaths. But, it is really imprtant to have an osteopath who understands the implications of what they do on a hypermobile body.

Rosie

[chelseagirl]

Hi,

My osteopath did talk about eds hypermobility more in depth when i was there and even mentioned other types like vascular and asked if i had been checked for that. I think he had done some research on it and he did say that if there was anything he was doing that didn't feel right or that i didn't like then he would stop.He took my medical history and details of medication etc first. I will be very careful beacause i don't want anyone making my problems any worse but for the moment i feel quite positive about this

[chelseagirl]

Hey,

I've had my 2nd session with osteopath today.I get alot of muscle spasms in my neck and back so this is what he has been working on. Everybody is different but for me i can honestly say this is the best thing i've spent my money on as it is really helping me.
I have also joined an aquatherapy class which is light exercise for my whole body in a heated pool which i am also really pleased with . It's just a shame that they cost a fair amount especially as i was recently made redundant, as i dont want to stop when they are helping me.

[Fluffym]

Hi Chelsea girl, I agree with Rosie on this one. I once saw and osteopath which made me really sore. She kept wanting me to come back for treatment but the whole thing just set me on fire....so I stopped going. That was the best thing I ever did. Long term my lower back seemed to get looser from it. (not the desired effect) The osteopath did a lot of cracking, twisting and crunching. There was no exercise involved to strenghten me up. I now know 25 years on that it was not the best treatment.

Just make sure your osteopath really understand HMS/EDS.

Take care
Fluffym

[chelseagirl]

Hey Fluffym,

My Osteopath doesn't do any crunching,twisting or cracking with me it's more of a deep massage and he totally understands HMS/EDS through the conversations we have had. Maybe that's why i am feeling benefits from this as he is really careful with me. As i said before everyone is different so maybe this is something that works for me but not others

[Linda]

Hi I have hypermobility syndrome and see an Osteopath every week as that seems to be the only treatment that gives me relief from awful muscle tightness. I have read here that we should not be stretched and must admit that my Osteopath does stretch me. I also have stretching excercises that he has given me and have also had these given by a physio.

Can you tell me why we shouldn't be stretched if muscles are tight and if stretching excercises are ok. Thanks.

Linda

[Spireite]

Linda, it is a tricky one. I used to suffer terribly from tight muscles and benefitted briefly from self-stretching. The danger with stretching is stretching ligaments which you don't want to do. You need to choose your stretch carefully so that no ligaments somewhere else are compromised. Professionals may not be used to considering this, so you need to do a bit of research yourself. Foam rollers are also good for attacking tight muslces and may be better so as not to stretch ligaments in the process. But yes tight muscles themselves are also not good and are 'crying for help'.