Osteopathy is a way of finding, treating and preventing lots of different health problems by moving, stretching and massaging muscles and joints. It can be used by adults and children and is definitely another option to consider with a variety of health problems both physical and behavioural. Today I am really pleased to have a guest post from Alison Rea, from the Foundation for Paediatric Osteopathy, which runs the Osteopathic Centre for Children – a dedicated paediatric osteopathy clinic, trains qualified osteopaths in specialist paediatric clinical techniques, and researches osteopathy for children, to tell us more about the Osteopathic Centre for Children.
“There’s absolutely nothing I can find to treat in your child”. The words every parent really and truly hopes to hear. Not everyone is fortunate enough to be told something so positive, and after my 20-month-old boy had followed me up a flight of stairs at a friend’s house, only to tumble as I reached to grab him, and cartwheel from top to bottom with me chasing desperately down the stairs, I couldn’t imagine I would be that lucky.
So a month or so later, after immediate GP checks and about a week of borderline-obsessively close supervision, with the only apparent injury a large and angry-looking forehead bruise, I took him for a checkup, after a friend recommended the Osteopathic Centre for Children. I knew about osteopathy, having used it myself for a recurring neck problem, but like many people had no idea that there are osteopaths who have undertaken further specialist training in paediatrics, or how they might deal with a fairly uncommunicative baby in order to find and treat any problems.
It turns out that there’s a lot that can be checked and treated. The OCC doesn’t make any claims to cure what it can’t, but rather prides itself on being able to relieve symptoms of common childhood ailments as well as serious conditions and help with recovery after injury. The charity’s aim is to improve the day-to-day lives of babies, children and young people, and, by extension, their families.
Through my work with OCC in Wandsworth, I’ve had a chance to meet many families who’ve benefited from osteopathy: mothers like Leonie who seek help with achieving a good latch for breastfeeding, children like Ethan who could not have grommets to drain his ears but whose recurrent ear infections were improved following regular treatment at OCC, or Julius who had a stroke in utero resulting in hemiplegia, and whose mum told me that his posture is better after treatment sessions, he uses his right hand more and his right side feels less tight.
One of the things that struck me most was the charity’s policy on payment. Osteopathy is not readily available through the NHS, and, as parents like Andreina told me, when you’re struggling on one income, or dealing with the additional costs of a child with increased support needs, there isn’t enough cash left at the end of the month to pay private osteopath fees. The OCC believes that access to high quality osteopathic care should not be limited by a family’s private wealth, so they ask those who can afford to pay, to pay what they can. Many families say that their treatments were only possible thanks to the donation approach, while others give more when they can, to help fund treatments for those who are in need.
After a long and detailed initial conversation with the osteopath in their Shoreditch outreach clinic, followed by a gentle but thorough physical examination, all while my little boy played happily with the clinic’s toys, we had the extremely welcome news that he seemed to have suffered no ill effects of his stairwell adventure. No need for treatment, no need to worry, and a sense of reassurance that I hadn’t been totally irresponsible not to have immediately broken down the door of my local A&E just in case.
I made my donation to the charity with an almost overwhelming sense of relief.
Full disclosure here – I now work for the Osteopathic Centre for Children, but was a patient first.
You can find out more about the Osteopathic Centre for Children on the website or follow on Facebook and Twitter and you can make a donations here.
I Enjoyed your article. Thanks for sharing.
Due to the changes occurring in the spine with age, spinal discs, ligaments, facet joints, muscles and other spinal tissues weaken. They become more fibrotic, less hydrated and less capable to withstand normal stress. Spinal degeneration grows more prominent as a result and recovery time increases.