The Osteopath begins a consultation by exploring the patient’s personal history and conducting a thorough investigation of his or her medical history, consulting X-rays and medical records.

Through a series of specific palpations, the therapist determines the areas of the body that lack mobility and affect the patient’s general health.
This initial consultation allows the practitioner to establish a detailed diagnosis and prognosis.

The therapist will then gear the bodywork sessions to locating and restoring balance to the impaired or damaged structures.

The Osteopath’s gestures are gentle and painless, and are designed to stimulate the body’s own mobility.
He or she selects the technique that is the most comfortable, and best suited to each individual, according to his age, build and complaint.

For example, both joints and internal organs can lose their mobility, but since they are made up of very different types of tissue, different treatment techniques are required for each.

The practitioner then works with his hands to stimulate the body’s physiological systems, and can apply a variety of techniques to the following areas:
- The Musculo-skeletal system and Fascial system: joints, bones, ligaments, tendons, muscles.
- The digestive system: the liver, the stomach, the gall bladder, the intestines, etc.
- The vascular, respiratory, urinary, endocrinology and nervous systems.

The duration of a session will vary according to the complaint. For acute pain, two or three sessions may be sufficient. For chronic conditions, treatment may be longer, and it is a common error to believe that the absence of pain signifies the condition has been cured.

>Osteopathic techniques >