Jan Conheeney-Budleigh
My approach to osteopathy is to work with you to achieve a balanced state musculo-skeletally by helping you to attain as near an ideal posture as is possible for you personally.
It is a principle of osteopathy that, if the body is allowed to re-attain as near neutral an overall posture as possible, the body will go on to heal itself. To me, this is the appeal of osteopathy. In the first place I will aim to relieve your presenting condition as quickly as possible. In addition, as part of the treatment we will consider everything that could be contributing to that condition, such as lifestyle, diet, current stresses as well as your posture, in order to understand and advise on ways to address the causes of your condition not just the symptoms. The number of treatment sessions necessary can vary from one upwards. An estimate of this can usually be made based on your response to first treatment. My aim is to prevent recurrences or the development of long term problems whenever possible.
I trained in classical and structural osteopathy and will use whichever discipline seems best for you depending on your case history. I have an interest in positional plagiocephaly in babies, or mis-shapen heads. There has been an increase in this condition since the introduction of the campaign to lay babies on their backs to sleep (still best practice nevertheless as highly successful in reducing the incidence of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome). In many cases, early intervention with physical therapy can rectify the deformity and so avoid the potential complications if the baby is left untreated. I am training further in cranial osteopathy via the highly respected Sutherland College, and hope to offer that discipline in the future.
My previous career was as a human bone specialist working on the analysis of human remains recovered from archaeological excavations. This experience helps me visualise the skeleton beneath the skin and has familiarised me with the changes that various pathologies can inflict on the bone both very valuable skills to an Osteopath
