These are some common questions we hear (FAQs)
What does Osteopathy cost? How many appointments will it take?
Hedley charges most patients $235 first visit and $150 follow up, but there are exceptions, some pay more and some pay less. Appointments for children and babies are $165 first visit and $135 follow up.
Associate Osteopaths ( e.g. Jen ) charge most patients $195 first visit and $125 follow up.
Our self audit shows that on average patients receive about 5.8 appointments to deal with acute pain. In general Osteopaths do not support continuous ongoing treatment. As such you will NOT be encouraged to buy 20 treatments to reduce the cost of your care. You may however be advised a frequency of maintenance care for some mechanical back pain or neck pain/headache presentations, especially if you are over 40 and extra especially if you have a sedentary job at a computer. A maintenance level of Osteopathy would range from a higher frequency of perhaps one visit every 4 weeks down to a lower frequency of perhaps one visit every 4 months.
Will treatment be painful or dangerous?
Certainly never dangerous. We do use a lot osteopathic manipulation, this is our favourite way for changing how a spine is misbehaving, and it is true that until you have experienced it for yourself the idea can be quite scary! In reality though it is far less dramatic than you might hear about. Some people envisage scenes from the exorcist or the sounds splintering bones etc. In short you just couldn’t build a business based on hurting or injuring patients. Mostly osteopathic treatment is an anti-climax in that regard. At Osteo Plus we have been around nearly 15 years (and not sued once!), our practitioners are first class and you can trust them not to hurt you.
Do you manipulate babies??!!
Okay. See this is what we mean by just a little too dramatic!
No. We DO NOT manipulate babies at Osteo Plus. While we are on the point (pun) we don’t stick needles in babies either.
The osteopathic treatment of babies is a very different type of approach to that used with teenagers and older. In fact, Cranial Osteopathy (the type used to care for newborns and babies) is so gentle and so subtle that our critics and sceptics have grounds for making an argument that “nothing” is happening at all in the osteopathic treatment of babies! It is more gentle than even massage.
We start using osteopathic manipulation around age 12 to 15 if indicated. There might be some as young as 7 or 8 but that is really quite unusual, and if we do use manipulation then the kids tend to have fun with it. We don’t hurt children.
Can I keep my clothes on?
At Osteo Plus we ask you to dress down to underwear on your first visit at least. Gowns are provided for female patients. Osteopathy is safer when the Osteopath can see the area they are working on. Note – Osteopathy is holistic. It is very common for us to want to change how your feet/ankle or pelvis/diaphragm works even if your presenting complaint is headache or tinnitus.
We do not wish to offend or upset anyone. So if you prefer not to undress for treatment for ANY reason then please discuss this with us. Some of our osteopaths are less inclined to ask their patients to undress after the initial consultation. We will try to accommodate your specific needs if we do not consider there to be a safety issue that puts you at risk. Our primary concern is for your safety and then for your modesty. Please feel free to chat to us about this.