To me, osteopathy is more than just the act of manually treating a patient to help reduce their pain. Essentially, the main aim is to return that person to what is a normal, manageable or an acceptable state for themselves. The end goal however, is to help get them back to doing what they were doing before, provide an education on how to live a healthier lifestyle, how to look after their bodies and to prevent future recurrences.
I first learnt of osteopathy when I was young, through my Godfather, who is now a retired osteopath. His passion for what he did was infectious and the good he was able to do for the aches and pains of the people around him in his local community seemed incredible. That’s where the first spark of interest was ignited in me.
Secondly, the fact that osteopathy seemed to have so many facets to it appealed to me. Not only is it hands on treatment, which feels like something is instantly being done to rectify the problem, there appeared to be a great variety of other natural angles of approach too, be it nutritional, psychological, environmental and many more.
The final igniting factor came as I was growing up. I attained one or two minor injuries as you do having a sporty upbringing and what with the rough and tumble involved in having two older brothers. This lead to me having reason to see a local osteopath on occasion and every time I was very impressed with the skills of the practitioners and how effective the treatments were. Having experienced the benefits first hand, this added more fuel to the fire, leading me to seriously consider pursuing it as a profession when I was older.
As an osteopath now, I feel very fortunate and grateful to have entered into a profession I enjoy doing. It is a never-ending learning cycle and whilst it can be challenging with the more complex cases, the job satisfaction is immense. I use the term job loosely as it feels more like doing something I enjoy so the fact I make a living out of it is a bonus.
That is why I am passionate about osteopathy!