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Osteopathy

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So I've just been back to the local osteo to help unkink my spine (tension,headaches,etc), the price has jumped up from $65 three and a half years ago to $85 which was a bit of a shock... but if past visits are anything to go by I've generally gotten results. Has anyone had any experience good or bad with osteos and does the price seem on par with others? they seem to be really suited to muscular type ailments and they also do a lot of spine cracking, something i'm not 100% sure is a good thing (it seems once a vertebrae is 'cracked' then its feels like it needs to be re-cracked all the time if that makes sense? Happy to hear your thoughts or try a related field.

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My wife goes to an osteo sometimes and thinks it's great. I've never been though. She gets charge $85 but gets 75% back through private health insurance.

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For what's it's worth, I've been seeing a remedial massage fellow and getting trigger point therapy for the last month once a week and he charges $75 a session which I thought was quite reasonable?

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I saw an osteo a few times but I absolutely hate cracking so didn't go back. I see a guy that does body work based on Rolfing (deep tissue hardcore fascial work) and have done for years on and off. First round I did in my early twenties pretty much sorted spine curvature problems and migraines and tension headaches didn't return. Then years later I saw him for recurring back problems that saw me at its worst in bed for a week. I no longer have problems to anywhere near the same degree and this is probably the first winter in years it hasn't gone out once.

But that all came at a cost at $120 for 1.5hrs which I guess is on par to the osteo treatments which were never as long. He's so good I find I don't feel like I'm getting my monies worth seeing most other people. There's plenty of rolfers about and I'd recommend checking it out to sort body problems out with lasting results. It doesn't come cheap but for me it's been worth it.

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Around $80 is pretty standard for a lot of bodywork sessions that go for an hour.

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Is your Osteo also a Chiropractor ?

None of the Osteos I've ever visited have ever "cracked" anything, they tend to specialise in impingements and relieving muscular tension from trigger points/spasms etc. Most of the treatment I've had from Osteos has been gentle pressure to relieve adhesions and free up the myofascial structures for efficient function. Osteos will sometimes resort resort to "cracking" in some rare cases but the motivation is to restore muscular/nerve function and the crack is a somewhat unwanted side effect.

When my twins were born, one twin had what was described by the medical profession as a profound prominent muscular deformity that required surgery to correct. The affected twin had her head permanently tilted to the point here her head was pinned to her shoulder. The physiotherapist declared that she would need surgery to correct & relieve the problem and restore functional movement. I refused to accept that diagnosis and took the child to Osteo who explained that this was a common problem with twins that could be rectified in 2 or 3 visits. After 2 visits to the Osteo the child was cured.

An Osteo that wants to "crack" people seems just like a bit of showmanship to me. Don't get me wrong there at least 2 neck pain symptoms that can be relived by a manipulation that can cause a crack but in general most Oteos can unwind those symptoms with a bit of gentle manipulation that requires no cracking.

I've studied Osteopathic syllabi from several different regions and I've found Osteopathy to have a long history of cause-effect observations and effective corrections that require minimal or no "cracking". So it seems you may be being treated from several different schools of thought.

From my experience an Osteopethic treatment is like a cohesive myofascial release that's tailored to each individual by someone with a deep understanding of the interrelationships of internal and external musculature structures.

Priceless.

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Shiatsu!!

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Around $80 is pretty standard for a lot of bodywork sessions that go for an hour.

I've visited a lot of medical folk for recurring back and neck problems and sports injuries, and this has been my experience too, although a bit more expensive -- though perhaps it's a Canberra thing -- something like $90 for an hour.

Happy to hear your thoughts or try a related field.

I've seen physiotherapists, sports physiologists, chiropractors, osteopathists, remedial massage therapists, occupational therapists and even a kuatsu specialist. For the past couple of years, I've settled on a combination of monthly remedial massage and physiotherapy with more visits if needed due to injury. My experience is that many of my skeletal problems can be managed with muscular treatments, and I haven't found chiropractors or osteopaths to be helpful, to be honest.

I do a lot of self-management with resistance exercises and stretching which I learnt from my physio which is helping a lot. Neurophen is good for inflammation, and I like to use tiger balm patches to keep injured sites warm to increase bloodflow and aid healing.

If you're dealing with a chronic problem, you might be interested to know that the government offers a chronic disease management (CDM) program which helps with the cost of visiting specialists if you need to do that often. I got my GP to put me onto this and it reimburses much of the cost of visits through Medicare.

Good luck dude, it's tricky to find a formula that works... :)

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mate , i used to sufer bad back pain constantly as i have kyposis of the spine. I tried chiro and osteo , I use to see my chiro weekly, he wasnt one of the back crackers though he would do adjustments with a little tool and work pressure points. this would give me relief for a few days until the next visit. But for the last year I have been doing pilates once a week with a physio and Im happy to say I now live my life relatively pain free.

Definitely nedd private health cover though, then it costs me mothing for 8 months of the year anf 14 bucks a visit the rest

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Jeez the bloke down the road from me is 150 an hour ... We are semi rural though ... I have been tossing up a visit due to the sciatic nerve problem I have been having the last month... I have been told he does great work ...

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Every time I've been to an Osteopath, they've managed to fix me up where no-one else could.

First time I went to one, I had lost all sight in my left eye as a kid at school had thrown a stick into it quite brutally. My mum had taken me to an eye specialist, and $200 later was told there was nothing to be done and I'd have to wear glasses for the rest of my life.

Thank god she decided to conclude 'fuck that' and looked for other alternatives. She found an Osteopath with 30 years of experience and within two months of treatment my eyesight was completely restored. I remember sitting on the treatment table with this osteopath gently cupping my eyeball with the tips of his fingers, and I felt a very strange sucking sensation like his hand was some kind of freaky quantum vacuum cleaner.

About a year ago I had totally ruined my lower back from doing a heavy deadlift and could barely walk without crying out in pain. This persisted for over 3 months until I had enough. Over this period, I had spent over $800 (total) in physiotherapy treatments from a range of recommended practitioners to find that none of it was helping (even a highly renowned sport physio). I saw Doctors who I could tell straight away had no fucking clue what they were talking about. So I decided to see a Craniosacral osteopath who teaches at my college with over 50 years experience. I recieved ONE treatment from her, the next day I was in excruciating pain and didn't even get out of bed. The following day the pain was completely gone and my lower back has never hurt since.

Love ya all <3

Edited by OneEyeAscension

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