Which One Is Right For You?
At ThreeSixty we commonly meet people who need an osteopathic intervention, that is, they’ve already injured themselves, and need some help – ASAP. An intervention is re-active, a reaction to the problem.
As Osteopaths, we think of intervention as being the “first aid” – the immediate solution to the problem at hand. How do we get this person to feel better, right now?
But, have you ever thought about a prevention plan to stop those ailments coming back? Any why did you suddenly start to get these aches and pains anyway? You were fine yesterday….
Prevention is pro-active – stopping something before it starts. Having a prevention plan is something easy you can do to make sure your body doesn’t start to feel uncomfortable due to the stressors of your life.
Our bodies are amazing and can cope with most of the things we do to them everyday. We push ourselves hard, work long hours, and often forget to do things that are good for us, like take a walk, relax, read a book, or generally anything to combat the day-to-day stressors our bodies encounter.
BUT… the body has a finite ability to cope with these demands we place upon it. As Osteopaths, we’re always thinking about this, and we call it the body’s “reservoir of compensation”. You can read more about it HERE.
Everyday Stresses And Strains Take Their Toll
The stresses and strains of everyday life eventually take their toll on our well-being. This happens to everyone, eventually. We are all notorious for not taking enough care and paying attention to what our bodies are telling us. Plus, we live in a fast paced world, and often think of many other things or people before ourselves.
In addition to this, Osteopaths work with the theory that your body is a “fossil record” of everything it endured over the years – that skiing accident in 1998, the fall out of a tree as a child, whacking your head on the car bonnet 2 years ago – all of these things have an effect on your body. It’s just that most of the time, we think no pain = no repercussions.
The effects of these seemingly minor insults is accumulative – it builds up and up, using up your body’s ability to cope, until BAM! You do something simple, and this time your back “conks out”.
A prevention plan is a way to stop, or slow the effect of these things accumulating, so that your body can be flexible and malleable enough to cope with new insults / injuries, and dissipate them quickly. Thus preventing you suffering unnecessarily.
Prevention Plans For All
We discuss prevention plans with all of our patients – we truly believe the best patients are the ones we don’t see every week! They’re the ones who get better and stay better. And this might be due to a combination of self-help exercises, a regular stretching regime, advice about which type of activities best suit their injury or ailment, and whether or not they need to consider some kind of treatment ‘top-up’ to keep their body functioning well.
Part of your prevention plan might be attending treatment regularly, or having regular massages. For anyone visiting ThreeSixty, this is completely up to the patient. We are a patient-motivated clinic – everything we do or say to you is with your best interests in mind.
And the choice is completely yours. (We actually have trouble with many of our clients who want to come too frequently for treatment!)
For most people, once the initial intervention is complete, we can move onto the prevention plan – preventing your body from getting back into a pickle (like the one it was into prior to your injury)!
Most people on a prevention plan end up attending the clinic between 6 to 12 weekly, as well as continuing some kind of cardiovascular exercise and continuing with the stretches they were advised to do by their osteopath.
You Don't Need To Have Had An Injury To Get A Prevention Plan
Even if you haven’t had an injury, our Osteopaths are used to assessing the body and can quickly identify areas of dysfunction. We can help you move better and feel better, and give you advice on how to stay that way.
We’re motivated by helping people.
We’re motivated to help you.
