Reception

When you arrive at Farfield House as a new patient you will come into the waiting room and reception:

• Our receptionist will give you a short new patient form to fill in. This form is for your contact details and a brief history of the presenting problem and past medical history, together with a signature request for your consent for examination and treatment.
• You will also be given an information sheet outlining what you might expect to feel after treatment. Please retain this sheet as it has advice and information which can be helpful in the days following treatment.

Initial Consultation

• The osteopath will invite you into their consulting room.
• They will take a history of your problem by asking for details of the onset of the problem, any factors which make the problem worse or better and any other treatment or investigations you may have had.

Initial Examination

• They will then carry out an examination of your problem. This will include a standing observation of your posture and asking you, if possible, to do some simple movements such as bending backwards/forwards. This examination may be better performed with the removal of some items of clothing, e.g. to look at a neck problem the removal of your shirt.
• Sometimes if the problem may be being caused further away e.g your neck problem may be being caused by walking differently because of a shorter left leg, the osteopath may ask you to remove your trousers as well.
• If you feel uncomfortable about removing clothing please let your osteopath know, it is usually possible to work around clothing provided it is soft and unstructured e.g. jogging bottoms although this may mean that the diagnosis of contributing factors may be impaired.
• After the observation examination you will be asked to lie down on the treatment bench so that the osteopath can examine you passively (without your muscles doing anything) in order to complete their diagnosis.

Examination Result and Recommendations

• The osteopath will then explain what they have found, what this means in terms of  your problem and what treatment options you have, whether that be osteopathic treatment or a different discipline (or mixture of the two) and whether any further referral or investigation is necessary.

Treatment

• If appropriate the osteopath will then begin a short treatment.
• Because of the time taken with the history and examination, which will enable the osteopath to read your body’s preference for treatment and allow you to experience the approach that will be taken.
• During treatment the osteopath will sometimes ask for feedback – do be honest and don’t be shy, it is your body and your treatment.

Please feel free to ask questions at any time in the consultation – the more you understand your problem the less worried you will feel and the better able you will be to help rather than hinder the treatment.

Exercises and Homework

• Your osteopath may give you some exercises or homework to do such as hot or cold bathing etc.
• This advice should be followed in order to make best use of your treatment and for you to get better as quickly as possible – if you choose not to do them then you may find your progress is slower than  your osteopath originally anticipated.
• If your have difficulty with or pain doing any exercise then you should stop doing the movement and speak to your osteopath before re-commencing.

Payment and Follow-up

After your treatment you will be asked to return to reception where the receptionist will take payment, arrange any receipts necessary and where required make any further appointments. She will also give you a card with our telephone number on for easy reference, for you to call if you have any further questions before your next visit.

We accept Online payments( Bank Transfer), Cash and Cheque.  We DO NOT at present have facilities to take card payments.