AGIUS ANTHONY JOSEPH - CHINGFORD OSTEOPATHS

Osteopathy is a manual therapy which provides a distinct approach to healthcare. Osteopaths are trained to recognize and treat many causes of pain: we use our hands to discover the underlying causes of pain carry out treatment using a variety of techniques. Much confusion arises, about the appropriate nature of osteopathic treatment particularly when a patient is in a great deal of pain. An osteopath will only treat in an appropriate manner; an eighty year old grandmother will not be treated in the same way as a twenty stone rugby player. A person with a straight forward stiff back will not be treated in the same way as one suffering with an inflamed disc lesion. Osteopathy is often the best form of treatment in such painful cases and it is often a missed opportunity when treatment is stopped.

Every patient is different and a treatment plan is always tailored to the individual. Western Medical Acupuncture has taken traditional Chinese acupuncture and applied scientific research to establish a basis for the effectiveness of acupuncture. It uses current knowledge of anatomy, physiology and pathology and the principles of evidence based medicine. Research has shown that acupuncture works via the stimulation of nerves in the skin and muscle. This can cause both local and distant effects via the central nervous system.

All British Medical Acupuncture Society members are state regulated professionals, being mainly Doctors, Osteopaths, Physiotherapists and Chiropractors. Our experience of needles is usually limited to injections and blood tests, so many people are frightened of the concept of acupuncture. Acupuncture needles are much finer than conventional medical needles, so the feeling when they are inserted is more like a tingling or a dull ache rather than the sharp bee-sting sensation of an injection.