Your health is your most valuable asset. So, whether you choose to visit an osteopath, chiropractor or physiotherapist, entrusting your health to a professional is an important decision that shouldn’t be taken lightly. After all, the health professional will literally be holding your health in their hands. Ensure you’re informed. Ask the following ten questions to any practitioner you are considering.

1. Can you treat my whole body, from my head, ribs, spine, pelvis and legs?

If not, you may be missing out on a complete treatment. Your practitioner may only be focusing on one local area, when there’s actually a problem with an adjacent section that feels fine to you. Inlign Osteopathy treats your whole body, ensuring you have the best chance of getting relief faster and for longer.

2. Will you dedicate 100% of your time and focus on ONLY me during my treatment?

Or will the practitioner admit they see multiple people at the same time, leaving and entering the room every few minutes? Are you effectively paying a full treatment fee when the practitioner sees other patients at the same time?  Inlign Osteopathy will always dedicate 100% of your treatment to YOU and YOU only.

3.  Do you have an intricate knowledge of physiology and biology?

Or do they only have local knowledge about how the body generally works? The osteopaths at Inlign Osteopathy have a wealth of knowledge about how your body works and responds to treatment. Osteopaths must complete five years of comprehensive study and perform hundreds of supervised treatments before they can graduate.

4.  Can I see you at anytime – without a doctor’s referral?

Some practitioners require a doctor’s referral before you see them. This can be inconvenient. You do not need a doctor’s referral to see the osteopaths at Inlign Osteopathy. Simply call and make an appointment whenever you wish.

5.  Will you explain everything to me in clear english?

Or will they confuse and bamboozle you with obscure medical words. Or worse… will you tell me absolutely nothing? Inlign Osteopathy is passionate about ensuring you are informed about your health. By being informed, you’re in a better position stay healthy for longer. Our osteopaths will explain everything to you in clear, simple english, ensuring you 100% understand.

6.  Do your treatments aim to give me long term relief, or merely a tune up?

Your health should be noticeably improving with treatments, not reliant on treatments. Inlign Osteopathy is focused on helping you achieve long term relief as quickly as possible. It’s better for your health and your bank account. Osteopathy recognises that everyone is different. That’s why there are numerous treatment techniques that can be used to treat a condition. One technique may be very effective on one patient, but not for you. Osteopaths at Inlign Osteopathy are trained to recognise when something is working and when it’s not, both within your treatment and also between treatments. If our treatments are not appearing to benefit you, we will be the first people to admit this and will recommend an alternate course of action. We want you to get pain free as quickly as possible.

7. Are you actually going to treat me during my first visit?

You may not believe this, but there is a chance that the practitioner you select will not treat you during your first consultation. Sounds ridiculous right? Especially if you are experiencing pains that are just crying out for relief. Instead of treating you, a practitioner may opt to discuss their treatment philosophy or methods rather than getting straight down to business. Some even just show you a video. Considering that you probably paid good money for a treatment, this experience could leave a bad taste in your mouth. To make sure this doesn’t happen to you, ask this simple question before scheduling your first treatment. Inlign Osteopathy will treat you on your first osteopathic treatment.

8. Can you tell me why you are happy to offer my first treatment for free?

The famous saying ‘there’s no such thing as a free lunch’ almost always rings true. You may find that some practitioners advertise free initial consultations. On one hand this can be of benefit – it allows you to assess the clinic and ask the practitioner any questions you may have. However just be aware that the clinic may try and recover this cost in some other way – potentially by scheduling more treatments than is strictly necessary. This may not always be the case, but it’s something to be aware of.

9. Why are you eager for me to commit to a treatment plan before my first treatment?

Everyone should be able to see the flawed logic in this commitment. There are clinics that will try to get you to financially commit to a treatment plan before you have even had your assessment. To sweeten this commitment, the clinic will sometimes offer a bulk treatment discount. This is extremely strange. How can a clinic possibly know the number of consultations you will require before a thorough assessment? The answer is – they can’t. You may require two treatments, possibly four – but it’s impossible to determine until after your first treatment. Should any clinic begin to recommend these treatment plans – think twice about proceeding with the treatment. Are they more concerned with your money or your health? Inlign Osteopathy will be able to give you an estimate of how many treatments you need during your first consultation.

10 Are you a member of your professional health body or association?

After double checking that your practitioner is registered, it’s recommended that you research whether your practitioner is a member of their official association. All Osteopaths, physiotherapists and chiropractors have industry associations that improve, educate and promote best health practice. If your practitioner is a member of their industry body, it provides further proof that they are committed to providing excellent healthcare.

Inlign Osteopathy is 100% focused on your health. For an appointment, contact Inlign Osteopathy today.