Osteopaths at Back & Active Belsize Park are happy to help patients with any treatment listed above.

Birth Trauma and accidents whilst a child

Psychiatrists and psychologists are well-known for stressing the importance in understanding what happens before a child is born, during the birth process and what happens in the early years. Cranial osteopaths have long recognised that the birthing process imposes enormous strain on babies, particularly if the birth is difficult or elongated. The baby's skull stretches to accomodate the narrow birth canal, but only gradually recovers its shape. After a difficult birth the process of "unmoulding" may be incomplete, leaving residual stress within the head and impacting on the nervous system. These stresses can give rise to various conditions such as colic, trapped wind, regurgitation, feeding difficulties and sleep problems. In addition childhood is a time of slips, trips, falls and scrapes, each of which can potentially impose a similar burden of stress.

Lower Back pain

Lower back pain is common, difficult to diagnose and often mis-treated. The causes are also complex ranging from traumatic accidents to degeneration of discs, or damage to tendons; frequently reported are episodes caused by performing unusual movements to which one is not accustomed such as lifting especially heavy items. The result can be excruciatingly painful and debilitating causing loss of productivity and difficulty sleeping due to discomfort even lying down. It is widely accepted across all forms of medical practice that, in most cases, left to themselves most bad back will recover slowly on their own. However, many are not content to wait for nature to run its course as the pain is too bad. Hence visits to osteopaths are often intended to speed the healing process. More importantly, in some cases the condition will not naturally resolve itself and may degenerate into a chronic condition which can dramatically impede quality of life. That is why most osteopaths would recommend early treatment so that the likelihood of developing a more serious condition is reduced.