A lot of my patients ask me this, so here it is: My love for osteopathy!
Why did I chose osteopathy?
For as long as I can remember, every autumn and winter was the same in the Alps. The moment the days got shorter, colder and snowy l had a snotty, blocked nose, headache, cough and fevers. Every autumn and winter, weeks of trying to stop those embarrassing coughing fits on the school bus, mountains of tissues collected during a cough ridden night, missing school for a few days and then having to catch up.
One day, my dad (He is a brilliant physio) wanted to practice a technique he had just learnt on his osteopathy course. I was just lying there with his hands on my head, and after a while, I realised that I could breath through the nose! The nose! I could NEVER breathe through the nose in winter. How did that happen?!
Turns out that the bones in face and head were not quite moving as they should be: They were putting pressure on the sinuses and nasal passages. This is what made it impossible to breathe through the nose. As I was missing out on the air-filtering and air-warming effect of the nose, plenty of bugs managed to make their way unhindered to the lungs. No wonder i kept on getting coughs and colds!
Coincidentally, I love to treat sinusitis, cold, and especially mouth-breathers (this is particularly common in Down Syndrome and children with allergies and people with narrow faces or trauma to the head).
From that day on, I implored him to practice more of this “cranial osteopathy”, and it was the first winter season i actually enjoyed. My quality of life had improved so drastically, that I changed my dream from becoming a physiotherapist to studying osteopathy. I wanted to give others the same relief I felt.
I soon realised that besides my interest in anatomy, I particularly wanted to help the very young ones: So that they wouldn't have those 17 odd years of snotty noses and cough ridden winter months.
I chose to study osteopathy full-time at the European School of Osteopathy in Kent: It was the only university offering both cranial osteopathy and osteopathy for children to undergraduates!
A bit of a shock, when I realised we also had to learn how to crack people! I am really grateful that I had the chance to learn, how to manipulate joints with stronger techniques. The cranial osteopathy and gentle facial techniques taught, were purely brilliant. I practiced eagerly on my little cousins. I helped them with anything from hip pains, wonky backs, neck aches and concentration problems to sleeping troubles. I was amazed at the effect and I was hooked. I knew I wanted to deepen my knowledge in the paediatric field.
My passion for helping children and the desire to know more about pregnancy and birth, became reality. I specialised in paediatric osteopathy: Two long years in London at the Osteopathic Centre for Children working hard for my Diploma in Paediatrics - alongside treating patients at a very busy child focussed clinic in Wiltshire.
Knowing that, that little patient is spared from having snotty noses, headaches or bad postures when he is growing up, is my motivation for being an osteopath!
The quest for the real cause of pain is thrilling and I love figuring out what is going on!
It is so rewarding, to help someone out of pain, toward health - and put their smile back on their face.
Prevention really is the best medicine.
Little ones are still so easy to mould and they can quickly release their tensions. It gets a lot more difficult, as we get older!
I wished,my parents had know of osteopathy when I was a baby! Can you imagine how different my memory of the winter months would be? Still, better late than never ;)