Sunningdale Osteopathic Clinic

The short answer to this is "perhaps".

Some people don't need follow up treatments; for example, someone in good physical condition (who has a well working spine) has some kind of trauma which causes spinal dysfunction, which is then properly resolved by osteopathy - they then go back to 'normal'. Another example; there are some people who have very loose ligaments and connective tissue; they need excellent muscle tone to keep their system working properly, and treatment like osteopathy can't have much of a preventative type of benefit for people like this (although it can help to settle things down quickly if something does go wrong).

But for various types of people and problems, there is a case for occasional follow up visits, possibly over a long period of time, even if the original (painful) problem - from the perspective of the patient - has been resolved. A few examples of this are are;

• Someone who has had a long history of spinal problems; here there is case for nipping things in the bud before bad patterns can return to cause pains and aches ...
• Someone who does not have the time to keep up with physical exercise, and has either a very sedentary job (e.g. a computer worker) or an excessively active job (e.g. a bricklayer) ...
• Someone who competes in a certain sport and requires good functioning at all times; for people like this there is no point in waiting for things to go wrong - they need to be more proactive and have things checked out regularly ...

Generally speaking, if you do need regular follow up treatments, then the number you will have in any given year will probably not be a lot more than the number you would have if you let things build up and cause a painful episode! Over a longer period of time, regular follow up sessions (even 2-3 per year) can stop the development of spinal stiffness patterns, that otherwise can become significant problems in your 60's and 70's.

Invest in your spinal health - it's worth it!