|
 Lucy is a registered osteopath and qualified from Oxford Brookes University. She works Mondays at the Tisbury practice and Wednesdays at the Salisbury practice.
She first became interested in osteopathy from a young age when her mother sought treatment for whiplash. Prior to this, her Mum was taking anti-inflammatories every day and putting up with unnecessary pain. Lucy is continuously surprised at how long patients will suffer with symptoms that are easily resolved with treatment, and encourages her patients to come in sooner than later!
Her best example to date is a patient with a 15 year history of neck and left shoulder pain, not able to turn her head sideways (driving was a risky business!) or raise the arm above her head. Within 2 months of weekly treatment all movement had returned to the shoulder and the patient was starting to rotate her head. Osteopathy can make a real difference to your quality of life and ease of movement, and it is this aspect that gives Lucy such great job satisfaction.
While living in Oxford, Lucy regularly treated players from the Oxford University Rugby Football Club, the majority being over 6 ft and at least 16 stone! This certainly taught her that clever technique is essential to give treatment to every type of body shape. She also helped Oxford University Rowing Club members get in tip-top condition for the Head of the River race and all important Oxford and Cambridge boat race. Athletes are challenging to treat, as most are so eager to return to training that they run the risk of not allowing injuries to heal completely.
Lucy treats a wide variety of symptoms from fibromyalgia and arthritic pain to exercise injuries such as tennis elbow.
An estimated 11.6 million working days a year are lost to work-related musculoskeletal problems. Osteopathic treatment has been found to assist a rapid return to work in conditions such as muscle and tendon injuries, repetitive strain injury, neck and low back pain, and sciatica (Good Health in Good Hands, General Osteopathic Council 2008). We also give advice on manual handling and workstation ergonomics to help prevent injuries.
For every patient Lucy aims for a holistic approach, taking into account why the injury occurred in the first place and lifestyle factors e.g. sitting at a desk, long distance driving or manual work that pre-dispose the injury to re-occur. Lucy explains what tissues are causing pain, how she will treat you and how many treatments may be needed.
Lucy wants to solve the problem long-term rather than just a quick fix and so gives exercises and stretches for the patient to continue at home. She can advise maintenance treatments to keep you in perfect musculo-skeletal health
Lucy is beginning a Pilates matwork teacher training course in 2011 run by the Pilates Foundation. Pilates is a safe and effective exercise method for any type of back pain. This qualification will enable her to incorporate the benefits of pilates into her osteopathic approach so her patients can improve their strength, flexibility and overall mobility..
|
