Why did I choose Osteopathy as a profession?
From early, I knew I wanted to be in the medical field.
I just didn't know exactly what I wanted to do.
At the time, I knew I wanted to really spend time with a patient to help them, so being a GP back then was automatically crossed off my list. GP's spent on average 3 minutes with each patient in the UK only dealing with one complaint at a time. Imagine, a patient had multiple issues but could only make an appointment for one and was not allowed to discuss more than one. Instead, they had to make a follow up appointment. I believed this to be absolutely pointless.
My mother always suffered with a stiff shoulder and neck and I would always offer to give her a massage after work. She would always be so grateful and tell me my hands were a gift sent from God and they were "healing hands".
I never thought much of it at the time.....
After GCSE's I frequently kept being asked "what do you want to do?"
I still had no clue but knew that it would have something to do with science.
And so...the research began.
What could I do?
✅That didn't take me over 10 years to study.
✅That allowed me to dedicate an adequate amount of time to each patient I saw and
✅To really make a difference to their pain and quality of life.
I had no idea....
Then, my mum got in a very minor car accident and suffered a whiplash injury, The GP referred her for physiotherapy under the NHS. I accompanied her to all her appointments. After 5 sessions with the physiotherapist, her pain had somewhat been relieved but she was still in agony.
I started to research what other things that may help her.
I came across Chiropractic and Osteopathy.
I was fascinated by what I saw. I couldn't really understand the difference between the two professions.
I quickly passed on the information to my mum and she booked an appointment with a Chiropractor.
The appointment was 20 minutes and 10 of those minutes was spent talking about her medical history, when and how her neck pain started and putting her through different types of movement tests.
The other 10 minutes was spent on hands on therapy, they cracked her neck and upper back. They applied some dry needling and told her to come back the next day.
It was a pleasant experience and she did have somewhat relief but the appointment felt rushed, with little regard of her busy schedule or even financial situation, to just assume she could take consecutive appointments.
I went and did more research regarding Chiropractic Medicine, and I went on google reviews to see what others had thought of the treatments provided in this particular clinic. The general consensus was the same. Rushed treatment, expensive, not much time for hands on manual therapy.
Upon doing more research, it seemed that we were just unlucky, as there were many Chiropractors in the UK that had raving reviews and really made their patient feel valued and cared for, as well as providing gold standard treatments for effective pain relief and resolution.
Nevertheless, my mum wasn't willing to see another Chiropractor. Her pain was slightly better but it would still prevent her from sleeping as she tossed and turned until she could get comfortable. This made her grumpy in the morning and made my life slightly more challenging :)
Back to the drawing board I went.
I had never heard of Osteopathy but I decided my mum should give it a try after a bit more research. What could she really lose?
From the start I noticed this appointment was not rushed. Infact the consultation and treatment was booked in for 45 minutes in total, which was more than double of the duration of the chiropractic appointment.
The medical history and assessment took around 15 minutes, He took a very careful approach with her. Then the treatment he provided was nothing I had ever seen before. He took the time to carefully explain everything he was doing and what he was trying to achieve.
I was in awe. The care, the detail, the treatment. the aftercare advice regarding posture and exercises. I was inspired.
We left the treatment feeling hopeful that mum would be free of pain. That she would be able to sleep without any interuptions.
That night, I got home and hopped on to the computer to find out all I could about Osteopathy.
Needless to say that is when my relationship with Osteoopathy started. 17 years ago after I researched and shadowed a few Osteopaths in my local area, I decided I wanted to be an Osteopath and have not looked back or regretted the decision ever since.
Now I am one of the few female Osteopathic Practitioner's in Dubai. I've participated in Olympics and I am currently treating famous athletes all over the globe.
I like to think that I never chose Osteopathy, but Osteopathy chose me - and it was one of the best choices of my life. It was fate.
