Children & Teenagers

Osteopathy treatment for children & teenagers

North Shore family osteopath for children and teenagers

osteopathy treatment

The list of reasons why children and teenagers are usually brought to an osteopath for treatment is long and wide-ranging.

A family osteopath will see children with sleep difficulties, general health issues such as chronic ear infections, and some behavioural and developmental problems.

Although headaches, neck and back pains are unusual in children, they do occur and can cause great distress to the child. Usually, the causes of these pains are not serious, and they can respond well to osteopathic treatment.

Contrary to what many parents are told, growing pains are real, very painful and common. This pain occurs at night and can be very intense.

Playground and sporting injuries, including concussions, are also common reasons for children to consult a family osteopath.

The teenage years are a time of great change both physically, psychologically and physiologically. Teenagers are growing rapidly, and their hormonal and nervous systems are also rapidly changing and developing. Sometimes their tissues (and their brains) just can’t keep up.

Did you know that the frontal lobe of the brain (the bit that controls rational decision-making) doesn’t mature until approximately 23 years old?

COMMON TOPICS

Treatment for back pain

We see many teenagers complaining of persistent back pain – perhaps from hours of studying or sports/dance training, concussion injuries and headaches.

Treatment for accidents and fails

Then there are all the sports that get taken to extremes and end up as YouTube ‘fail’ videos, often involving skateboarders face-planting or getting a harsh and intimate introduction to concrete!

Osteopathy for children & teenagers is safe

Attention Parents!!

There are a number of more serious diseases that tend to target the young adult or adolescent that can have serious repercussions. Usually, there will be other symptoms suggesting they’re not quite well, including loss of appetite and energy, pain at rest, fever, night sweats, weight loss and nausea. 

Consult your GP if your child complains of any of these symptoms with back or knee pain, especially if it doesn’t seem to be getting any better. 

Don’t let it go uninvestigated week after week!

Treatment for strains

Overtraining is another particularly common issue with competitive training starting earlier and earlier in life and involving a huge commitment of time each week.

Osteopathic treatment for stress

Teenagers are dealing with many psychosocial changes – new schools, friendship groups, relationships, and other social pressures. This can leave them feeling stressed and unable to sleep or cope with normal activities. Osteopaths are not trained counsellors, but osteopathic treatment may help to calm their nervous systems to help them cope more easily.

Treatment with osteopathy

The good news is that this age group usually requires much less osteopathic treatment than adults to get them back to being pain-free. Two or three sessions will be enough in many cases.

How osteopaths can help young people

As a family osteopath, we treat individuals, not conditions and take time to look at all the factors causing discomfort, strain or injury. Osteopathic treatment can help teenagers generally feel better and more relaxed.

About Us

Jill and Chris were both trained in the U.K and started Osteoworks back in 2004 when they moved to N.Z from London with their son.