The borders between professions are not clear, and in my experience it is more about finding the right therapist that works for you, so I would try to explain a little bit more about how I work.
Osteopaths try to find the root of the problem, but also how this has affected the rest of your body. We believe that each person is different: we walk differently, we are built differently, eat differently, and enjoy our time differently… so a tennis elbow type of pain would be different for Jane, the office worker in her late twenties and recent mum; and the other Jane, a lorry driver in her forties…. They live differently for one thing, and that elbow pain may have a very different effect in their busy lives.
Despite that another therapist may see the ‘label’ tennis elbow, we see two Janes with two different problems that are requiring help.
As Osteopaths, we listen a lot, we ask a lot of relevant questions, we have deep knowledge of how the body works and adapts, we scan the parts that hurt and the ones that don’t to see how they are coping. We don’t use any other equipment, mostly our hands. We have trained over 5 years at university, so we can fully understand the body and recognise how it adapts to strain or injury.
Osteopaths use many techniques to help alleviate your problem. We can massage very effectively, we can help joints and muscles to stretch and to gain more movement. We can also thrust some joints if and when necessary.
We can do all those, and we can adapt our treatment to what you feel comfortable with. So we are not restricted by only ‘cracking’ joints or just doing deep massage… we do all of the above plus more.
The most important, we treat you as YOU and not somebody else with an apparent similar problem.
About your osteopath
Jose Fernandez BSc(hons)Ost graduated from the College of Osteopaths & Keele University in 2010. He is currently a lecturer at the College of Osteopaths program at the University of Staffordshire.
Jose has completed postgraduate studies in Classical Osteopathy and he is a full member of the Institute of Classical Osteopathy and the British Institute of Osteopathy. He is currently studying to become a certified Counsellor
He has undertaken further training in the field of cranial osteopathy with the Sutherland Cranial College. Other recent post-graduate training includes acupuncture, dry needling and kinesiology taping.
As an Osteopath he has delivered training courses to a wide range of industries, and is happy to advise patients on manual handling issues and ergonomics.
Introduced to manual therapy through massage in 2000, Jose first trained in holistic massage before qualifying in Remedial Massage at the Northern Institute of Massage in Bury.
Originally from Barcelona, Jose has lived in Manchester since 1997. A keen sportsman, he enjoys Crossfit and running.
Jose is registered with the General Osteopathic Council (GOsC), and is a member of the Institute of Osteopathy