Osteopaths believe that getting patients to keep returning for more treatments is not the best form of long term preventative care. The key to preventing health problems recurring, and to developing long-term solutions, lies in increasing patient’s awareness of the causes of problems, and in giving them the help they need to take responsibility for their own health. This is done in a number of ways:

• By identifying the causative factors of a patient’s problems, such as problems with workplace ergonomics, and trying to reduce or eliminate them.
• By teaching patients more efficient and less strenuous body usage in their actions at home or at work.
• By helping patients become aware of postural problems and how to correct them.
• By providing individually tailored exercise programs both for rehabilitation and prevention.
• By teaching relaxation techniques to reduce stress.

As Hippocrates once said, “prevention is better than cure”.
In saying this, maintenance treatment can prove to be useful in some cases. These are analogous to dental check-ups where treatment aims to restore balance prior to symptomatic onset.

By working in conjunction with other practitioners such as GPs, dieticians, occupational therapists, psychologists etc, (where appropriate), osteopaths believe that long-term prevention is the result of a cooperative effort between patient and practitioner.