Chloe Savage

Osteopath

Why I work in this area of wellness?

When asked about why I am an osteopath, I always say its because I saw an osteopath when I was doing my GCSEs. I went for headaches, he released the tension in my neck and this seemed to cure the problem. From that moment on, I was hooked on the idea of osteopathy. However, that’s how I got into osteopathy but now I stay in the field and work with wellness because of different reasons. I work in this field because I love what I do. The satisfaction of seeing someone walk out of my clinic room standing upright after they hobbled in, or hearing from exhausted parents that after their baby’s treatment, they slept for a good chunk of time, will never get old. But I also love educating and helping people understand their bodies: from exploring how certain aspects of their life can impact how they use their bodies, how they can improve their posture, or how we can reassure parents that their baby is normal, and if we assist with their baby’s feeding mechanics, this can improve pain on breastfeeding for Mum as well as potentially reduce the impact of wind/unsettledness as well. I strive to never underestimate the effect of being able to spend a decent amount of time, listening to and talking with people who are in pain. It’s something that unfortunately, the NHS just isn’t in a position to offer and I feel it’s a very privileged position to be in. This is why I love what I do and this is why I continue to work in the field of wellness. Going forward, I am always looking to improve my skills or explore how else I can help those I work with.

As osteopaths, we find your aches, pains and tensions and remove them, to allow you to function at your best.

You may (or may not) be aware that there are lots of different approaches to osteopathy, this tends to come down to a personal’s interest or experience in the work place. I graduated in 2015 and worked solely using massage and manipulations to help people be able to move better and reduce their pain. However I discovered paediatric osteopathy soon after and delved into this field. When treating babies and children, you can’t use the typical approaches you seen on YouTube (Insert clip of someone in an awkward position and multiple clicking joints later). Instead, you have to rely on alternative techniques which work on different tissues, enter: fascia. The fascial system is a system that has only recently been recognised. Fascia is a connective tissue that covers our entire body. We wouldn’t be able to stand up without it. It holds our organs in certain places and helps us to move. More and more, practitioners who work with fascia have reported the benefits of treating and releasing a person’s fascia and a releasing of emotions. Although not clinically proven, we are starting to see the benefits of a person’s mental wellbeing when fasica and deep rooted tension are built up in fascia, is released. If you’ve read “The body keeps the score” by Bessel Van De Kolk, you’ll know what I mean.

In my practice, I work with a vast range of patients and wouldn’t be lying if I said I always treated the fascia in each and every patient. This varies from treating the deep fascia within the torso to help with posture to releasing fascial tension in a baby’s neck from torticollis. The effects of working with fascia are tremendous and I feel we have only just scratched the surface of it’s potential.