Postural re-education

There is no such thing as a ‘perfect’ posture that you need to maintain all day long.

Your body is designed to change position, turn, bend, lift weights and adapt to different situations.

Sometimes, certain movements feel uncomfortable or have been causing discomfort for some time. You may avoid turning your neck, find it difficult to bend down, or have stopped carrying heavy loads for fear of pain.

During the assessment, we observe how you move, which areas are involved and where difficulties arise.

I want you to have more freedom of movement, without constantly worrying about maintaining the correct posture.

For some people, it forms part of the treatment from the outset. For others, it comes into play after manual therapy.

This may be helpful when a niggle improves but returns when you resume certain activities; when you have regained mobility, although some movements are still difficult; or when you need to gradually return to training, work or doing something you have been avoiding for some time.

Not everyone needs this stage.

When you need to regain strength, practise certain movements or build confidence in performing them, active exercise can be an important part of the process.

A video shows how the person in the video performs the exercise. It reveals very little about you.

I’d prefer we practise it together first.

I observe how you stand, how your spine and pelvis are engaged, where stiffness occurs and which movements you find difficult. I also take into account what we have identified during the assessment and manual treatment.

We’ll then try out the exercises best suited to your situation.

We adjust the position, range of motion, resistance or difficulty. You tell me how it feels, and we check that you can perform the exercise correctly with a load suited to your ability.

I want you to understand what you’re working on, what it’s for and how to apply it to your everyday activities.

I don’t provide a one-size-fits-all programme with twelve exercises for you to simply tick off.

Perhaps you need to practise bending over and lifting weights with greater confidence. Someone else might need to regain cervical rotation, improve hip mobility or start putting weight on a leg they’ve been avoiding for weeks.

We choose the exercises based on our assessment and what you want to regain.

If two are enough to start with, I won’t add six more just to make it sound more serious.

We also take into account the time you have available and how to fit these sessions into your routine.

I’d rather you understand and practise a few useful movements than accumulate exercises that you’ll eventually give up on.

Someone who spends many hours sitting does not require the same treatment as someone who works standing up, plays a musical instrument or does strength training.

That’s why I’d like to find out what your day is like.

Perhaps you’d like to start running again, bend down to play with your children, work more comfortably or get back into sport.

The exercises should help you get closer to those movements.

We practise and fine-tune these techniques during your consultation. Afterwards, what you experience during your day-to-day activities helps us to determine how to proceed.

I’d like to know what you’ve been able to do, what’s still proving difficult and how your body is responding.

A movement that seems difficult at first can end up being easy.

When that happens, we review what you need. We can extend the range of motion, introduce resistance, change the supports or move closer to the activity you want to resume.

If any difficulties arise, we will reassess the situation before proceeding.

Sticking to the same routine for six months may end up saying more about the routine itself than about your progress.

The exercises should be adapted to your progress, not the other way round.

The aim is to improve your mobility, restore your ability to exert yourself and help you resume the activities that pain, stiffness or a lack of confidence have prevented you from doing.

Postural re-education complements my osteopathic work when your situation requires a more active approach.

We start with an assessment, practise the movements you need and adapt the treatment according to your progress.

I want what we do in the practice to be of practical use to you when you return to your everyday life, with its usual movements, physical demands and rhythms.

Fewer exercises. More ways to get moving.