Osteopathy for children and babies in teddington

Osteopaths in Teddington

Osteopathy for Children and Babies

Babies’ skulls allow a small amount of movement between the bones to enable the head to adapt during labour. Occasionally, if the birth process is more complicated than usual for example forceps, ventouse or caesarean deliveries or even unusually fast or slow deliveries the infants head may not recover fully. This can lead to problems such as irritability, sleep disturbances and colic.

We use gentle osteopathic techniques including cranial osteopathy to help reduce the tensions caused by the birth process. All the techniques used are gentle, safe and effective often applying very light pressure to specific areas to relieve the stresses that are causing problems and assisting the infant’s inherent healing process to begin.

It usually takes between two and six treatments depending on the severity of the problem and the age of the child. Cranial osteopathy can be performed within days of the child being born and it is often found that the earlier the child receives treatment the better the results.

Children and teenagers

As children get older the conditions such as recurrent infections of the ear or nasal passage can be an indication that there are problems in the alignment of the bones of the skull which Cranial Osteopathy can help. Similarly children who frequently suffer from headaches or migraine can benefit from treatment. Additionally as children develop they suffer from strains and postural imbalances which are often labelled as “growing pains”. Such problems can have a marked effect on the child’s ability to participate in team and school sports affecting their confidence and long term participation in regular exercise. Osteopathic treatment for such problems is gentle and safe using a combination of massage, mobilisation and cranial techniques to help reduce the strains and tensions causing pain.