The Dove Children's Clinic

Osteopathy is a discipline of treatment based fundamentally on the relationship between structure and function or form and behaviour. If we look at the developing human body from an engineering perspective, any insult to the shape of the person may compromise the way it performs its tasks and how it subsequently develops. Nobody is 100% straight or symmetrical, but the closer a person is to that, the better they will function. We have many mechanisms within us that attempt to keep a healthy balance, for example whether that be fighting a cold or fixing a sprained ankle. However, sometimes things occur that are beyond the body’s ability to self-correct, to self-heal; that is when we suffer, seeking help from elsewhere. The body is continually adjusting tension inside itself to achieve a dynamic tensioned equilibrium trying to maintain health. When somebody is unable to achieve this, it is the osteopath’s main objective to engage small movements through the body, encouraging it to correct malalignments thereby optimising movement through the body: if a child is not moving well, it cannot work well or even attempt to develop symmetrically.

For all babies (premature and term) to adolescents, events from growth within the womb, the birthing process, accidents, illnesses, life’s activities – all can have a profound influence on how a child may develop and this may have an effect on how they mechanically function. This in turn may compromise their ability to self-regulate, heal the issues they are suffering with.

Babies, toddlers, children and adolescents may seek osteopathic care for many reasons. We strongly believe, and our clinical experiences and patient and parent experiences (these are 2 out of the 3 pillars constituting Evidence Based or Informed Practice, EIF) support our belief that helping the body realign and correct mechanical faults has a very deep therapeutic effect, allowing the various tissues of the body to do the job that they were designed to do.

The other ‘pillar’ of EIP is scientific research. We are a relatively small profession, so do not have huge resources such as support from pharmaceutical companies, research institutions, hospitals, so this aspect of EIP is not extensive – osteopathy is very logical: if you change the shape of any mechanical machine, it will affect the way it works. We aim to help fix that. By the very nature of the human body, any disease process will have a mechanical component, be it affecting blood or nerve supply, too much or little tension, tone in various tissues; all can be influenced with osteopathic care. That is not to say that osteopathy can cure everything, but it may well have an influence on the body’s state of health and just give enough support to help it cope better.

Osteopathy is recognised by the NHS and osteopaths are Allied Health Practitioners. The main concern of the osteopaths is the safety of your child. No baby is too small or too young to receive osteopathy. The techniques and approaches used are always gentle, and your osteopath will use smaller and gentler techniques for smaller, more delicate babies. With larger more robust babies and older children, osteopathy may involve more active movements. Our team of osteopaths have a wealth of paediatric experience including working in various hospital Neonatal Intensive Care and High Dependency Units and acute paediatric wards.

The osteopaths are undertaking a Postgraduate diploma in Paediatric Osteopathy at the Sutherland Cranial College of Osteopathy, the world leaders in Osteopathy in Cranial Field. The osteopaths are overseen by the Paediatric Programme’s Directors, Hilary Percival and Mark Wilson. All the osteopaths are registered with the General Osteopathic Council. The SCCO is a registered charity and treatment fees are a suggested donation.

The osteopathic notes will be taken and stored digitally with complete compliance with GDPR. The SCCO has a legal requirement to keep these notes confidential and stored securely until your child is 25 years old. You can ask for a copy of the notes at any time.