In the first consultation, we will take a detailed case history from you which will cover your current problem, your health history, the medications you are on and any other question relevant to your medical history. All your answers will be noted and kept confidential. We will then examine you based on the case history which involves asking you to make some simple movements and stretches so that we can see your posture and movement. We generally look at the whole body as it is quite often the case that the area that is symptomatic, the thing that led you to coming to see an osteopath, is not the area that is causing the pain, so it is important that we can see how movement in one part of your body affects movement in another part of your body. We will then want to examine you ‘passively’, meaning that we will ask you to lie down on the treatment table while we examine your joints by moving them without any effort from you, and by palpating the quality of the muscles and ligaments surrounding the joint. On occasions, we may also want to carry out an examination to ensure that there are no serious conditions present which would make osteopathy unsuitable for you.