With the advances in medicine and the increased knowledge of healthy living, people are living longer and therefore the population is growing older; this increases the importance of elderly care. The process of aging can produce all sorts of problems not previously experienced by an individual. Aging is a natural physiological process, as the body ages tissues become less elastic and generally speaking the function of the body slows. In particular, a part of the body that is greatly affected by the process of aging is the musculo-skeletal system. There are many age-related symptoms which occur within the musculo-skeletal system alone, for instance, general morning stiffness, lower back pain and stiffness, hip pain, swelling and pain into the legs to name but a few.



Osteopaths recognise that the elderly require a special approach in medical care and treatment and are not just older adults. The elderly have a wide range of needs, from aging physiology (function of the body), age-related diseases and the psychosocial and psychological impact of aging. The most devastating issue is any reduction in mobility, as this then creates a domino affect. Let me explain, osteopaths are of the opinion that fluid movement in the body is key, if there becomes a period of immobility, particularly within the elderly then this reduces the movement of fluid within the body (i.e. reduced blood flow and tissue drainage). One of an osteopath’s main goals when treating the elderly is to improve movement, not only does this improve overall all tissue quality (through improvement of fluid movement) it also has a huge psychological impact on the patient.

An factor in elderly care is the presence of arthritis (see article on arthritis for more details), osteopaths (or any healthcare practitioner) cannot claim to cure arthritis; however, osteopathy has been reported by patients to reduce pain, tenderness and swelling and generally improve arthritic symptoms. It must be stressed that everyone is different and results do vary.

Osteopaths tend to use very gentle, non-evasive techniques when treating elderly patients and these often have profound effects on the presenting complaint. Osteopaths recognise that the whole person approach which osteopathy adopts is essential to care of the elderly, as it is not usually a local issue, but indeed it is the general aging process that causes many of the presenting complaints. The phrase “its old age” can be tackled with osteopathy!

If you are interested in finding out how an osteopath can help you, please follow the link below:

Elderly Care