Who are the best Osteopaths in Ottawa? (Reviews/Ratings)

Over the past 6 years of working as an Osteopathic Manual Practitioner in Ottawa I have consulted 100's of people living in Ottawa regarding their various health issues. And because so many of you know my thoughts and feelings (from this blog) on all things "osteopathic", you often ask me who are some of the other osteopaths and we have in the area.

Before I first came to Ottawa, I did a lot of research on which Osteopaths were already working in the Ottawa area. During my six years here our numbers have steadily grown and I have made a conscious effort to learn about the new practitioners and their practices. Here's my honest assessment of those practitioners who I know to have a solid osteopathic history:

1. Richard Gregory: Practising as an osteopathic manual practitioner since 2004, Richard owns and runs one of the well known Osteopathic Clinics in Ottawa. Richard uses a holistic treatment approach combining the specific knowledge of muscle testing and exercise prescription from athletic therapy with the manual therapy skills of osteopathy.

2. Maria McCloskey: Although Maria, only graduated in 2012, having personally worked closely alongside her during my time at the Integral Health Clinic, I was more than impressed with her osteopathic diagnosis and treatment skills. Maria has a particular expertise and passion in Cranial and Visceral Osteopathy.

3. Frank Parent: Having initially starting off as an Registered Massage Therapist Frank eventually discovered a passion for the Osteopathic approach to treating. Frank specialises in cranial osteopathy.

4. Christian Lepage: Like Frank, Christian also began his career as a RMT before studying Osteopathy to both graduate and post-graduate levels. He is passionate about his work and focuses on delivering a comprehensive health care approach to each patients individual needs.

5: Robert Black: Robert has been working in the field of hands-on therapy, posture and movement for over 20 years. Robert has worked in a variety of clinical settings as well as in his own practice and has built up a repertoire of skills and experience that he brings to his work.

So there are the 5 choices I would consider if you are looking for an Osteopath working in Ottawa. Which Osteopath to choose is a tricky question as each will have their own unique approach especially the more experienced practitioners. All will be more be more than capable of helping you so in the end it will be down to which practitioner you feel most comfortable.

Dominick Hussey

Osteopathic Manual Practitioner

Be brutally honest about your health!

As an Osteopath working in Ottawa I tend to be at the end of the queque when it comes to who the general public come and see for their health care. 

Ottawa is a very conservative city health care wise in that most people are used to a very orthodox model to health which includes doctors, physiotherapists, chiropractors and massage therapists. Osteopaths are a rare breed in Ottawa, in fact there are only about 10 of us.

If you don't know what an osteopath is, it's a bit like a combination between a gentle chiropractor and massage therapist. Like those other professions we are taught how to manually realign peoples spine, joints and muscles in the hope that will bring them back to health.

Treating people physically is an important part of resolving peoples aches and pains but far from the whole story. As I mentioned at the beginning of this article people who seek my advice have often tried all the different types of physical therapies in an effort to resolve their health issues. When this is the case I am brutally honest with people in that me treating them physically is no different or better than the treatment they would have received from those other practitioners.

So what is the answer?

Imagine your body is a car and your bad back is a tyre that keeps wearing down on one side. What's the solution?

You change the worn tyre with a new one. Good as new!

Months later you look down at the tyre again and frustratingly it's worn again! This process like many peoples health issues can go on for years.

When looking at this problem a good mechanic who is worth their salt should be checking to see whether your tracking is aligned.

Let's assume you have a smart mechanic he is done that but still you appear at his door every 5-6 months with the same worn tyre. Your cars tracking as you would probably realise keeps your wheels in line. It is however a somewhat sensitive set up and can be fairly easily disturbed. Normal safe driving is fine for it but once you start to be thoughtless about where you drive your car then things can get misaligned. Driving over pot holes, hitting the curb or driving too fast over speed bumps are all good examples.

At this point the mechanic can now see the source of the problem  - THE DRIVER!

Like with most problems that occur with cars the health issues that occur with our bodies the source of the problem is the owner. We have just not looked after ourselves properly enough.

Like we drive through pot holes in road we might stay up too late. Like we skip that oil change we skip breakfast.

This is ok occasionally but on a regular basis you'll make your mechanic a rich man and your life an eventual misery. Like smart mechanics Osteopaths are taught to recognize how these are factors can effect your health  and they are going to tell you that in a nicely honest brutal way.

For some even nicely honest can be painful but if they want to change their health they have to be brutally honest with themselves!