Massage and osteopathy

Paul Adamson
November 2, 2017

I’ve written before about the limits of what massage can do. Massage can work wonders on soft tissue but quite often someone will come to me and it’s clear that the problem goes beyond anything I can help with. I might be able to ease the immediate pain and keep them going but if the problem is say, a misaligned rib or an unbalanced sacro-iliac joint, then the pain is only come back again pretty soon. I refer these people to my colleague Radi (pictured here) who practises from his home in Stoke Newington. Radi gets remarkable results, (which isn’t the case with all osteopaths).

Sometimes though, the combination of soft tissue massage and osteopathy works really well. For example, I had a client in Highbury recently who was in constant pain while standing up at work. The pain was really bad and he came to me begging me to do something to help him. After the first session he said he already felt so much better – perhaps 50% better – and he came again. After three sessions – and having on my advice taken up swimming – he felt almost completely better, he said, and could stand at work without a problem. Just one thing bothered him – something in his shoulder that had hurt from the beginning. I sent him off to Radi and within two sessions, this client was without pain. It’s true it took a total of five sessions, but then the client had been in pain for almost a year – I’m often surprised how long people put up with pain before seeking help.

Osteopathy can do things that massage simply can’t touch and that’s why I send so many clients to see Radi. Of course he uses all the osteopathic techniques that he has learnt but I often think there is something intuitive about his approach and it’s this that sets him apart from other osteos I’ve been to. He’s not afraid to try something new and to think very widely when looking at what is going on with the body. He shares with me, I think, a belief that the body isn’t just a mechanical being that needs ‘fixing’. 

Being a massage therapist is demanding on the body and I go to see Radi every couple of weeks for 'maintenance' - an attitude I try to instil in my clients. After all, if you owned a beautiful Rolls-Royce, you'd be super keen to keep it well serviced – so why not your body, which is far, far more valuable? 

Radi can be contacted through his website www.northlondon-osteopathy.co.uk

Let's dance
Get with the program
This crazy lockdown
Crunch time
The crazies
Life goes on
The beauty of scars
The Roaring Twenties
Truly, madly, deeply
Skin deep
Fat kids
Martial artist
Meet Rei Toska
Sperm alert
The spa massage
New year, new you?
The tan line
Back pain
Feeling relaxed?
How old is your heart?
Triumphing over injury
Tackling rugby
Belly watch (2)
La dolce vita
Belly watch (1)
The London marathon
In praise of slow
Open water
The iPhone and massage
The swimmer's body
Happy with yours?
Cut the fat, Santa
The pre-flight massage
Big guys
Thin people
Fat people
Let's dance!
The authentic voice
Killing a lobster
The way of all flesh
Lost in space
Fat but fit?
Let's do lunch
Andy Murray's hip
Stop making excuses
Brain power
And stretch...
The sandwich generation
How we see ourselves
The pain paradox
The full body massage
The limits of massage
Men and their bellies
Reading the body
The dangers of sitting