Hannah Ferguson - Osteopathic Manual Practitioner

01/25/2022

Join me as I have a conversation with Stefan about feet and how frustrating foot pain can be for both patients and practitioners! I talk about some tips and tricks for foot pain sufferers and some insight as to why manual therapy has an important role in rehabilitation of chronic and acute foot pain. Check out the Unscholared Health podcast wherever you get your podcasts!

06/10/2021

To my patients,

Some very exciting things have happened for Osteopathy in Ontario! We are no longer considered a Personal Care Service and now part of Health Care and Social Services which means that osteopathic practices in Ontario can re-open with Phase 1 – so next week! This is amazing news and was pushed for and achieved by our relentless Association, practitioners, and you – our patients!

Unfortunately, my practice in Peterborough will not be re-opening.

It is with mixed emotions that I must announce that I have accepted an amazing job opportunity at the Halifax Osteopathic Health Centre in Nova Scotia that I will be starting this July. I am hoping to be flying out to Halifax to start my quarantine period in the next couple weeks (if Nova Scotia will allow me to), so I will not be able to open my practice next week.

Luckily for my patients in Peterborough and surrounding area - I work with two other fantastic osteopathic practitioners at Peterborough Osteopathy who will take wonderful care of anyone who wishes to continue with osteopathic treatment (which you should!). You can visit www.peterboroughosteopathy.com to access their contact information! If you are a current patient, you should have received an email with additional information on this transition.

I cannot thank everyone enough for the support I have had over the course of my education and this past year having graduated. Some of my patients I have been seeing since before I started my Osteopathy education and having you trust me with your health has made me a much better person and practitioner. If you would like me to give you a call sometime this month to touch base and say goodbye, I would love to do that. Just send me an email to hferguson@canadianosteopathy.ca and I will get back to you as soon as I can!

If you were a patient of mine, feel free to add me on FB if you want to keep in touch!

Good luck on your own adventures!
- H

05/23/2021

Unfortunately, it does not look like Osteopathy services in Ontario can continue until Phase 2 of the re-opening plan. That means July 6th if people get vaccinated!

04/10/2021

Osteopathic practitioners and patients need your help!

The reality is that the Osteopathic approach to treatment can help patients who have not, or do not, have success with other modalities. Osteopathy is essential and should be recognized as such.

Osteopathic practitioners have not been recognized as an essential service by the Ontario government. There are still so few of us that we do not have a loud enough voice for the government to listen to our concerns. At this time, my association (the OOA) is doing everything they can to get us deemed as an essential service, but we need your help and your voice to help get us back to work. At this time, there are two very easy things you can do to help.

1. There is a petition to have us deemed as an essential service in Ontario circulating. Please sign it and pass it along to your family and friends!
https://www.change.org/p/ministry-of-health-government-officials-let-s-get-ontario-osteopathic-manual-practitioners-back-to-work?signed=true

2. The OOA has re-posted the Osteopathic survey for patients to complete. If you have completed it before or if there are two members of your household trying to complete the survey - open it in a private browser (Incognito or InPrivate window) or on a different device or else it won’t let you do it twice.
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/7R2YSQY?fbclid=IwAR0eIC3VvMnkPc48RaSmSWU8Snc7Uz8msvMDpQSBExfGkMQxV110sdVOyHo

I also want to assure you that I am doing everything in my power to get back to treating. Last December I was in touch with Peterborough Mayor Diane Therrien who said she would be have a meeting with MPP Dave Smith and discuss Osteopathy services being closed. I will be following up with Dave Smith myself this week and will pass along the petition.

Thank you everyone for your continued support for Osteopathy, and me! It is truly appreciated.

Your Osteopathic practitioner,
Hannah

Osteopathic Manual Practitioners in Ontario Should Be Considered an Essential Service!

04/10/2021

Please sign to help Osteopathic practitioners in Ontario get back to work! We are able to practice in every other province. Osteopathic treatment is essential care.

8912 signatures are needed! Osteopathic Manual Practitioners in Ontario Should Be Considered an Essential Service!

04/02/2021

Going into Lockdown April 4th 2021...

On Thursday, the Government announced that the entire Province will be placed in an Emergency Break to try to slow the third wave of the pandemic which is currently overwhelming our hospitals and causing an alarming number of infections and deaths. The Emergency Break will come into effect April 3, 2021, at 12:01 am and will remain in effect for at least 4 weeks, until May 1, 2021.

The Ontario Osteopathic Association (OOA) is making every effort to persuade the Government to include osteopathic practitioners on the list of essential services however, the Government has not budged and Osteopathic treatment remains in the personal services category.

Unfortunately, no personal services will be permitted whatsoever during this time and therefore, no members of the Ontario Osteopathic Association (OOA) anywhere in the Province can practice.

I will be cancelling all appointments for the next 4 weeks.

On a positive note, last week Osteopathic practitioners were notified by the OOA that once the Emergency Break is lifted, practitioners will be able to return to practice because the Government will allow personal services in grey lockdown zones with certain restrictions (which Peterborough Osteopathy follows at all times).

Osteopathy is still a small profession in Ontario so we do not yet have a loud enough voice for the Government to recognize the benefit we provide to our community.

During the last lockdown the OOA sent out a survey for patients to complete regarding their feelings about Osteopathy. I am waiting to see if the OOA is adjusting this survey and will send an email with a link to it when it becomes available.

If you have any questions or concerns about the status of my practice, Osteopathy, or your health at any time during this lockdown - do not hesitate to contact me. I love hearing from you! I will be posting on Instagram, Twitter, and sometimes Facebook if you would like to follow me on any social media to keep in touch. I will be providing updates on those platforms as I get them. I will send an email when I am able to start booking again or if for some reason my lockdown is extended past April.

Please be smart and stay safe -
Wishing the best to you and your family as always,

Hannah

03/04/2021

The foot is complicated! ...

I am incredibly lucky to come from a family of health practitioners - my parents are both Podiatrists (/Chiropodists) and feet were actually my first introduction to manual therapy!

My parents both started to learn manual therapy techniques for the feet when they were getting frustrated with a lack of progress with a certain population of their foot pain patients. When I was still in University, my parents invited me along to a manual therapy course to see if it was something that sparked an interest with me... and it totally did!

I had just finished a full year of intense anatomy study and the rationale made perfect sense to me. Sometimes these darn foot bones shift out of place and can cause all sorts of problems!

It should not be surprising that the foot bones shift - we walk a lot of kilometers with our feet over the years and experience a lot of changes in our bodies! From weight fluctuations, trips and falls leading to ankle injuries, bad shoes, bad flooring... they have to deal with a lot!

So why would we not assess and treat the entire body when considering foot problems? The way we stand, where we bear our weight on our feet - all impact us. Sometimes a foot problems is not just a foot problem! More often than not, when I asses the foot I find related problems all the way the legs and hips.

Osteopathic practitioners want to understand why your body has made the changes it has!