Colne Osteopathy

Colne Osteopathy Hands on Health in Pendle. Detailed postural and osteopathic assessment, and manual treatment for a range of complaints.

The method involves careful assessment of pelvic rotation and restrictions. Patients are regularly given detailed but down to earth explanations of treatment options and the proposed causes of their symptoms both long and short term. This results in rapidly effective treatment often.

28/02/2026

Standard clinical practice…

For most practitioners at regular periods either on their own or with another a self reflection of strengths weaknesses is conducted.

This is sound clinical practice and pretty taught by all colleges and professions and something I whole heartedly agree with even if sometimes the feed back can smart a bit as self perception rarely meets exactly what others see.

This week I am reflecting on how I convey to patients the TRUE interactions of what is perceived as the neck with the much more complex reality of the neck.

This really should be a blog but I am still struggling with that technical bit :).

So, lets take the ATLAS - the top of the neck just one bone.
Source is classnotes.guru

I draw your attention to “levator scapulae” this goes to the shoulder blade where many bodyworkers find “knots”. Ho HO! , and some! So an uneven posture static or active movement of a shoulder can effect right up into the jaw or and head( base of the cranium..Why? Some of you may ask..Well, it attaches to the jugular process of the occipital bone.

Look also at the ligaments
Anterior longditudinal. Google image that name…look how far down your spine that bad boy goes..
Ligamentum Nuchae blends with the supraspinous ligament…it goes to the pelvis Dear reader…These are just a hint at the connections that are WAY more complex than is commonly realised.

Neck pain is a huge convenience phrase that is a long long way from the reality of the communicating structures..welcome to my world

28/02/2026

Dear Patient/Prospective patient,

The practice has for a prolonged period been experiencing intermittent difficulty with all communication via email and phones. Even government agencies are stating there is no response or option to leave a message!!?

If you have not received a call or email back in 24 hours your message or email has not been seen, by myself or Ruth.

The best I can suggest is to email directly to
a)Colne_osteopathy@yahoo.co.uk(Please note this is an underscore not dash)
b) Text to 07967032888

Please don't use what's ap I don't get alerts at all on that.

20/02/2026

Good Morning,

Your body assessment is NOT an exercise in putting a tick in a BOX.

It is not that uncommon when I do my head to toe screening that a patient will say for example:

"it's not that leg/knee ankle it's the other one".... :~S. ...( I know I am making a thorough assessment).

"It's not my hip that hurts it my knee". ( I know but consider this ..your FEMUR -thigh is one long bone you literally cannot have a poorly moving knee without a change to your hip and pelvis"

"It's not my hip it's my it's my ankle ( that is just weird/eccentric) "
In fact, some very well thought of Osteopaths over the years have published case notes where they treat the ankle problems ..from the hip/groin.

Approaching 30 years in practice 10's of 1000's of cases, I try to explain (without going into incredible detail) why I am working as I do. But many patients assert that a google search means "they KNOW' what the problem is.

My approach will not always meet your expectations...

I dedicate this post to:
Robin Kirk
John Wernham
and others who dared to show incredible insight into how the body really works.

Always be willing to challenge what I do as two lovely patients did this week (good old Colners) and allow me to show/share the AMAZING connections in the body.

I hope that helps

*****Notice******
If you have a group and want live demonstration I can do this and bring along my mobile couch. Please contact me on 07967032888 for this.
I try to emulate their elegance and skill every day.

17/02/2026

Right hip/thigh/shoulder pain in all categories of patients is very common right now.

It may well be that there is an environmental trigger. Everyone coming in with same pain is attempting to link this pain to movement patterns ONLY.

I suspect its not...be ready for me to ask about your diet and detox in this context.

:)

16/02/2026

Hi All,

I am aware that many of you do your own detox diets.

All I can do is urge you establish what you are primarily attempting to detox from, and which detox pathways you are trying to promote.
.and yes it is that complicated...:)

Increased removal of toxins/poisons, and things your body wants to get rid of, is not the same for everyone.

In some cases getting it wrong can leave you feeling depleted in the long term, yet seemingly healthy in the short term.

Best case I can recall is a patient who recalled a horrible time when she was passing very painful crystals in her urine after a detox diet. She almost had her gall bladder removed..but did not in the end.

I have also encountered patient who on a single supplement tablet have had bowel disturbance lasting several days.

12/02/2026

In the last 7 days I have manifestly demonstrated to two patients how in their respective body
1) A point in chest has immediately eased calf pain.
2)A painful point in the chest is intrinsically related to hip position and movement.

There are other examples...

These brief anecdotes illustrate how on a case by case basis, a person's body might have a unique pattern of pain, and a resolution to pain.

Please don't bother looking for these patterns on YOUTUBE/GOOGLE you are not likely to find anything pertinent.

I spend quite a lot of time each day explaining some aspects of anatomy with each patient so that these "weird" approaches are justified and agreed upon with patients.

This is called valid consent

07/02/2026

Dear Reader,

Two KEY concepts hardly ever applied in MSK yet are extremely important are:

1) Polypharmacy.
2) Polytoxic.

They are fairly self explanatory.

Virtually everyone is affected by multiple chemicals/toxins with an impact on the body UNKNOWN in immunology and MSK. Though there is some awareness in neurophysiology.
In my opinion much of the medical opinion is fragmented and reductionist not:

Holistic
Integrated
Functional.

I see quite a lot of very well informed patients, and that is great. But very few people are good at remaining objective and not emotional at a couple of key aspects of self care.

1) " I have a good diet". Sorry folks the vast majority of you saying this are making serious assumptions about the nutrients you are actually absorbing into the cells.
Secondly, you are not considering whether your detox pathways are coping with the drugs and toxins your exposed to.
2) " I know what it is". eg Nerve, tendon, disc, joint. Sorry folks you have only looked at the tip of the iceberg most of the time. We can work within your perception but you have usually only had your one body to make an interpretation of the problem. It will usually result in more treatments being needed (most patients don't give me the 4-12 treatments needed to treat in this way).... When you see ..30+ patients with the same pain presentation you get a different perspective. There are several areas relevant in this regard RIGHT NOW in the community.

a) Top of the shoulder pain,
b) Midback pain.
It is simply much more complicated than you would think from a thorough clinical perspective.
Even a "simple" joint pain can be heavily related to a change in the stickyness of joint fluid or an accumulation of that fluid. I promise you, no one presenting at the practice realises that this fluid is incredibly influential to your "simple" tendon/joint pain.

This is a very challenging perspective for most people. Every week I demonstrate to patients what I am saying in this post.

I hope that helps

06/02/2026

Dear Reader,

Not for for the first time I have been going through patient data as I try to reflect on the best possible approaches to treatment.

Again I look at hair mineral analysis and consider the potential insight of high clinical value, if not out right diagnosis.

When I overlap the findings of this analysis with MSK associated symptoms I find a much more focussed rationale. It's not cheap at around £115. However, for those seeking optimum health not just a pain or symptom management I strongly recommend obtaining a hair mineral test result, as part of a Holistic approach to optimum health.

02/02/2026

Good Morning reader.

This morning I wanted to comment on what may be called reductionist thinking in healthcare, which is basically tunnel vision.

There are always more popular ways of considering a problem, a big bugbear for me is the pervasive use of exercise for damaged or weak rotator cuff (which is one component of the shoulder).

On occasion what I see/examine is very strong rotator cuffs being exercised by patients.
Exercise alone can in fact reduce inflammation. But making four muscles overly strong whilst not taking care of the other muscles and fluids and their adjacent/communicating structures in the shoulder girdle is in my opinion a really bad idea long term.

It can lead to tendon issues in the elbow and arm neck.
It can lead to missing a lung , liver, stomach issue that should be screened.
There are plenty more associations depending on the case history of each individual patient some are much more chemical/nutritional in nature.

These wider NON tunnel vision considerations are not really shown on the ever so popular youtube videos. Well, my searches have not shown any. This is despite the polished presentation of many videos.

The problem is that a patient gets an expectation that if a tunnel vision approach is not applied from an "Orthopaedic " perspective the treatment is wrong...

Symptoms can be relieved quite often with a tunnel vision approach but they come back and bite you, if not carefully and Holistically, (multi systemically) assessed the first place.

Most recent examples at my practice have been
Gastric
Spleen
Lung
Jaw/Mouth
Liver issues hidden by a simple MSK presentation.

This tunnel vision can be really hard for me to address with patients as I have seen the fall out many times. Even to the point of fatalities on Occassion.

So I hope patients who come to the practice can forgive a seemingly unnecessary thoroughness to my initial consultations. Osteopathy is NOT a technique however skilled its a mind set aimed at not missing the often more important CO MORBIDITY.

26/01/2026

Good Morning all,

I have been formally involved in bodywork since 1996. Graduating my first course in 1997.

In that time I have looked into many things to support the client/patient.

One of my favourite things is the simple use of top quality oils.

Finding out that those people who live in areas that have lots of coconut regularly use coconut creams on their skin and not just in their tummies was a fascinating little gem.

I still really like this and suggest that coconut oil on and in you can contribute to a healthy body,...and may be mind.

I also like coconut water ( even if I don't like the packaging so much)

Give it a go.

CAVEAT
If you have sensitive skin always do little test area to make sure you don't have an adverse reaction to skin products.

For FOODIES

Pan fry shrimp/langoustine with coconut oil, butter, garlic, I find that little combo works really nicely. Don't forget your seasoning and I love chilies- flakes, or fresh.

24/01/2026

Reflecting on the encounters this week a large % of patients are presenting with Right sided knee pain...

We are "trained" to think of the only true cause as being mechanical. I have demonstrated several times that this is not always the case. Carefully explaining ( in as fewer words as I can manage :)) The 3-D anatomy and physiology of the area.

I cant always nail it in one treatment as only the most straightforward cases will do that, but I often can help with stretches and exercises in addition to some fairly precise hands on technique.

Right sided knee pain then, is the most common issue at the moment -true cause...well I have some ideas but its not strictly just mechanical- IMO.

I hope that helps

23/01/2026

Dear regular patients,

Again,.. I remind you that I don't take the diary around with me and the land line

TEL: 01282 702 056

is THE pathway to get a booking same day (where possible).

I simply do not have the time to check Facebook during clinic most of the time.

Thank you

Address

123 Albert Road
Colne
BB80BT

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