Frequently Asked Questions - FAQ's

Dear potential patients, here is the set of questions commonly asked.   

How should I feel after your session?

After manipulation, many people experience instant pain relief and a better range of motion. Some after-effects include temporary muscle soreness which may require pain relief medication. Simple explanation is for the fact that after an adjustment, the spine or the structure has been repositioned to a newer position therefore the body needs time to acclimatize.

How long can I see changes or feel relief?

Results may vary from case to case. We may have our one-hit wonder but at times we have also not seen changes in patient. Please note that, for some chronic conditions, it will take time to undo the effects from the years of abuse.

Why do you insist on Supplements?

No matter what, the body needs nutrition to recover. Medication can indeed make the pain lesser or feels that it’s gone but that is superficial. You should aid the body with nutrition-work set by an expert to recover quickly. Please view our blog posts to see what I have written down in view of the Structural-Nutrition correlation to health.

If osteopathy is good and useful why don’t we see this in the hospitals in Singapore?

This is a tough subject to address. Currently, there is no attempt to make Osteopathy as mainstream healthcare services and its practitioners are in a self regulated industry. The closest thing to an Osteopath (in the Singapore scope of practice in hospitals) is the physiotherapists. However, physiotherapists do not embark on Manual therapies and are more towards prescribing exercises (at least to my knowledge and from the accounts from my patients). No one system is the sole custodian of health. All types of therapies exist to address health needs in the whole spectrum conditions. There is such a thing as the right therapy the right condition done at the right time by the right people.  

Why are you expensive?

Price is subjective, especially when you compare to other service providers that charge higher as a non-doctor.  Feel free to make your own comparison. As much as I would like to help people, I too need to make a living. This is why I emphasize to all patient that you do not come to expect relaxation. You have massage therapist that can do that for you. Relaxation is the effect of my therapy but not the objective. The objective is Pain Management and to facilitate wellness.  

What are the differences between you and the other practitioners of Manipulative Therapies?

It is not fair to put it this way as all of us have our own unique ways. But to be fair to myself and all Osteopaths, all I can say is.. an Osteopath is an Osteopath and a Chiropractor is a Chiropractor so are Bone-setters. I have attempted to provide an explanation here to the best of my ability.

 I’m above 55, is this therapy safe for me? 

Osteopaths are trained in almost 10 technique of treatments and we will adjust accordingly to the needs of the patient. My scope of knowledge and experience also cover the treatment for child above 10 years old.

So what type of therapies does the Osteopaths utilize? 

We do Cranial, HVLA, Articulation, FPR, SCS, etc to name a few.. You can view the list of training in the page about me here.

So can we choose what therapies we want?

No. In my practice, patients follow the protocols set by us. This is called 'physician-discretion'.

What this means is that the Therapist/Doctor/Physicians choose what is necessary for the patient and not the patient to choose for themselves, If you want to pick from a menu like in the restaurant (similar to that in a sense), then my practice is not for you. This is why consultation is necessary to isolate, mitigate, identify any anomalies, contra-indication to avoid harm to the patient. You can suggest, for example.. "I need Manipulation" or "I need dry needling" but it is up to the doc to agree or even counter-suggest based on our training and prior experiences.