Here are the different « steps » that occur during an osteopathic session.

Anamnesis, Medical History
When you come to an osteopathic session for the first time, your osteopath needs to know some information about your medical history and about your actual physical pain or discomforts. This moment is a way to « get to know each other ». If you have any medical exams such as blood tests, X-rays, MRI…please bring them with you.

Osteopathic tests :
Your osteopath will use his hands to palpate and tests specific structures such as joints, muscles, organs…, The osteopath will manipulate those structures to get an idea of what movements are easily perfomed within the flow and others which aren’t.
There are basically another test which is just listening to the needs of the patient’s body just by putting a very skillfull hand on the body. This one will « listen » to the tensions which will guide you to the areas that need a technique.

The treatment in itself.  It takes place most of the time in the flow of the tests.
There are many types of techniques and approaches for sure. From the ones in which the osteopath manipulates the articulations (you might here a tiny « pop » noise), to others approaches which include a very light and gentle touch. An osteopath is able to work on your muscles, joints, fascias, skull, organes.

Even though Osteopaths use specific techniques, they never lose sight of the wholeness of the patient. Wholeness is a key principle in Osteopathy.