Osteopaths and cardiac problems

[Gelert]

I've been to an osteopath a few times in the hope of sorting out a bad back - having lost patience with the NHS. My GP diagnosed a bad disk causing sciatica - but the osteopath tells me this is wrong. I think I trust him more.

I've certainly felt better for all the crunching and wiggling he's done.

But last night he told me there is a difference in my pulse at the aorta and the one at my foot - about 1/2s to 1s out of sync.

Although he has emphasised that I shouldn't worry, I consulted Dr. Google and the most plausible cause of this is a congenital heart defect which (without heart surgery) could cause hypertension in my heart and brain. In fact I have low blood pressure if anything, so I am confused.

Nonetheless, this has me worried.

Apart from ranting about this in the hope it might make me less worried, does anyone else out there happen to have a difference in pulse like this?

[JP]

hey man, i don't know, but at the same time i would not get overtly worried based on one opinion. I mean what were the measurement methods he used? He could be right, or could be wrong, but its better to check it in another place before starting to make conclusions IMO.

Osteopaths are fantastic in my experience as well, but dont know about them measuring my pulse and stuff?

[Pete]

If you're worried I would suggest you get it checked by an expert. You'd first have to get a referral from you doc, who may find you've got no probs, but often, if you're really concerned you can get them to refer (just to get rid of you )
I don't think anyone on the board would hazard a diagnose of a disease, so that's probably the best we can offer, if you've got concern, get it checked.

[Gelert]

I have some time off this coming week (finally) and I am going to my medic to see what he has to say about it all. It's worth getting a second opinion, certainly.

All the osteopath had to detect this was his fingers, just taking pulse manually. Fair play, he located two of the three rather anatomically difficult pulses he was looking for - the cause of concern is that he couldn't find the third, and the other two were out of sync.

If this is indeed a symptom of coarctation of the aorta, which causes hypertension, then one option is balloon inflation of the aorta (fun trip, guys!). However, in the first instance, the medic would probably tell me to a) have a good diet, low in fats and salt and b) exercise.

Done, and done!

One problem is that I may have poor extremity circulation as a result - great for frostbite in cold environments!