The Osteopath

Osteopath in Paris 6 — Arnaud Marguin

Registered osteopath D.O. practising in the 6th arrondissement of Paris, I treat musculoskeletal, articular and postural pain in adults, athletes, pregnant women and infants.

Main Indications

• Lower back pain, sciatica, mid-back pain
• Neck pain, headaches
• Joint pain (shoulder, knee, hip)
• Jaw disorders (TMJ, TMD)
• Postural pain
• Digestive and ENT symptoms in infants
• Pregnancy-related pain
• Sports injuries and tendinopathies
• Chronic pain

How a Consultation Works

Each consultation follows a structured process to ensure thorough assessment and effective treatment:

1. Clinical Interview — A thorough discussion about your symptoms, medical history and lifestyle habits.
2. Physical Examination — Assessment of mobility, muscular tension and mechanical constraints.
3. Personalised Manual Treatment — Techniques tailored to your profile to restore mobility and reduce tension.
4. Advice — Understanding your symptoms, treatment plan, prognosis and personalised recommendations.

Inside the room

A session runs about forty-five minutes.

The first fifteen are spent talking, and the questions are always the same: how long it has hurt, what sets it off, what settles it, what you have already tried, and which medicines you take.

Then the examination. You stay dressed.

I test how each region moves, I reproduce the movements that set your pain off, I watch how you stand, how you get up out of a chair, and how far your head turns before something stops it.

What comes out of that examination decides the treatment, not the reason you gave when you booked, and the label you arrive with is not always the one you leave with.

Treatment fills the second half, using joint work and soft tissue work, cranial technique when it fits, and I tell you what I am doing while I do it, which matters when nobody has ever explained a lumbar spine to you in a language you did not grow up with.

The cracking noise is not the point.

It is neither systematic nor necessary, plenty of sessions pass without a single one, and if you would rather avoid it altogether then say so before we start.

You leave with two or three things to do, not ten. One movement to repeat, one position to drop, one load to adjust. Give people ten instructions and they follow none.

Professional Approach

The aim of every consultation is to restore mobility, release muscular tension and promote a better functional balance. My approach is founded on a rigorous clinical examination and manual treatment adapted to each individual patient.

I graduated with a D.O. diploma in 2006 from the Geneva School of Osteopathy and have since accumulated over 20 years of clinical experience in private practice. I hold dual registration with the Registre des Ostéopathes de France (ROF) and the General Osteopathic Council (GOsC) in the United Kingdom, which reflects a commitment to meeting international standards of practice.

The practice at 9 Rue du Regard operates within a multidisciplinary medical setting alongside a general practitioner, a gynaecologist, a dietitian and a gastroenterologist, enabling coordinated patient care when needed.

Background and Recognition

• D.O. diploma in 2006 — Geneva School of Osteopathy
• Over 20 years in private practice
• Continuing education: neurovertebral decompression, paediatric osteopathy, clinical digital anatomy
• Multidisciplinary practice (GP, gynaecologist, dietitian, gastroenterologist)

When osteopathy is not the answer

Some pain belongs to a doctor first, and telling the two apart is part of the job. Several times a year I send somebody to a doctor or straight to hospital instead of putting them on the table.

• Loss of strength in a leg or arm that is worsening
• Numbness between the legs, or trouble passing urine: a surgical emergency
• Pain after a serious fall or a road accident
• Back pain with fever, unexplained weight loss, or pain that wakes you at night
• Chest pain, breathlessness, feeling faint

For any of those the number to ring is 15, the French medical emergency line, or you go to the emergency department of the nearest hospital, which the French call les urgences.

Ring here and you get the same answer.

Press and Media

• Goop — by Iris Goldsztajn
• Le Parisien — "Back pain: 4 chairs for working from home"
• Ici Londres — "How to jog without worry"
• Le Parisien — "Working from home: an osteopath's advice"
• Documentary: "Courir du bon pied" — directed by Nathalie Baldji

Practical information for patients from abroad

No referral is needed: osteopathy is directly accessible in France. You do not need to be registered with the French health system to be treated, and you do not need a French social security number to book.

Sessions are 100 €, not reimbursed by French social security — that applies to everyone, resident or not. An invoice is issued after each session and most private and expatriate policies accept it. If you hold international cover, ask your insurer for the reimbursement form before your visit.

Bring any imaging you already have, whatever the language: an MRI report reads the same everywhere. Consultations take place in English, French or Portuguese.

Getting to 9 rue du Regard

Rue du Regard is a short street linking rue de Rennes to boulevard Raspail, halfway between Saint-Germain-des-Prés and the Luxembourg gardens, on the boundary with the 7th arrondissement.

Three Metro stations stand within a five minute walk, which is worth knowing when you are crossing Paris at the end of a working day with a back that has just seized up.

• Saint-Placide (line 4): nearest, two minutes up rue de Rennes
• Rennes (line 12): three minutes
• Sèvres-Babylone (lines 10 and 12): five minutes, easy from the Right Bank

Driving is another matter. On-street parking in working hours is close to hopeless. The two car parks worth aiming for are the one under the Bon Marché and the one at Saint-Sulpice.

Opening hours

Monday to Friday, 9.30am to 8pm. Saturday, 10am to 3pm.

Booking online shows the real diary, but if your back has just gone and you need something today, ring 01 43 20 19 97 instead: appointments come free through the day and the website does not always catch up.