Plate I
Back & neck
Low back pain, sciatica, neck pain and the stiffness that comes with both. Osteopathy or chiropractic, your choice or ours, with an honest plan on visit one.
Acute back pain today, otherwise within 48 hours
Plate I, fig. 1What we see
Most of it is routine, some of it is this week, and a few things are not us at all.
Plate I
Seen: acute back pain today, otherwise within 48 hours.
First visit from £64. Through the green door on the ground floor, step-free from the lane. You see Ruth or Sophie.
Rare, serious pressure on the nerves at the base of the spine. Not a condition we treat: a same-day emergency.
A&E now or 999. Do not wait for an appointment with us. We will see you afterwards for recovery.
The back that went bending, lifting or for no reason. Alarming, common and nearly always settles.
Keep moving gently, avoid bed rest, use heat, and book today: we hold same-day slots for acute backs each morning. Most people need two to four visits.
Leg pain from an irritated nerve root in the lower back, often a disc. Painful, usually recovers over weeks to a few months.
Book this week. Osteopathy or chiropractic, with dry needling for the buttock muscle; we refer for imaging if weakness is progressing. Saddle numbness or bladder changes are A&E, not us.
Waking with a neck you cannot turn, or the slow ache of a screen week. Joints and muscles, rarely anything sinister.
Book within the week; sooner if you cannot drive safely. Two to four visits plus a look at the desk if that is where it comes from.
Rotator cuff irritation, a stiff (frozen) shoulder, or a neck problem in disguise. The examination tells which.
Book a first visit. Frozen shoulder is a long game measured in months; cuff problems usually respond in four to six visits with the exercises.
Kneecap pain in runners and the young, arthritis in the older knee, and the knee that swells after a twist.
A first visit, or sports massage for the runner's tight quads and calves. A knee that locks or swells hugely after a twist should see a GP for imaging first.
Plate I, fig. 2Treatments on this plate
Price is fixed before you book; length is what you get.
45 minutes with a GOsC-registered osteopath: what is going on, treatment on the day, and a plan with a number of visits.
Ruth Ashdown · next Tue 08:15
£6445 minutes
Book →30 minutes: what changed since last time, treatment, the exercises progressed.
Ruth Ashdown · next Tue 08:15
£5230 minutes
Book →45 minutes with Sophie, our GCC-registered chiropractor: examination, report of findings, first adjustment if appropriate.
Sophie Marchand · next Mon 07:45
£6845 minutes
Book →20 minutes with Sophie: check, adjust, progress the exercises.
Sophie Marchand · next Mon 07:45
£4620 minutes
Book →Fine needles into tight muscle, added to any osteopathy or chiropractic visit for £12.
Ruth Ashdown · next Tue 08:15
£12Within your appointment
Book →Plate I, fig. 3Who you see
Every osteopath is on the GOsC register; the chiropractor on the GCC's.
Plate I, fig. 4Before you book
Back & neck
Stop here first
Some things are not ours, or not ours first.
Honest about the evidence
- Fifteen minutes of questions: how it started, what makes it better or worse, how you sit, sleep and work, and what you want back - Watching you move, then examining the joints and tissues by hand; the osteopath explains what they feel as they go - Treatment on the day: soft-tissue work, stretching, mobilising and, if it will help and you agree, manipulation (the click) - Two or three things to do at home, and a plan with an honest number of visits and a review point at visit three
Written inside the GOsC and ASA advertising rules, and it says so.
Something loose you can move in. For a back or hip we may ask you to strip to underwear or wear shorts; we have shorts and a gown, a towel covers you, and you can keep leggings on if you prefer. Tell us what you are comfortable with.
Only if it is likely to help and you want it. The click is gas releasing in a joint, not bone; it is one technique among many and plenty of people never have it.
Yes. A block is eight follow-ups at the wharf with any osteopath or the chiropractor, and can be shared with someone at your address.
Serious harm is very rare, but it is not zero, which is why Sophie asks about dizziness, visual changes and unusual headaches before treating a neck, and uses gentle mobilisation instead where there is any doubt. You can decline manipulation entirely and still be treated.
Almost never. We only ask for imaging when the examination finds something that needs ruling out, and then it is through your GP or a private referral, not sold on the day.
Because an adjustment-based visit is quick. If you also want longer soft-tissue work, book a 30-minute massage with Tom or an osteopathy follow-up; blocks work for either.
Free, at the wharf
In the diary for this plate
Sudden severe back pain?
Phone and Grace answers. Say where it hurts and whether you can do mornings.
01632 960440everything else within 48 hours. No GP referral needed.
Two doors, one green
Green door, Lock Lane (ground floor)
Step-free.
Back & neck Pregnancy & postnatal Babies & children Older adults & balance Second opinion
Green door, then one flight of stairs (rooms 2 and 3)
One flight of stairs; ask for the ground floor if you need it.
Desk & posture Headaches & jaw Sports massage