Ch-ch-changes

Posted by Nell Mead at 11:24 on 14 Mar 2013

You may have noticed the odd small change around this site lately. As Victory expands as a team, and as we have more ideas of ways to help people, so too our website is evolving and changing.  So, here's a whistle-stop introduction to the new-look site.

First up is the homepage. We decided to be a bit more explicit about what it is we do, and at the same time to be a bit more succinct. So we've taken some blocks of text out, and added more pretty clickable buttons to take you to the most popular bits of the site.

Then there are three completely new sections. Victory in the Press came about as we started being asked to do interviews and give expert opinions. We like sharing the positivity and wanted somewhere central to put our external writing, plus radio and TV links.

Victories is stories about people we've helped. This includes testimonials that people have written for us, and case studies that we've written. We will generally keep the case studies anonymous but we get permission before writing them. If you would like to write us a testimonial, or would like us to write up your case study, please do drop me a line. At the moment we have two case studies published - one about a man with knee pain (patellar tendinopathy) and another about a man whose performance improved with the addition of massage, plus better range of movement and better focus on recovery.

The third new section is the Kit page. People are always asking us where they can find the equipment we use in our treatment sessions. The answer is that we sell most of it within Victory - and you'll get slightly better prices if you buy directly from us. However, it's not convenient for everyone to take kit home from Victory, so for people who need bigger or more cumbersome toys, we've signed up as affiliates of the places we buy most of our equipment from. Please click on our links to buy your kit directly from our suppliers - it won't change the price you pay, but it gives us a tiny commission and we'll be very grateful!

There are more exciting ventures in the pipeline - we're opening a new treatment room in the next couple of weeks at East London RFC in West Ham, starting rehab classes in the city and out east, and setting up an online booking capability - but I'll explain those as we go. Watch this space!

Notwithstanding the changes, we are of course continuing to offer physiotherapy, sports massage, sports rehab, acupuncture, performance psychology and performance nutrition in Liverpool Street!  Please contact Sarah Harvey to arrange your next appointment.

Introducing Cut Price Tuesdays

Posted by Nell Mead at 15:00 on 2 Aug 2012

Here at Victory, we’re thoroughly enjoying this great British summer and are making the most of what London has to offer: Diamond Jubilee celebrations, Wimbledon tennis, the London Olympics, the forthcoming Paralympics – and of course, summer evenings sharing Pimm’s (or No 1 Fruit Cup, as it’s been renamed for the Olympics, for sponsorship reasons).

Entering into the current London spirit of relaxed bonhomie, we’d like to introduce our new sessions, inspired by the local bars and their happy hours: cut price Tuesdays.

Every Tuesday, one of our sports massage therapists (the lovely Sarah and new girl Helen) will be at Victory between 4 and 8pm, offering massages at £20 per half-hour or £40 per hour – a massive saving on the usual rate of £70 per hour. So do come and join us for a relaxing or reinvigorating massage and get those niggles ironed out.

While you’re welcome to turn up on the day if you want to take a chance, we’d recommend booking to avoid disappointment. Call George at The Foundry on 0203 417 0469 or pop in to reserve your slot now!
 

Victory for Men's Health

Posted by Nell Mead at 09:00 on 6 Feb 2012

Half a lifetime ago, I fell in love with a young man who used to like telling me about health and fitness.  Ever the observant girlfriend, I fairly soon noticed in his bedroom copies of popular magazine Men's Health: my amour's goal, it seemed, was to be a cover model. 

A short while into our relationship, however, his words of wisdom dried up.  This may have been because I began buying my own copies of Men's Health, reading them faster than he did (I had to sit through physics lessons; he at a couple of years older had an actual job) and then quoting the articles at him.  He had nothing more to say.  We didn't last long, and he never did become a cover model, which is a shame, as he had lovely abs.

Not being their target audience, I hadn't picked up a copy since then; but if you are a MH aficionado, you'll know that on a semi-regular basis, they set their journalists physical challenges, which they then have to complete and write about for the amusement and edification of their readership.  The current such challenge is for two ectomorphic journalists, both coincidentally called Ed, to compete for the most impressive "transformation" with a personal trainer.  In effect, the trainers are competing to make the greatest difference to their clients.

And this is how I came to meet Ed Reeves, or "Big Ed" as he is affectionately known to readers of MH.  Ed has been working with top Foundry trainer and former Olympian Sarah Lindsay since the start of January, trying to pack on enough muscle in three months to beat "Little Ed" Vanstone, who is himself working with MH cover model and trainer Olly Foster.

Big Ed somehow bypassed our usual pre-training musculoskeletal assessment; but given that he has never trained before, and with a pretty dodgy starting posture and various underlying issues, it wasn't a huge surprise to anyone other than himself when he broke down and found himself being poked and prodded by me and by Victory's osteopath Ray Yong.

I'll not go into details of what we saw and found - medical confidentiality being pretty important to both me and Ray! - but suffice to say that we were both able to offer suggestions of diagnosis and treatment.  Ray is a fan of acupuncture, and I'm a fan of the Sarah Key method; I think Ed would have been happy with either (and either would have been effective) but as Ray was heading home, I treated Ed myself.  And he seems quite happy with the results!

Having said that, Ed was lucky to recover so quickly.  If you are thinking of embarking on a new training regime, it really is sensible to get checked out beforehand.  I don't just mean the usual GP checkup for blood pressure, though if you're seriously out of shape, of course that is important.  But from an injury perspective, or rather from an injury avoidance perspective, it is worth getting a good pre-training musculoskeletal assessment with a therapist who is familiar with the demands of personal training and who will talk to your trainer.  Our assessments help the Foundry's trainers to personalise their clients' programmes, adding in specific corrective exercises and avoiding anything that's likely to be detrimental.  Most of our clients have relatively sedentary jobs, or jobs that involve repetitive movements - I've lost count of the clients I've described as "chair-shaped" over the past year - and corrective exercises, particularly using the back block as an "anti-sitting" device, really do make a difference and help them to avoid injury.

If you're thinking of starting a course of personal training, whether at The Foundry or elsewhere, it's worth getting yourself checked out. We're not the only option, but we're pretty experienced and we're happy to talk to your trainer - what have you got to lose?  Contact us for your 30-minute MOT!

Phil's Sports Massage

Posted by Nell Mead at 16:33 on 26 Aug 2011

Hi everyone! I’m Phil – I used to be a Royal Marine, but now I’m just about to qualify as a sports massage therapist, and this is my first blog post for Victory. As a keen bean student, I’m turning into a bit of a sports massage geek and for my first post I thought I’d share some of the things I’m learning on my sports massage course. So, here we go: one crash course in sports and remedial massage therapy coming up!

What is it? It’s just massage. It’s been practiced and documented since the beginning of time. It’s still about because it works. As researchers have learned more and more about anatomy and general science, they’ve been able to tell us more about why it works – which has helped massage practitioners to develop a range of different techniques. Here are some of the techniques I apply here at Victory:

• Effleurage – large area strokes for warm up, prepping the soft tissues for deeper work
• Petrissage – kneading, further softening up a more specific area
• Friction – very deep technique used on a single point of scar tissue and adhesions
• Neuromuscular technique (NMT) – an extension of deep friction to release trigger points and other tension caused by the nervous system
• Muscle energy techniques (METs) – using the client’s own muscle energy to release tension and lengthen muscle fibres
• Tapotement – chopping and clapping for a pre-event wake up and energising
• Soft tissue release (STR) – a hybrid containing several other techniques for quick and effective release of soft tissue tension

Later in my course, I’m looking forward to learning more techniques such as connective tissue manipulation, strain-counter-strain and acupressure.

So why is it called *sports* massage? You don’t have to be an active sportsperson to have a sports massage. It’s just a phrase we use to distinguish the deeper, more treatment-based massage from a more superficial “relaxation” or “beauty” massage. Everybody uses their muscles and moves, and everybody has micro-traumas, tension, scarring, adhesions and trigger points in their tissues that can be released by the correct application of the techniques I’ve mentioned. Nine out of ten “sports injuries” are, after all, not as a direct result of the respective sport. They are a result of postural imbalances and pre-existing soft tissue problems in the participants’ bodies. The uncontrolled nature of many sports just turns these problems into acute injuries.

And why should I have a sports massage? Virtually every professional sportsperson incorporates regular sports massages into their training regime because it helps their performance, helps to prevent injury by maintaining soft tissue compliance, and improves their recovery. So if you’re serious about your training, maybe you should learn from the professionals. And if you’re not working hard in the gym, I’ll bet you’re working hard in the office. Humans really aren’t designed to sit on chairs and poke at computers all day, and our bodies develop tension and imbalances as a result. Sports massage – particularly when it’s combined with activities like yoga – can help to redress the balance and to keep you on top form for longer.

How is a Victory sports massage different from a spa massage? It’s easy to give a ‘nice relaxing’ pamper. On request, I’ll happily play ‘crashing waves’ on the iPod and leave you feeling sleepy and without a care in the world. However, I get my job satisfaction when a client stands up and the end of a treatment in a physically better state than when they walked in. You might well feel some discomfort when I’m applying deep friction and NMT, and I won’t give you a cup of green tea and a fuzzy robe at the end of it – but once I’m done with you, you’ll feel great, and I’ll recommend the most amazingly large burrito around the corner at Poncho’s.

Phil is available to provide sports massage at Victory on Friday afternoons, and at other times on request. You can follow his adventures on Twitter, and you can book an appointment with him here.
 

Victory's Flexible Friends

Posted by Nell Mead at 08:00 on 17 Aug 2011

For the past few weeks, as I’ve been working to turn Victory into a larger and more interdisciplinary practice, I’ve been having fun doing some “quality control” – making sure that the practitioners I want to be associated with Victory are at the top of their game. So, all in the name of benefiting you, the client, (naturally!), I’ve been swapping treatment sessions with Victory’s sports massage therapists, and with The Foundry’s trainers. I’ve not yet been disappointed, and I’m quite sure you won’t be either.

This past week, I’ve branched out a bit. Pilates teacher Laura Hogg used to work at The Foundry but has now set up her own, more spacious, centre just a few minutes away in Shoreditch. I’d been wanting to meet her for ages, so grabbed the opportunity when she rang to request some physio treatment, to ask if she’d be happy to swap sessions with me.

I’ve never really done much formal Pilates or yoga, though I’ve learned some of the basic exercises over the years as I’ve expanded my knowledge of physiotherapy and core control. But last week I Laura gave me my first Pilates lesson (which was excellent – highly recommended!); and this morning I also met her colleague Jo Lawson, a yoga teacher from New Zealand.

Both Laura and Jo are very bendy, which makes the shapes they can contort their bodies into really rather lovely to look at, and inspirational to try to replicate. But they’re also both very encouraging and sympathetic to those of us who are not quite as flexible. And – somehow – after repeating the moves a few times, I gradually felt myself becoming, if not quite graceful, then slightly less rusty!

One of Jo’s stretches, which we did when I mentioned an old shoulder injury, was completely new to me, and I thought it was brilliant so with her permission I’d like to share it with you. You may well need some assistance with this at first (I did!) but after a bit of practice it should get easier.

• To stretch your right shoulder, sit on the floor with your legs out straight in front of you and toes pointing at the ceiling. Pull your right foot all the way into your groin.

• Then reach your right arm out towards your left foot, making sure your right shoulder is inside your right knee.

• Next, twist your shoulder inwards so that your right thumb rotates anticlockwise towards the floor. Lean your upper body forward and reach your arm around your raised right knee, so that your hand reaches as far round your back as you can manage. You should feel an agreeable pull between your right shoulder blade and your spine, as your shoulder blade is pulled forward to accommodate your knee.

• Your next move is to reach round behind your back with your left hand, and try to grasp the fingers of your right hand with your left.

• Seen from behind, the stretch should ideally look like this.

• However, most of us won’t be quite that flexible, especially at first. So if your fingers can’t reach each other, you can hold a towel or strap in your hands, and gradually work your fingers closer together. At first you may need a helpful someone to place the strap or towel into your hands behind you.

Relax into the stretch for a couple of breaths, focusing on allowing your muscles to relax and lengthen. Then let go of your fingers, unwind and repeat on the other side.

When people ask me – as they frequently do – whether they should choose yoga or Pilates, I often respond somewhat glibly (and generally, I think, truthfully) that it doesn’t really matter which you do as long as you find a good teacher. Now, with Shoreditch Pilates and Primal Yoga round the corner, I’m delighted to be able to say that I think I’ve found excellent teachers for both disciplines, and I’ll definitely be going back for more: see you in class!

*Thanks to Jo for kindly agreeing to model at a moment's notice!

Victory at The Foundry

Posted by Nell Mead at 08:00 on 8 Aug 2011

For us at Victory - well, ok, maybe just for me - today is a hugely exiting and momentous day.  And why, might you ask, would that be?  Well, partly because I left the Army exactly a year ago today.  But also because the lovely directors of The Foundry, Dave, Helen and Graeme, asked me a little while ago if I'd like to set up a proper rehabilitation centre in their premises.  So from today, Victory is officially a full-time entity, with two therapy rooms, in the one location - hurrah!

I, my dad and my lovely friends Claire and Jono have spent the weekend repainting the therapy rooms, and you'll also see logos appearing over the next few weeks and a bit more clinic furniture.  Dave's also suggested holding a launch party - definitely something to think about in the near future!

In the mean time, I'd like to introduce you briefly to a few of the characters you might meet when you come to Victory.  When I get a chance, I'll blog properly about each of them - this really is just a very brief hello.

Sarah Harvey is my lovely PA.  She keeps me on track with all the myriad things I'm supposed to do but keep forgetting.  She organises the team's diaries and makes sure I don't double book myself and do remember to pay bills and invoice clients.  If you ever need to contact anyone about the administrative side of Victory, or to arrange an appointment, Sarah's your girl - e-mail her here.

Dr Victor Thompson is a clinical psychologist who specialises in sports and performance.  I met Victor nearly ten years ago when I became interested in sports psychology as a way of improving my results on the tennis court.  After four hours with Victor I won 20 tennis matches in a row, and I've been recommending him ever since.  At the moment, he consults with me on clients who have an emotional, psychological or stress-related component to their physical pain; so far this has been very successful and I look forward to being able to offer this service more frequently in the future.

Jake Thackray is a former Physical Training Instructor in the Royal Navy and is still a serving policeman.  He's been working at The Foundry for some time now as a specialist in sports massage and remedial therapy, and will continue his sports massage work with Victory.  At the moment he is mainly available on Monday evenings but over the next few months he will hopefully be around more regularly.

Busy bee Sarah Franklin is - by day - a fitness manager at Virgin Active Moorgate; but she is also qualified in sports massage therapy, and is available to see clients at Victory some evenings and weekends.  Although she has been working at The Foundry for some time, Sarah and I haven't yet swapped treatments (something I like to do regularly with all the Victory therapists) but I hear great things and am really looking forward to it.

Flight Sergeant Paul "Spot" Leppard leads the multidisciplinary Spines Team at the Defence Medical Rehabilitation Centre, Headley Court.  A qualified Exercise Rehabilitation Instructor (ERI), he also received his BSc in Sports Studies from the University of Wolverhampton in 2003.  He is available in the evenings and at weekends to provide exercise therapy for clients with back pain and spinal injuries.

Graduate Sports Rehabilitator Cat Cornwell is also currently working at Headley Court as a civilian ERI specialising in complex trauma.  She holds bachelors degrees in Sports Rehabilitation and Sports & Exercise Science, and is currently working towards an MSc in Neuromusculoskeletal Healthcare.  Last month she was also part of the Team True Spirit squad of Headley Court patients and staff to complete the Iron Man UK Triathlon.  With a very solid history of working with high level sportspeople including GB Women's Basketball squad, Cat is definitely the girl to take you from getting over an injury to being ready to start full-on personal training.  She is available in the evenings and at weekends.

Ryan Walsh is a former member of the Parachute Regiment and of the Army Rugby team - and is now a professional boxer - see him in action here.  He's a qualified Personal Trainer who has worked with Bath Rugby and was seen on the 2010/11 School of Hard Knocks series on Sky Sports One.  I've known Ryan since he was 17 and was surprised when he called to tell me he had qualified as a sports massage therapist; but even more surprised when he proved to be really rather good at it, with a good range of techniques and an instinctive touch.  You really can't teach someone to have good hands!

Former Royal Marine Phil McDougall is currently in the process of completing his Level 5 Sports Massage qualification at the London School of Sports Massage, and is due to start training at the British School of Osteopathy in September.  A thoughtful and instinctive therapist who is keen to learn, Phil will be available on Friday afternoons, and on other days by prior arrangement.  Given the famed rivalry between the Paras and the Marines, I'm intrigued to see how Phil gets on with Ryan...!

Capt Harold Ackroyd and Maj William Allen were the first two members of the Royal Army Medical Corps to be awarded the Victoria Cross.  Sarah suggested that we should name our therapy rooms in their honour - so we have.  For those who are familiar with Victory's layout, Ackroyd faces you when you reach the bottom of the stairs, and Allen is on the left.

Finally, there's Starvin' Marvin (on the right) - the leanest member of Victory.  He was named on 2 Feb after The Foundry held a Facebook competition.  He hangs around generally looking like a bit of a cool dude, and is always available to show you what bones look like and how joints should work.

The only down side to this is that - with not enough hours in the day - I'm having to give up my clinic at The Back Shop.  But the staff are great, and I still really rate the equipment they sell (particularly the Mobiliser!) and their ergonomic assessments, so I have no intention of losing touch with them completely.

Right - that's it, I've said enough.  You've met the gang: what are you waiting for? Come on in and meet us: get in touch to book that appointment you've been needing for ages....!

Victory and the City

Posted by Nell Mead at 09:00 on 29 Mar 2011

Last week I took an afternoon off to join personal trainer extraordinaire Dave Thomas from The Foundry, who was playing for Citi Rugby in the Norton Rose City Scrum, a corporate touch rugby event held at the Honourable Artillery Company's grounds in Moorgate.  As Dave is more commonly known as "Hospital" Dave, I was attending in the role of his personal physiotherapist - despite being a touch tournament, he was apparently carted off by paramedics last year with a badly-sprained ankle.  Opting to minimise the risk, I taped the dodgy ankle firmly in place before I allowed him anywhere near the pitch!

The event did have a serious side - it's run for charity, plus I had the additional responsibility of fixing Dave and his team! - but was also a lot of fun, and the HAC is a fabulous venue.  Each team is "coached" by a member of the Harlequins team (many of whom have never played touch rugby) - and this year, Citi were coached by Quins' captain Chris Robshaw, pictured here with Dave.

After a slowish start, Citi hit their stride and Dave - with a freshly flexible back and hamstrings - performed a try-saving ankle-tap diving tackle to deny UBS a win.  Unfortunately, in doing so, he managed to face-plant into the sand around the try line, temporarily blinded himself, and had to come off; but the vital tackle had been made and there was no real damage to Dave (which, I confess, was a relief to his physio!)

In the semi-final, Citi played against last year's winners, JP Morgan.  A stalemate ensued, and at full time the score was 0-0.  Each team lost a player and they played 5 v 5 for a few minutes... still no score.  4 v 4... still no score.  The teams went down to 3 v 3 and suddenly the pitch looked much bigger.  Dave - on the left wing - received the ball at about the half way line.  Accelerating off his right foot, he sprinted left, and - throwing an outrageous dummy - scored in the corner.  Citi were in the final.

As Dave had to train some clients, we left at this point.  I'm not sure whether he was more sorry to leave before the final, or happy to leave on a high.  But a text message an hour later confirmed that Citi had won the final - with Will Myers as player of the tournament. Well done Citi!

Shoulder pain - an underdiagnosed dysfunction

Posted by Nell Mead at 14:00 on 18 Feb 2011

This post is triggered by Dave Thomas of The Foundry, who commented yesterday on Facebook following a therapy session with me that “if you haven’t had your subscapularis walked on before, it’s a treat!” It seems to be a relatively unusual technique, but one of my favourites, and this is why.

The subscapularis (aka subscap, to rhyme with hubcap) is a triangular muscle which sits between the ribs and the shoulderblade (scapula) – its name meaning literally “below the scapula”. With its base covering the entire of the inside edge of the scapula, it narrows to a tendon which attaches to the inner part of the humerus (upper arm bone) and the shoulder joint capsule. Its role is to twist the arm inwards (place your hand on your stomach and try to push through to your spine: you’re using your subscap) and to pull the humerus forward and down when your arm is raised, thus preventing your shoulder from dislocating.

It’s one of the four muscles that make up the rotator cuff, (the others being supraspinatus, infraspinatus and teres minor, if you’re interested!) but far less frequently torn than the more vulnerable supraspinatus and infraspinatus. Probably because of this, it’s a muscle that’s often ignored by therapists when treating sore necks and shoulders, but in my view that’s a mistake. Good subscap function is essential to good neck and shoulder function, and I have a few theories as to why this is the case.

One theory is the effect that subscap has on the ribs. As I’ve mentioned, subscap sits between the ribs and the scapula. Normal shoulder movement depends on the scapula being able to glide freely over the ribs. When muscles are sore, they tend to tighten up and develop trigger points – isolated areas of muscle spasm; and subscap is no exception. It’s my belief that tightness and/or trigger points in subscap can be partly responsible for dysfunctional movement of the scapula over the ribs. This in turn places excessive strain on the rib and shoulder joints, leading to pain in the upper back, neck and/or shoulder.

I believe that another problem with subscap trigger points is the effect these have on blood flow and nerves. I suspect that when a muscle is tight, its spasmed fibres affect not only each other, but also other local structures such as blood vessels and nerves. In the case of subscap, this could – theoretically - affect the axillary (armpit) artery and the ulnar branch of the brachial plexus – the nerve that goes down to the inside of the elbow and the ring and little fingers. It’s certainly noticeable that patients often comment that they feel odd sensations in these areas, as I release their tight subscaps; or that once I’ve finished, they feel a rush of heat to the area (increased blood flow?)

Releasing the subscap is pretty tricky to do on your own. I often use my heels to release subscap in my patients – most therapists use their fists or fingers, but it’s hard to do that without jabbing your patient and causing more discomfort than necessary. If I have to release your subscap, I’ll ask you to lie on your back with your hand behind your head. This brings the edge of your scapula out to the side of your body, and I can then fit my heel between the edge of your scapula and your ribs, and use my bodyweight to stretch and massage the subscap, gently and rhythmically until the spasm subsides.

Not only does this tend to release the subscap spasm, it also frequently seems to relieve neck pain and increase in rotation at the neck, which is a great side effect. I’m not sure whether this is also due to better rib mobility, or whether there is some sort of chain reaction going on whereby the subscap release causes a release in the levator scapulae – any bright ideas gratefully accepted!

After I’ve released your subscap, I’ll show you how to stretch it yourself, using a chair, Swiss ball or yoga brick, so that you can maintain the improvement at home. 

If you're having problems with a shoulder, please e-mail me for advice or for an appointment.

Trust me, I'm a doctor...

Posted by Nell Mead at 12:00 on 20 Jan 2011

I was going to demonstrate a simple exercise for back pain today, but I've just seen this article in the Daily Mail online and it's taken priority.  Normal service will be resumed very soon!

To summarise, it seems that this chap "Dr Charles Ahme" - a 50-year-old football referee with an online first aid qualification - set up a "physiotherapy and sports injuries practice" in Levenhulme, Manchester.  Wearing a white coat, he asked female patients to strip naked and then massaged them, in some cases indecently.  He wasn't investigated until a GB athlete visited his practice for treatment and realised that his practice wasn't exactly standard.  She reported him and he is now apparently "facing a lengthy prison sentence".  Good.

OK, so where do I start?  How do you choose a physiotherapist, or in fact any healthcare practitioner?

• Word of mouth is a sensible place to start.  Ask around: if your friend or colleague has seen a really good practitioner, the chances are that they may be able to treat you well, too.  Most of my patients come to see me because one of their friends has recommended me.
• Check their website - most good practices have one these days, and you should be able to get a feel for what's available: does the therapist offer services you think you will need, and do you like the tone of the site?  If you like what they write, the chances are that you will like the therapist.  Good rapport between patient and therapist is an excellent first step to successful treatment, as if you trust your therapist, you will relax and the treatment will be more beneficial.  Most websites will also include testimonials from past patients and, provided that these are genuine, they will also give you an idea of the therapists' areas of particular expertise.
• Chartered status is no guarantee of quality, but it does at least mean that the therapist has been received the training that they say they have, and that their insurance and qualifications are up to date!  You should check that your therapist is registered with the Health Professions Council.  Physiotherapists should also be registered with the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy; any private physiotherapist registered here or here is a CSP member.
• Instinct is possibly the most important thing.  Don't automatically trust the therapist who wears a white coat!  We are programmed to do this, but as Stanley Milgram showed in his famous experiment, someone who wears a white coat (or other uniform or clothing that denotes professional status) is not necessarily what he seems.  The therapist should greet you, make you feel at home and always explain what they are about to do to you, what you are doing and why they are doing it.  You should always be able to ask questions, and if you feel uncomfortable at any time, tell them so and they should stop what they are doing immediately and discuss it with you, modifying any treatment so that you are comfortable with it.  If they don't, or if you are not happy with the treatment in any way, let them know; and if you're dissatisfied with their response, you are perfectly within your rights to raise your concerns to the Health Professions Council who will investigate.

Please don't get taken in by a bogus therapist!

For an appointment with Nell (a totally genuine Chartered Physiotherapist with years of experience treating musculoskeletal injuries!) please contact us or send her an e-mail.  She is available at The Foundry on Mondays and Tuesdays, and at The Back Shop on Wednesdays and Thursdays.

New year, new venue

Posted by Nell Mead at 14:00 on 4 Jan 2011

Happy New Year everyone!  I hope you had a great night on Saturday, and that Father Christmas was in generous mood last week.

My mood was certainly lifted on Christmas eve when my phone beeped to herald a text message from the lovely Dave and Helen Thomas, owners of The Foundry, a fantastic personal training studio and gym at 11 Artillery Lane, between Liverpool St Station and Spitalfields Market.  It's one of my favourite areas in London for its hustling, upbeat mood.

They and I had been discussing the possibility of collaboration and I'm delighted to announce that - as of next week - I will be offering physiotherapy sessions at The Foundry every Monday and Tuesday.  I'm really excited and can't wait to start. 

I'll also be teaming up with The Foundry's superb personal training team to offer joint assessments - an injury and performance MOT, if you like - though we're still working out the exact details, so watch this space...

Please e-mail me for an appointment at The Foundry.