Osteopathy and Physiotherapy are both manual therapies that involve manipulation of the body, exercise and lifestyle advice to help with a range of spinal, orthopaedic and sports injury complaints. Physiotherapy has evolved within the orthodox medical setting of hospitals whereas osteopathy evolved in the private sector. Traditionally osteopathy involved lots of joint manipulation and was part of the world of alternative or complementary medicine with varying amounts of professionalism between pracitioners. However in the year 2000 Osteopathy entered into the mainstream after becoming a fully regulated profession with guaranteed standards of education and practice. These days osteopaths are trained in many different hands-on massage and manipulation techniques applied directly to the muscles and joints of the body. There are some subtle differences in the approaches of the two professions but they are increasingly sharing more and more common ground.

"I had been to 8 different osteopaths before I was recommended to Robert, now I wouldn't go to anyone else other than him or one of his associates."
Wendy, Civil Servant

What makes us different?

Read more...

Cranial osteopathy (occassionally referred to as cranio-sacral therapy or involuntary mechanism therapy) mostly involves very gentle manipulation of the skull bones and sometimes the tail bone or "sacrum". The therapist uses a very light hand hold on the skull with intention to gently guide and influence the subtle articulation and pressures that occur between the skull bones and membranes around the brain and spinal cord.

This technique is often used when treating children and babies although it can also be used on adults.

Cranial osteopathy is currently available at our Chigwell Clinic on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Saturdays under the care of registered osteopath Noel Adams.

We offer no-nonsense deep tissue massage, the kind that makes a real difference to easing chronic muscular stiffness that results from injury, sport or simply the stresses and strains of life. We believe everyone and anyone can benefit from our deep tissue massages, from the couch potatoe to the professional athlete. All massage therapists at Osteopathy Plus have undergone lots of training not only as part of their basic training but also in house with our osteopaths and physios. Consequently they are trained in advanced soft tissue release techniques and know when to refer on to one of our other therapists.

If so we believe our sports massages will be an invaluable part of your preparation. Furthermore, we believe having regular deep tissue massages can have an anti-aging effect on the body's skeleto - muscular system by promoting elasticity within the muscles which in turn will allow joints to be more flexible and healthy.

What is medical Acupuncture?

Western Medical Acupuncture, sometimes referred to as Trigger Point Acupuncture or Trigger Point Dry Needling, is an adaptation of Chinese Acupuncture used by conventional western medical and allied health professionals that utilises a modern understanding of human anatomy and physiology to bring about changes in the nervous and musculoskeletal system.

What is it used for?

It is mainly used to treat musculoskeletal pain, including tight knotted muscles or “Trigger Points” (and Trigger Point Referred Pain Syndromes such as tension headaches, back pain and some forms of sciatica and nausea.

Read more...

Pilates For Back Problems

Research suggests that just a 3% drop in the function of the core muscles of the trunk can lead to instability and adverse shearing or micromovments between the vertbebrae of the spine which can lead to back pain and associated problem may eventually contribute to problems such as degenerative spinal discs, sciatica and spondylolisthesis (vertebral shift). Furthermore there is strong evidence that one of the direct physiological consequences of back pain is that the body switches off the signals to these muscles and stops them working properly. Therefore for some people conunteracting this with precise exercises to swtich these muscles back on and improve the "core stability" of the trunk may be an essential part of recovery from back pain and a way of protecting against the chances of problems later down the line.

Pilates For The Whole Body

Improving the muscle balance thoughout the whole body can  be very beneficial. For example the shoulder and shoulder blade sits on the middle back and so the posture and muscle balance of the back and whole shoulder girdle can an important impact on shoulder pain, neck problems and even arm problems.

One to One or Classes

 We currently offer one to one Pilates and corrective postural exercise presciption from Veena Kudhail and Robert Shanks at our Chigwell Clinic. Group Pilates classes are held by our Chigwell Clinic practice principal and company director Robert Shanks at a nearby location.

See out Pilates Classes page for more details.

One of the hallmarks of Spine Plus is that all our clinics are equipped with Spinal Decompression Therapy machines for taking pressure of damaged and degenerate spinal discs thus promoting healing and improved disc health. At our Chigwell clinic we have recently installed an "SDS Spina" machine offering the gold standard in Computerized Spinal Decompression Therapy or "Intervertebral Differential Dynamics" Therapy (IDD Therapy) as it is otherwise known. These machines are manufactured by North Amercan American Medical and have a track record for producing impressive results as shown by before and after MRI scans. We are currently one of only six clinics in the UK to offer this modality. We hope to install more IDD machines at our other clinics in the near future.

Read more...

At Ostepathy Plus we are firm believers in the benefits of exercise. This is why we have invested in software enabling our clients to receive personalised programmes via email containing video clips