Osteopaths in London

Osteopathy is a regulated profession in the United Kingdom: anyone practising as an osteopath must be registered with the General Osteopathic Council and follow a professional code of conduct. In London, that care is delivered by clinics of very different sizes and traditions, from long-established neighbourhood practices to multidisciplinary teams that treat whole families.

This article brings together three osteopathy practices in the capital: Fulham Osteopaths, Phoenix Osteopathy and Osteopathy East. Three clinics in Fulham, Wandsworth Common and Hackney, each with its own way of approaching pain, injury and recovery.

Fulham Osteopaths has been serving the Fulham community since 1989, when Melinda Cotton founded the clinic that has since become one of London’s well-known and respected osteopathy practices. Located at 769 Fulham Road, a short walk from Parsons Green tube station, it remains a family-run health clinic, led by directors Andrew and Melinda Cotton, senior practitioners with over 37 years of experience each. Its work spans pain and injury, women’s health, cranial osteopathy for babies and a range of other health concerns.

As a general osteopathic practice, it treats a wide range of musculoskeletal complaints, among them back and neck pain, sciatica, headaches, shoulder, hip, knee and foot problems, poor posture and repetitive strain injuries. The clinic has developed particular expertise in care for pregnant mothers and babies, as well as the assessment and treatment of headaches and dizziness. Patients receive an explanation of their assessment findings, a diagnosis where appropriate, and a treatment plan, and as practitioners registered with the General Osteopathic Council, the team will not treat unnecessarily.

Around one-third of the clinic’s patients are babies, and its osteopaths are highly experienced in assessing and caring for infants and children, using gentle cranial and other osteopathic techniques. Every Tuesday morning the clinic supports a free breastfeeding group at Joe & The Juice, and through this and other community projects it gives back over £30,000 worth of professional time each year. Treatment is often gentle and relaxing, and each plan is shaped around the individual’s goals and reviewed and adapted as the body changes and improves.

---

Phoenix Osteopathy is an osteopathy clinic in Wandsworth Common, south-west London, based at 16 Jaggard Way, a few seconds’ walk from Wandsworth Common station. It is a family-run practice whose team of osteopaths and other therapists treats low back pain, neck pain, sciatica, spinal disc issues, arthritis, sports injuries, pulled muscles and pregnancy-related pain. Its principal osteopaths are George Dimitriadis and Amy Phillips, both Masters graduates of the British School of Osteopathy, and the team also includes osteopaths Margherita Piastri, Gabby Pope and Danny Miller, together with acupuncturist Jenni Herbert.

The services go beyond adult osteopathy. The clinic offers paediatric osteopathy, using gentle cranial techniques suited to babies and children, as well as acupuncture, sports massage and custom orthotics. In women’s health it provides the Mummy MOT, a 60-minute postnatal examination that assesses posture, pelvic floor and abdominal muscles after childbirth, whether the birth was vaginal or by caesarean section.

Every new patient starts with a full case history, followed by an examination that looks at posture, active ranges of movement and the joints. Treatment combines gentle, non-invasive manual techniques, such as deep tissue massage, joint articulation and manipulation, with exercises to do between sessions and lifestyle advice. All its osteopaths are registered with the General Osteopathic Council and are members of the Institute of Osteopathy. The clinic opens from Monday to Saturday, and Balham station is seven minutes away on foot.

---

Osteopathy East is an osteopathy and physical therapy clinic in Hackney, east London, located in Cordwainer House at 41 Mare Street. It was founded in 2004 on nearby Broadway Market by Rick Harter, a physical therapist and osteopath, and moved to its current address in 2012. Rick holds a BSc in Osteopathy from the London School of Osteopathy and an MSc in Pain Management from Cardiff University, has more than 25 years of experience as a physical therapist and is registered with the General Osteopathic Council. He has previously been the osteopath for the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.

The clinic offers general, paediatric and cranial osteopathy, along with movement rehabilitation, massage and physiotherapy. The most common problem treated is back pain, but the practitioners also work with neck and shoulder pain, headaches, postural problems caused by driving or desk work, repetitive strain injury, whiplash, sciatica, disc and nerve damage, arthritis pain and sports injuries. Treatment draws on a range of styles, including massage, stretching, articulation and manipulation of the joints, and gentle relaxing techniques chosen to suit each patient.

Initial consultations last 60 minutes and cover a case history, a physical examination of the painful and related areas, and treatment. The clinic has two large, light treatment rooms that are well soundproofed despite the busy road outside, with full wheelchair and buggy access. The practitioners who work there are self-employed, and the clinic is easy to reach from central London by bus, tube or Overground.