Cobham Osteopathy

I qualified 36 years ago and have had my own practice with my partner Samantha Taylor in Cobham since 1989. Initially I studied medicine at St. Thomas’ Hospital before switching to an Honours Degree in Physiology at Manchester University, from which I graduated in 1982, before beginning my training as an Osteopath at the then British School of Osteopathy the following year. After staring in practice, I also worked as a Tutor at the BSO, as well as occasionally lecturing. I now work from home, which is more comfortable and convenient for most of my patients. Whilst like all osteopaths I cover a wide range of musculoskeletal and functional conditions, my real interest is in treating sudden and serious acute onset problems. We are trained in diagnosis, including serious medical conditions, and to refer for medical opinion when required. I am proud to say that I am aware of having saved several lives over the years by doing this promptly.

I achieve great satisfaction from getting my patients back to work and normal family life as quickly as possible. I would aim to have substantially resolved most new cases in 2-3 treatments, although individual circumstances may mean this is not always possible. We do not insist on prolonged courses of treatment, and our aim is to get the best results in the fewest treatments. The minority of chronic patients we see may well have circumstances which prevent complete and permanent resolution of their symptoms or mean that they are likely to have relapses, sometimes due to prior serious injury or work circumstances. In these cases we aim for the widest spacing of treatments which adequately control symptoms to the best degree attainable. I have some patients I have seen for over 30 years, although for some there may be trouble free gaps of more than 10 years.

I usually have a direct mechanical approach to treatment, although I can also add less obvious techniques when appropriate. My core approach in life is to fix broken systems, be these mechanical or indeed my patients. In my personal life I undertake a lot of DIY and repair activities and I see these as clearly related to how I practice. Analysing how a mechanism came to be broken or out of adjustment is closely allied to how I strive to understand all the influences affecting patients to the point that they need to consult me – indeed I take great pleasure if I can improve someone’s experience of life by recommending something practical that solves a previously intractable problem – from plumbing to basic IT and technology, gardening, and all points in between. My past interests in Martial Arts (1st Dan Iaido), such activities as hang-gliding, and some past success as a writer also inform how I work both practically and philosophically and help me to understand how injuries might occur and how to go about dealing with them.

My work is more than just what I do – it is what I am, and it is my pleasure and privilege to share this with my patients.