Medway Osteopathic Clinic

10/06/2026

Do you work from home and have a house? Then you have home gym membership :)
Unless you are unable to climb your stairs they make a perfect step machine which should be used at least every hour while working.
Try bouncing on your toes on the floor, it's good for your heart and general fitness.
Press ups using the edge of the sink rather than the floor.
Sit ups and leg raises lying on the bed. Knee bends rather than squats.
Isometrics are worth doing

Do you plank? Learn why isometric exercises can help you build and maintain muscle — with little movement.

08/06/2026

I saw one of my post grad students at the weekend, over from Northern Ireland.
He regularly travels around the world to study and yet hauls over to Rochester when he needs treatment.
Must be our weather :D

05/06/2026

RUPERT:
If you want treatment from him at the Medway Neck and Back clinic 36 City Way you can call him on 01634 402274

15/05/2026

What can an osteopath do?
What do want them to do?
Basic training for an osteopath is 4 years full time.
I did 5 years full time and two years part time.
The vast majority of patients these days come in for back pain.
The 12 week crossover trial of 12 patients with asthma I did as a 5th year is not enough to claim osteopathy cures asthma but was helpful in showing how people with asthma could be helped with classical osteopathy.
Not all osteopaths were trained the same when I was training and while some preferred specialising in the treatment of babies for example, I preferred general practice.
The biggest attraction for me in my work over the last 43 years is to solve what is causing the problems of the patient.
Just because I've done it a while experience is not proof of wisdom but does help :)
We treat living bodies: there's not a single case that comes in as a knee without a head, or a low back without a chest.
Sorting out problems with feet usually requires a look at knee, hip, low back , neck and head - all parts of the walking mechanism.

14/05/2026

I had a patient in this week who talked about the way they had been treated over the years by the various people they had seen.
They picked out two of us, an acupuncturist and me, who they thought did a very good job probably because we seemed to still enjoy our work after decades in the jobs.
The one difference that struck was our attitudes to patient fees: she seemed keen on 10 week plans where the patient paid a lot (more than I charge per treatment) in terms of money and time commitment, I seem to leave the patient to come when they want.
I agreed.
Bodies are self healing, my job is to help them do so.
That does not mean I don't see the benefit to the patient and me when they come in often - we are private healthcare after all, nobody pays me a wage except my patients.
The thing is bodies are complex and the environments they exist in great modifiers of health for every individual.
You CANNOT predict how the patient will react to treatment, even though you have to have a good idea there will be a random distribution of results - a Bell shaped curve - where though you can have a good idea that the majority will fit around the middle there will always be outliers. The practitioner's job is to find out when treatment makes you worse and fix it.
To do that you need to call if you are not fine.
For everyone else, good you don't need pain.

30/04/2026

I keep seeing boards of posts that have nothing to do with the clinic.
Ring 01634 814700 for appointments.
We still have a few left this week.
Don't forget Saturdays I only work until 1pm (it is a bank. Holiday weekend for us too) :)

30/04/2026

10 appointments available before Saturday 1pm

I'm so consistent, posting twice in two weeks on the subject :D

23/04/2026

After the response to yesterday's post about available appointments I think I may post available appointments regularly on a Wednesday.
Everyone who booked yesterday found a space to suit them and didn't think there would be no chance of them getting an appointment.
I'll give it a try and see if people find it of benefit.

22/04/2026

Just a heads up:
There are still 10 appointment spaces available this week.
Ring 01634 814700 if you want one.
Please don't text, email or WhatsApp for an appointment, just ring

18/04/2026

"But why think? Why not run the experiment?"
This was from the famous promotor of the scientific method in medicine: John Hunter https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Hunter_(surgeon)
I bang on about not using ice or heat but rather cold water to help repair strained tisues.
A patient told me today he had a bottle of cold water to hand to help him through the day, putting on his back to help with the pain whenever.
Much improved through the week though he still used the wet flannel before bed techique.
It's your body and usually it's what you do that hurts you so ... Run the experiment.

John Hunter FRS (13 February 1728 – 16 October 1793) was a Scottish surgeon, one of the most distinguished scientists and surgeons of his day. He was an early advocate of careful observation and scientific methods in medicine. He was a teacher of, and collaborator with, Edward Jenner, pioneer of t...