BridgetoHealth

Tomorrow (christmas eve) the Uxbridge clinic is open, but Ealing will be closed and both clinics are closed on Friday (25th), Saturday and Monday 28th.

Next week – if you need to see an osteopath in Ealing or an osteopath in Uxbridge appointments are available. Both clinics are:

• Open Tuesday 29th
• Open Wednesday 30th
• Open Thursday 31st December
• Closed Friday 1st and Saturday 2nd January
• Open as normal from Monday 4th.

Mathieu, Jessica and I wish everyone a merry christmas and a happy and healthy 2010. Thank you for your support.

In our excitement we forgot to announce that our new clinic in Ealing has opened and saw its first patients on Tuesday this week!

In case you missed it our address and contact number for Ealing is:

Bridge to Health
Platinum 8 Studios
22, the Green
Ealing, London W5 5DA

Telephone: 020 8566 0767

We are just 3 minutes walk from the Broadway or 5 minutes from Ealing tube station.

So you can now book an appointment to see an osteopath in Ealing or in Uxbridge and we have a rota for Peter, Jessica and myself being in one clinic or the other.

It’s been a very busy time getting the second clinic open and we are looking forward to helping more patients in the coming months.

While we are busy preparing to open our second Osteopathic Healthcare Clinic in Ealing, a new osteopath has also joined our team.

Peter and I have been looking for a third partner for a while, and as we considered a short-list of friends and colleagues, Peter contacted Jessica Busen-Smith, a colleague whom he had met when studying at the British College of Osteopathic Medicine.

Although she was already working for clinics in central London and Epping, she readily agreed to meet us and visit our premises in Uxbridge. We were immediately drawn to her quietly confident and sunny personality, and her caring, reflective approach to osteopathic treatment. She in turn voiced approval and support of our vision of osteopathy and health.

Jessie is treating patients in Uxbridge on Mondays and Wednesdays, and will soon be available in Ealing as our team rotates between the two clinics.

Jessie brings a wealth of professional and human experience to her practice beyond her osteopathic training. She gained her first degree and Masters in physics with honours at Sussex University, and then worked for four years as a research assistant for the Childrens’ Hospital Immunodeficiency program (CHIP) in Denver Colorado, where she was involved in liaising with patients and parents as well as research activities. Those two experiences alone hint at a good combination of logic, rigour and human empathy.

Welcome Jessie!

I’m pleased to say our new telephone number for our new Ealing clinic is working again. To speak to an Osteopath in Ealing – for booking an appointment or seeking advice whether osteopathic treatment is appropriate please telehone 020 8566 0767.

You can also book appointments for Ealing by telephoning the Uxbridge number.

Original post:

Frustratingly, there is a delay in our new telephone line (the 020 8 number) “going live”.

Whether you are trying to contact an osteopath in Ealing or Uxbridge, please call the Uxbridge clinic on 01895 2000 50 where we can also book appointments for the Ealing clinic.

We are sorry for any inconvenience. Hopefully, B.T. will have us up and running before too many people notice.

As always, when considering setting up an osteopathic clinic in a new area, the big word rings in your ears: Location, Location, LOCATION! The brief is simple: where will our patients find it convenient and pleasant to visit us in Ealing?

Over the past few weeks, we have been scouring Ealing town centre in an attempt to answer this question.

We have visited gyms, dentists, beauty centres, pharmacists, business centres and GP practices. After some thought, our choice has settled on a treatment room in the health suite of Platinum 8, a hairdressing and beauty salon on Ealing Green, a three minute walk off the Broadway.

(photo of Platinum 8 salon – photo of our new clinic to follow)

We were struck by the cheerful, village-like atmosphere of the Green, and equally by the pleasant, welcoming and slightly quirky ambiance of the salon, located a stone-throw away from Ealing Studios, and a convenient 5 minute walking distance from the companies situated on the Uxbridge Road.

We want to present osteopathy as a clinical form of manual therapy transforming dis-ease into everyday comfort and health. As such, an osteopathic practice should fit easily into a setting such as a hairdressers/beauty salon.

Ealing patients who have patiently trekked to Uxbridge in the past will notice a similarly restful decor style as in our other clinic at the Fitness First Centre on Uxbridge High Street. We are aiming to open for treatment in the course of the week starting 19th October, and look forward to welcoming you at our new address:

Bridge to Health
Platinum 8 Studios
22, the Green
Ealing, London W5 5DA

Telephone: 020 8566 0767

Welcome – and tell us what you think!

We are very excited to announce that we will shortly be opening a second osteopathic clinic based in Ealing!

Whilst our clinic in Uxbridge is entering its third year of operation and becoming increasingly busy, we are also focusing on opening a second clinic down the road in Ealing, an area close to my heart. I have lived here for the past 20 years and although I have mixed feelings about what is becoming of its shopping centre – never mind its planned shopping centre! – I also love its bustling diversity.

Why osteopathy in Ealing?

The area may already be well serviced by osteopaths, but the age-old adage remains true: it’s all about who you know and trust, and a number of people at my parish church of St Benedict’s, at the Ealing Rugby Club, and at the French School André Malraux have regularly asked me why Bridge to Health was not located in Ealing.

Seen that way, it seemed appropriate to move forward with an Ealing Clinic. We have been scouting premises for the past couple of months and have finally settled for an address on The Green, a 3 minute walk from the High Street. We are planning to open for treatment during the week starting 19th October. Watch this space!

Peter and I are taking a little bit of time on the side to freshen up the clinic.

Our aim is to ensure the clinic provides a welcoming, relaxing atmosphere, and that we can make best use of the space available for treatment purposes. If you have any comments or views about the waiting room or treatment room, please do let us know – we welcome your feedback!

In the transition, we apologise to any patients who might witness bare walls with holes awaiting shelving etc. and hope that you will find the finished result to your taste.

The Bridge to Health Osteopathic clinic, Uxbridge (click for directions and map) is located in Fitness First, on Uxbridge High Street (a couple of minutes walk from Uxbridge underground station. Nearest car parks are Cedars and Pavilions)

Since setting up our osteopathic clinic in Uxbridge 18 months ago, we have received numerous offers of physical or virtual receptionists to manage our patient calls and bookings so leaving us free to treat patients.

We have not taken these offers up and do not intend to do so. When people are in pain and ring Bridge to Health, the first thing they want to know is whether we can help them.

At that point, nothing can replace speaking to the osteopath directly, who can then either confirm that osteopathic treatment is appropriate, or advise the patient otherwise, such as to contact their GP or even go straight to their nearest A&E.

When you contact Bridge to Health – our telephone number is 01895 20 00 50 – you will speak directly to an osteopath. If we are treating a patient, you may need to leave a message and provide us with your contact details, and we will return your call shortly afterwards, usually within the coming 2 hours.

In April, Peter joined Bridge to Health in Uxbridge, and in his first post on our blog he describes his approach to osteopathic healthcare. Welcome, Peter.

Having trained alongside Mathieu and Marcus, I do not expect to present a radical departure of osteopathic style; however, I do have my own background influences.

I came to osteopathy in the interests of developing and consolidating my awareness of anatomy, physiology and biomechanics; prior to that, I worked with a number of Oriental disciplines, most notably Shiatsu, which is a Japanese form of bodywork performed on a futon mat that manipulates the circulation of Ki (or chi) within the body to enhance health and wellbeing.

The great therapeutic strength of energetic forms of bodywork is in the harnessing of what you might call “life-force”; the great therapeutic strength of western biomechanical bodywork is in the utilisation of anatomical and physiological knowledge and understanding. The synthesis of the two opens up intriguing possibilities.

However, that is all very well, and reminds me of a quote I came across the other day:

in theory, theory and practice are identical, but in practice, they aren’t.

So what does all this have to do with your frozen shoulder, low back pain, tennis elbow, carpal tunnel syndrome, RSI, runner’s knee, stiff neck, bad posture or whatever it is you have that concerns you?

Well, from a practical perspective, treatment is an ongoing multifaceted concept, which may involve anything from manipulation, mobilisation, massage, circulatory stimulation, lymphatic drainage, cranial osteopathy etc. to stretches, exercise activities, dietary adjustments, work-desk reorganisation etc.

But treatment also involves you as a life-force – i.e. a force of life, with the ability to affect change; you yourself can be a far more effective agent of change than any therapeutic intervention, so somewhere along the line, and in whatever way I feel suits the individual concerned, I try to bring that life-force to bear on whatever may be of concern, in the belief that the best service I can offer is to assist the individual in removing some of the barriers to radiant health that they may have inadvertently acquired, and remind them of their own amazing ability to affect change and flourish.

During Easter and on Tuesday (14th) and Wednesday (15th) of next week Bridge to Health will be closed, although patients can phone the clinic (01895 2000 50) on Tuesday and Wednesday to book appointments.

The clinic will be open again (for appointments) on Thursday 16th April and Friday 17th April.

Sorry, there is no clinic on Saturday 18th April, but our treatment hours will return to normal from Monday 20th.

Enjoy your Easter break.