Borders Spinal Clinic

Most acute spinal pain, such as low back or neck pain with or without referred symptoms to the arm or leg will resolve naturally over a period of days to a few months through steadily continuing to move as normal as possible. This may be supported by over the counter pain relieving medications (your local pharmacist or GP can provide specific advice if required), and hot or cold packs with correct guidance relative to the stage of injury and to avoid damage to the skin.

Sometimes, however, a person may require early treatment and guidance to help relieve their pain and restore function as quickly as possible. At Future Physio we can support this process. A thorough assessment and explanation of your underlying problem can help optimise your recovery time by reducing any fear you may have in moving due to pain in the early stages.

Occasionally, a person may continue to experience ongoing spinal related pain despite their best efforts to return to normal function independently. A persistent problem is typically the result of a combination of factors, rather than one specific reason in isolation.

At Future Physio, Colin uses his expertise gained over the years, including his current specialist role as Principal Spinal Physiotherapist with NHS Borders, to help identify the key underlying features that are contributing to your ongoing spinal problem. The most appropriate course of action can then be planned, such as restoring efficiency of normal functional movement patterns. It is not uncommon that the very movement behaviours a person adapts in an attempt to protect themselves from feeling pain or discomfort then becomes a central driver to maintaining their ongoing problem.

We simply aim to help you achieve your optimal functional independence through high level assessment and management by enhancing your understanding of your problem alongside offering the most appropriate combination of interventions, such as reducing movement restrictions or helping you to move more efficiently with consideration to your lifestyle, fitness levels and work or social circumstances.

All individuals are unique in terms of their requirements, ability, rate of development or recovery, and personal circumstances. Whilst we make recommendations for your condition we avoid setting requirements for a set number of attendances and will always work towards an exit process to promote your independence and well-being.

Firstly, it is important to understand your problem. We will have an initial discussion to establish more information on your current issue, level of activity, what you would like to achieve and any relevant medical history that may influence how we move forward. This will determine the approach, whether the focus is on pain or discomfort management, progress to more functional based rehabilitation, or simply an analysis and feedback on your current movement patterns.

After the initial discussion we perform the physical assessment of your movement systems. A physical assessment typically involves observation of your movements supported by a ‘hands-on’ component to provide additional information. Where possible, we try to closely link these movements to those that you perform during your daily life and with the goals that you hope to achieve. The findings from the discussion and physical assessment then helps us to provide you with an understanding of your problem and offer the most appropriate interventions for your presentation, as outlined above.

This service is within a standard initial consultation time (up to 1 hour). Review appointments are up to 45 minutes, if appropriate.

If you are attending for a low back (or lower limb) problem we recommend bringing a pair of shorts or suitable trousers/bottoms that can roll up above the knee. Additionally, we recommend that female clients bring a vest type top for spinal or upper limb problems. This enables an appropriate level assessment for most problems whilst maintaining your comfort. However, please do not worry if you prefer to remain in trousers/T-shirt as we will work round this.