Tell us where it hurts. We will tell you what we can do.
A written plan with a number of sessions and a review date after the first assessment. If the honest answer is imaging or a referral, that is what you will get — and you pay for the assessment only.
This week
First appointments are 60 minutes. Follow-ups are 20.
Nobody arrives knowing the diagnosis.
They arrive knowing where it hurts. Pick the region and you will see what commonly presents there, and what the first assessment is actually trying to rule out.
The single most common presentation, and the one with the widest range of causes. First visit establishes whether this is mechanical, nerve-root, or something that needs imaging before treatment.
Commonly seen here
Sixty minutes, in four parts.
The hesitation about a first chiropractic appointment is almost never the price. It is not knowing what is about to happen. So here is the whole thing, in order.
History, properly
Twenty minutes on what happened, what makes it worse, and what you have already tried. Bring any imaging you have.
Physical examination
Movement, orthopaedic and neurological testing. You stay clothed; we will say before touching anything.
What we found, in plain words
The working diagnosis, how confident we are, and what would change it. Including when the answer is referral.
Treatment, if appropriate
Often the same visit. If we would rather not treat before imaging, we will say so and you pay for the assessment only.
Six approaches. Only one of them is the one you are picturing.
If you do not want your neck manipulated, say so and nothing will be manipulated. That is not a compromise — for several presentations the gentler options are simply the better choice.
Manual adjustment
The one people picture. A short, controlled thrust at a specific joint. The sound is gas releasing in the joint, not bone.
Usually for
Most mechanical joint restriction
Instrument-assisted
A spring-loaded device delivers the same force in a smaller, more targeted dose. No twisting, no sound.
Usually for
Anyone nervous of manual work, or with osteoporosis
Mobilisation
Slow, graded movement within your comfortable range rather than a thrust. You stay in control throughout.
Usually for
Acute pain, guarding, first sessions
Soft tissue & dry needling
Trigger-point and myofascial work, with needling where the finding supports it.
Usually for
Muscular pain and referred patterns
Rehab loading
Progressive home exercise. Unglamorous and the part that actually holds the result.
Usually for
Everyone, eventually
Referral
Imaging, GP, or a specialist. Roughly one in twelve new patients leaves with a referral instead of a plan.
Usually for
Red flags, or no response by review
Direct billing on these.
Anything not listed still gets an itemised receipt in the format plans accept for reimbursement. We will check your cover before the first appointment, not after.
Three practitioners, named.
Dr. Imogen Rahal
Clinic director
DC, 14 years. Special interest in disc-related presentations and return-to-work planning.
Dr. Tomas Ekwueme
Chiropractor
DC, 8 years. Sports and loading-related injury, plus the rehab programming for the clinic.
Nadia Osborn
Rehabilitation therapist
Runs the exercise side, including the desk assessments that come with postural cases.
Largely about being listened to.
“Sent me for an MRI on the first visit instead of booking me in for twelve sessions. Turned out to matter.”
L. Amankwah
Lower back
“I said I did not want my neck manipulated and that was simply fine — nobody tried to talk me round.”
C. Pereira
Neck, desk strain
“The written plan had a number of sessions and a review date on it. First clinic that has ever done that.”
J. Halloway
Sciatic pain
The ones people are too polite to ask.
Will the adjustment hurt?+
Most people describe pressure and a release rather than pain. If manual adjustment is not appropriate for you, or you would simply rather avoid it, instrument-assisted and mobilisation techniques reach the same goal — say so at the first visit and nobody will try to talk you round.
How many sessions will I need?+
You get a written plan with a number in it after the first assessment, plus a review point where we check it against how you are actually doing. An open-ended plan with no end date is a fair thing to be suspicious of.
Do you take my insurance?+
Direct billing on the plans listed on this page. Where we cannot bill directly you get an itemised receipt in the format plans accept for reimbursement.
Do I need a referral from my doctor?+
No. You can book directly. If your plan requires a referral for reimbursement we will tell you before the first appointment rather than after.
What if you cannot help?+
Roughly one in twelve new patients leaves with a referral rather than a treatment plan. You pay for the assessment and nothing else.
First appointment.
Sixty minutes. You will get a confirmation with the practitioner’s name on it, and a note about what to wear.