Experience, research, technology & enthusiasm: We put everything we have into your care.

Recovering or improving walking ability is a huge priority for many of our clients. We’ll design treatment to maximise your level of mobility. We’ll encourage you to build strength and improve balance through targeted exercise that is both safe and challenging. We also help build confidence by setting short, achievable goals so you see progress and have successes to celebrate. We can make sure you’re using the best walking aid and you may benefit from some rehabilitation technology to help mobility. A key part of your treatment will be keeping you motivated, positive and hopeful.

Safe, stable transfer means independence. If you struggle to get safely between the bed/toilet/sofa/car, we’ll focus on helping you maximise your transfer ability. We’re experts in helping people find ways to regain lost movement and transfer more easily; we’re also familiar with equipment such as hoists, stand aids and transfer boards. Success may involve supported practice of a new technique with a graded progression to a safe level of independence. We’re always keen to involve families and care givers in rehabilitation plans, so you have extra support in practicing new techniques more often.

Stairs can be daunting, especially coming down. But you may not be able to avoid them, and need them to access all rooms in your home. We see stairs as a great opportunity to exercise! Using the bottom stair while holding a banister can build strength and confidence. We can provide the physical support to allow you to practice safely, and gradually reduce that support when you feel ready. We’re proud to say we are responsible for many stairlifts being left unused!

Losing the ability to pull up your toes when taking a step forward is a very common problem in people with neurological conditions. Often there’s a combination of weakness in the shin muscles, coupled with tightness in the calf muscles in the back of the leg. Treatment to help you recover will therefore often be based on a strengthening and stretching programme. Sometimes people need more assistance to get going; that’s when rehabilitation technology to help mobility may work especially well. 

There are lots of factors that cause a person to lose their balance and fall over. There could be any combination of muscle weakness, lack of co-ordination, poor vision, lack of concentration, trip hazards, poor lighting, fatigue, dizziness, anxiety or low blood pressure. Our expert neurophysios will help you pick apart what the main factors are for you, and make sure we address each of them to help you improve as much as possible and minimise risk of injury. We also cover what to do if you do have a fall to make sure you stay as safe as possible.

It’s very common to lose confidence and feel anxious about physical tasks. Sometimes all you need is an experienced eye to assess your ability and help you set sensible parameters about what you can and should do independently and safely. Once this is established, we can then help you work towards challenging yourself a little more as your confidence builds. Some of our best results have come from helping people realise that they’re limited by a loss of confidence rather than physical ability.

We use our hands for everything – eating, drinking, toileting, scratching our noses, communicating, holding hands – so for many it’s a vital part of their rehabilitation. Often arm function receives less attention when in hospital because the focus is on mobility goals that facilitate getting you home more quickly. 

We appreciate that maximising hand function can be really challenging, especially if there is significant weakness and tightness in the hand that prevents gripping objects. Compared to rehabilitation for the leg, it can feel like you have to put in twice as much work for the same gain, so it’s really important that we help you identify realistic goals to get you started. Then we can commence a graded exercise programme, and consider the use of rehabilitation technology to help hand & arm function to really up the ante. We’ll keep measuring your progress to help with motivation and make sure you make rational choices about where to focus your rehabilitation.

An injury to the brain or spinal cord can sometimes cause muscles to tighten up in an uncontrolled way. Weakness may also mean that a joint or muscle doesn’t get moved as it normally would. These things can lead to resistance when trying to move or, in more severe cases, contracture in muscles and joints. 

Our role is firstly to ensure that we prevent any contracture – it’s much easier to prevent than to reverse changes after they’ve happened. Once we’ve minimised the risk of deterioration, we can focus on what we can do to improve the situation. Often it will involve stretching, joint mobilisation, and active strengthening where possible. Sometimes we’ll turn to rehabilitation technologies such as Electrical Muscle Stimulation (EMS) or tight fitting compression garments known as Sensory Dynamic Orthoses. We’ll also help you screen for trigger factors that might be making tightness worse – problems with the bladder, bowel or skin are common ones. Medical management can also be vital so we’ll liaise with your medical doctor as needed to ensure any medication or injections you receive are having the maximum effect.

Fatigue is extremely common in people who’ve had a traumatic event like a stroke or brain injury, and with diseases such as MS. Education is really important to understand what type of fatigue you’re experiencing and how best to deal with it. It might seem counter-intuitive, but in most cases the evidence tells us that exercise actually reduces feelings of fatigue. (I know, a physio would say that, but it’s true!) Often, we will try and help you plan and stick to a routine. We can help you avoid the boom-and-bust cycle of doing too much, then doing nothing for days; we may ask you to keep an activity diary to help you see patterns emerging. 

Ok, so you’ve done some great basic rehabilitation but where to next? Often at this stage the level of support from other services is reducing or has stopped altogether but you may still have higher goals to aim for. We love encouraging everyone to push the boundaries and we’ve helped many people do more than they thought possible, from returning to running, completing triathlons, climbing mountains, getting back to work, getting away on holiday or simply getting back on a bus! We are problem-solvers and spirit-lifters! Whatever your goal, you can count on us to try and find a way to help you have a go at it.

If you’re struggling with a physical challenge that isn’t listed here, we’d still be happy to hear from you. We’ll apply our specialist skills to any neurological symptoms, even if you don’t have a diagnosis.