Back Pain and Neck Pain at Revitalize Clinic

Our proven approach to relieve your back pain and neck pain

Your team of Osteopaths, Physiotherapists and Sports Therapists look forward to meeting you

Expert Diagnosis

You will discover why you are in pain

Specialist Treatment

Massage, joint manipulation, acupuncture and online guided self treatment

Video Guided Plans

Tailored exercises for your spine’s strength and mobility

Your Back Pain and how we can help

at Revitalize Clinic, Gravesend, Kent

There are a number of reasons why back pain is so troublesome for so many people (80% of us suffer from lower back pain at one point or another). One reason is that it is very hard to avoid making it worse when you have back or neck pain as it is very hard not to use your spine. Another is that back and neck pain creates a lot of fear which causes us to then be very hesitant of movement, causing us to seize up and spasm.

It is often very poorly misunderstood by many patients and practitioners. This leads patients to be on harmful medication for far longer than they should be. Many patients also rely on extensive treatment, too many visits to their physio, osteopath, chiropractor etc, unnecessary surgery and more.

The longer you’re on medication or reliant on seeing someone for your back or neck pain, the less empowered you are. This leads to a lot of money spent, and a lack of trust in your lower and neck back. Both aren’t good, long term.

what your back pain and neck pain needs

effective treatment for pain relief

advice that empowers you over your pain

a plan to strengthen your spine for long term improvements in pain reduction, confidence and tolerance to movement

back pain can be eradicated in as little as one treatment

After spinal surgery and 20 years of back pain (sciatica), Cherrylen was pain free after one appointment

What causes back and neck pain

There are many causes of back and neck pain

But those presenting to the clinic, most often come in with the following complaints

Joint or Disc Pain

these can become inflamed and painful

Muscle Spasm

muscles spasm and strain trying to protect the spine

Arthritis

wear and tear of the spine

Nerve Damage

such as sciatica

But it is far more accurate to think of the spine as an integrated system.

Therefore, it’s never going to be only one area which is effected. Often, a combination of areas of the spine are effected. This is why we go through extensive questioning and testing of the spine when we see you, to diagnose what is causing your back pain and we can do this in the clinic or via video call.

How long does back or neck pain take to recover?

The average number of treatments that it takes to eradicate back and neck pain is 3. This is an average taken from patients who have had back or neck pain for anywhere between 1 day and 10 years and upwards before seeing us at the clinic. But don’t worry, after asking you some specific questions and running through some special tests at the clinic or via video call, we can explain exactly how long we expect your back or neck pain to take to recover.

Spinal pain tends to be more stubborn to eradicate the longer it carries on for. This is because the pain can then become chronic, which is where it is “hard wired” or “learnt” by your nervous system as a default setting. When back pain or neck pain becomes chronic, a lot of focus needs to be placed on improving the spine’s response to movement. This will be done via treatment, self administered treatment (massage, mobilisation etc.), advice and exercise.

Think of chronic pain as a pattern that needs to be broken. You can listen to a podcast that clinic founder, Elliott Reid, recorded below. Treatment such as medication and joint manipulation, massage etc. will reduce pain, but it is often temporary. You need a plan to reduce your spine’s sensitivity and strengthen it to improve its tolerance to trauma

Chronic Pain

Elliott explains what pain is and how to approach it over a 12 minute pod cast.

This is how pain works You hurt your back so you rest it. You used to play sport but your knees started to hurt and you stopped. You used to feel good standing up for yourself but after significant trauma, you now avoid conflict. Falling in love is amazing but the heartbreak isn’t worth it Fine. But for how long? Runners who rest for too long after sustaining are in more pain when they return. People who exercise i.e. expose themselves to trauma on a regular basis, have far better tolerance to pain than those who don’t.

Do I need a scan such as an MRI or X-Ray?

In some situations, yes. And if so, we can write a letter to your doctor to speed up the process. However most of the time, you don’t need an MRI or an X-Ray. These scans are used mostly when your back pain or neck pain is potentially dangerous and will cause you long term harm. When we see you, we can decide as to whether you need further investigation or not. If you do, we will send you for further investigations via your GP.

How does Revitalize diagnose back pain and neck pain?

The most important information we take is taken during the case history. By asking specific questions, we can narrow down what is causing your pain from a great number of possibilities to 2 or 3 possibilities. For example, we will be able to ascertain as to whether or not your back pain or neck pain is likely as a result of inflammation, disease, serious conditions such as cancer, damage, chronic pain conditions, weakness, muscles, joints, ligaments etc.

After we have taken this case history, we can then apply special tests. During clinic appointments or video call, we will ask you to gently increase and decrease stresses placed on the areas that we think might be causing you pain. This will enable us to conclude as to where your pain is coming from.

We must give the spine the best chance to recover

If the spine is tired, damaged or sensitised, we need to give it a break. This firstly involves reducing your pain. We can do this via treatment (massage, joint manipulation, acupuncture etc) or self administered treatment via video call (self massage, joint mobilisation, therapeutic exercise) which are both as effective as each other.

But you also need to know how to control your pain outside of your appointment. Don’t worry, you’ll receive a video guided rehab plan of your exercises and some lifestyle advice. This doesn’t mean stopping exercise, basic movements or what you enjoy completely. It means that we need to teach you a better way of doing things. For example, if you sit or lift a lot, this may be reinforcing your pain. Almost hardwiring it. So all we need to do is show you a slightly different way of doing what you need to.

This may be setting your feet slightly differently, bracing your abdominal muscles slightly differently, taking regular breaks, offering supports etc.

Face to face or via video call, you’ll be in control of your pain every step of the way

We must repair what has been damaged

Pain brings avoidance. Especially when pain has continued for weeks, often the spine and the surrounding muscles become weak and deconditioned. We need to work to improve the stability of these weakened structures. This involves providing you with specific exercises ranging from a basic to an advanced level, dependent on your needs.

Your back and neck will feel stronger, more durable. Many of our patients forget what it was even like to be in pain. Your confidence will increase again, as will your trust in your back, allowing you go back to doing what gives you joy before your back pain.

Success rate of treatment at Revitalize

Lower back pain, mid to upper back pain and neck pain are some of the most common injuries we see at the clinic. We’ve built an amazing reputation for providing effective treatment for back and neck pain. This is because we don’t only treat your pain, we empower you to treat your own pain as well. Many other practitioners will have you coming back more than you need to, because they don’t give you the right advice and self management between sessions.

Basically, if you’re not doing effective exercises between your sessions, you’re with the wrong practitioner.

At Revitalize, it’s a must. One 45min appointment a week is never going to be as effective as a 45min appointment plus daily treatment and highly effective therapeutic exercise that you can self administrate every day.

We have some amazing videos for you below where you will learn the stories of some amazing patients that we had the pleasure of treating. Make sure you book in for an appointment so we can tell you exactly how we can help

Sue was a medical emergency

Now look at what she can do

Sue came to us as a medical emergency and a few months later we had her picking 50kg off of the floor. And this isn’t just Sue. There are literally thousands of patients that we’ve helped.

16 Years of Sciatica and Nerve Damage... Gone

Bulging discs can impinge on the nerves coming out of the spine.

For 16 years Ricky had fluctuating difficulty with even light tasks like hoovering and putting on his socks. Now however, he’s golfing, gymming, starting yoga and running his successful construction company pain free.

Crick Neck, gone!

Ever woken up with a pain in your neck? This is when contact between the neck joints causes the muscles to spasm. It is incredibly painful and very restrictive. Often you won’t be able to look over your shoulder
Ellie was able to quickly eliminate Niki’s neck pain within one treatment

Career ending injury fixed

When the stakes are high we’re in our element and the premature end of a gymnastics career is a pretty high stake. Izzy has a facet joint injury. Other health professionals didn’t know what to do but thankfully Izzy made a full recovery and went back to competing at a high level, pain free

We were challenged £500 to fix Paul's back

“I bet you £500 you can’t fix my back pain…” Pressure’s on. A while ago we were publicly bet £500 that we couldn’t fix Paul’s back pain.
So we invited Paul in for a free treatment; no bet attached. Paul later called us that week, thanking us. His pain had reduced and he had exercises that he could do to aid long term rehabilitation.

How about a FREE consultation?

Want to improve your health and fitness? Then book in a free consultation today to get started. We see our clients and patients between 6am and 8pm, Monday to Sunday. So click the button below to get started.

Book Online Today