Persistent low back
For backs that flare with sitting, lifting or a long drive. Movement screening, graded loading and a return to bending without bracing for it.
Assessment-led rehabilitation
Work out what the pain is asking for, then build back the load.
Basalt Vessel is a physiotherapy clinic for stubborn joints, slow-healing tendons and post-operative recovery. Every plan starts with a long assessment and ends with you handling the thing that hurt.
Programmes
Start from where it hurts
Choose the area that brought you here. Each programme begins with the same full assessment, then diverges into the testing, hands-on work and loading that the region actually needs.
Neck & shoulder
Desk-related neck tension, rotator cuff irritation and overhead pain. Includes scapular control work and a loading plan you can run at home.
Knee & hip load rebuild
For stairs, squats and long walks that have become negotiable. Strength testing side to side, then a progression you can measure week by week.
Post-operative return
Structured phases after joint, ligament or tendon surgery. We work to your surgeon's protocol and take you past the point most plans stop.
Running & tendon care
Achilles, plantar and shin complaints, plus gait review on the treadmill. You leave with a weekly mileage and loading structure, not a rest order.
Balance & steadiness
For dizziness on turning, unsteady footing or confidence lost after a fall. Slower sessions, careful testing and home drills that are easy to repeat.
Not sure which one fits? Describe the problem in the enquiry form and we will place you in the right programme before your first visit.
First visit
What actually happens in the room
Nothing about the first hour is a mystery. Here is the sequence, in the order it runs.
The conversation
Fifteen minutes on history: when it started, what makes it worse, what you have already tried and what you want to get back to.
Physical assessment
Range, strength and control tested against your other side. We measure it so later sessions have something to compare against.
Treatment & plan
Hands-on work where it helps, then the first three exercises. You leave with a written plan, not a list to remember.
Review & progress
Follow-ups retest the same measures, adjust the load and thin out as you improve. Most people finish rather than continue indefinitely.
Approach
Tissue tolerates what you prepare it for
Pain is rarely a single broken part. Most of what we see is a mismatch between the load going in and the capacity currently available — and capacity is the part we can change.
- TestObjective measures on the first visit, repeated at every review so progress is visible rather than assumed.
- LoadStrength work sits at the centre of the plan. Hands-on treatment is used to make that work possible, not to replace it.
- PaceProgressions move in small, defensible steps. If a week goes badly we adjust the dose instead of starting over.
- FinishDischarge is the goal. You should leave knowing how to manage a flare-up without booking an appointment for it.
Your session
Practical notes before you come in
Small things that make the first hour more useful.
What to wear
Clothing you can move and be assessed in — shorts for lower-limb problems, a vest or loose top for neck and shoulder work.
How long to allow
Sixty minutes for the first visit, plus a few minutes beforehand to complete your intake notes in the waiting room.
Bring the evidence
Scan reports, surgical notes or a rough training log if you have them. Even a phone photo of the paperwork helps.
Between visits
Expect two to four exercises taking around fifteen minutes, most days. The plan is written to fit around work, not replace it.
Questions
Asked before most first visits
Do I need a referral from a doctor?
No. You can book an assessment directly. If something in your history suggests imaging or a medical opinion is needed first, we will tell you at the assessment and write to your doctor with your consent.
How many sessions will this take?
Most straightforward problems settle within four to six visits spread over six to ten weeks. Post-operative and long-standing tendon cases run longer because the tissue timeline is longer. You will get an honest estimate at the end of the first visit, and we revise it out loud if it changes.
Will treatment hurt?
Assessment sometimes reproduces your symptoms briefly — that is how we identify the structure involved. Hands-on treatment should stay within a level you can breathe through, and we will ask. Mild soreness for a day after a session is common and settles.
Do I have to do exercises at home?
Yes, and it is the part that changes the outcome most. Programmes are kept short deliberately — two to four movements, most days — because a plan you actually complete beats a longer one you abandon in week two.
Can I keep training while I rehabilitate?
Usually. Complete rest is rarely the right answer. We normally modify range, tempo or load rather than stopping you, and we will write down what to keep, what to reduce and what to leave out for now.
What if the pain comes back later?
Flare-ups happen, particularly in the first months after discharge. Your written plan includes a short reset protocol to run for a week. If it does not settle in that time, book a single review rather than restarting from the beginning.
Book
Request an assessment
Tell us what is going on and when you can get here. We reply with two or three suitable slots and the programme we think fits.
- Monday – Wednesday07:30 – 18:00
- Thursday07:30 – 20:00
- Friday08:00 – 16:00
- Saturday09:00 – 13:00, reviews only