HOW OPC BEGAN

In June 2000 a car hit me, and as I lay dying in the road I had to make a decision, to die or come back to the pain. I decided to live. There followed a long journey of recovery. Initially 2 days of long operations to put my smashed leg back together with an external fixator and lots of grafts; when my surgeon said he would save my leg if he could, or he may cut it off at the knee, I burst into tears and said “You have to, I’m a climber and a dancer and a cyclist”; followed by 2 years of mostly self rehabilitation through which I was treated by a remedial massage therapist. She inspired me to train and I have since developed my own style of treating intractable injuries, inspiring my patients with my own recovery, learning to live, walk, climb, cycle and dance again. I am left with dreadful scaring to my once-beautiful legs, and a restriction to bending one ankle, but no pain. I continue to work on my ankle and I look forward to being able to bend it fully again.

I discovered I had a gift for treating people with chronic injury pain, particularly those with persistent old injuries, and thus founded the Oxford Pain Clinic to bring my skills to the wider pubic. Patients are often fobbed off with painkillers and anti-inflammatory drugs for debilitating pain and soft tissue damage, that is straightforward, if perhaps tedious, to treat successfully with manual techniques. I have found that a patient-centred approach works best, letting the patient's experience of pain and return to mobility, influence treatments.

This is an unusual area, one that is little-studied, or indeed practised. Many people feel that they have to live with painful problems for the rest of their lives. This impression is fostered by conventional practitioners who have no training in healing soft tissue – muscle, tendon and ligament – injuries, so my patients have fought hard to carry a conviction that their injury is curable. I enjoy treating enthusiastic, active patients who are keen to improve quickly and happy to be fit again, be they keen sportsmen or gentle ramblers.

The Oxford pain Clinic is advised by Dr Gary Cunnington, PhD MRPS BPharm, who represented Britain at cycling. He therefore also has personal as well as professional experience to offer about rehabilitation after injury.