I have had several episodes of debilitating lower back pain during the last two years. Before working with Fisnik, these episodes would result in an inability to undertake my day to day activities, and set back my training for weeks.

I had seen other physiotherapists before but found that the only response was to treat the pain and muscle spasm directly over a course of several weeks. Whilst this treatment would result in a reduction in pain, I would need to avoid certain activities and exercises to prevent pain reoccurrence.

I decided to visit Richmond Osteopaths following a near miss at the gym when my back when into spasm during lifting; I finally wanted to get to the bottom of the ongoing back problem and thought I would try sports therapy.

Fisnik took a holistic approach to identify the most likely causes of my muscular imbalance, looking at aspects ranging from ankle and hip mobility to the type of training shoes I used. With regular manual therapy along with an exercise and stretching programme, I have been able to recover quicker from my back pain when it occurs, in a matter of days as opposed to weeks, and without pain medication. I have also seen significant gains in my training including increased average running speed and improved flexibility and strength.

It’s work in progress but with my regular sessions I remain confident that my body’s response to the back pain will continue to improve, so much so I’ve signed up for my first duathlon and with Fisnik’s help I will be ready for the challenge in 2014.

- Marc Berryman