By Krista Harris
Meet Jemima, our in-house physiotherapist, many of you may already know her! Jemima is also our Clinical Lead and is in charge of the Wellbeing offering at Instinct…
From a young age, I knew I wanted to be a physio. I suffered a knee injury myself playing hockey when I was 11 years old, I then went to see a physio and it inspired me to embark on physio as a career.
I studied Physiotherapy at Liverpool University from 2008-2011. Since then, I gained invaluable experience working in the NHS in Chester, Liverpool and then more recently in Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital (Oswestry), where I became a specialist physio. Within my career I have worked across different specialities including Neurology, Respiratory, Musculoskeletal and Orthopaedics.
I have specialised in Musculoskeletal conditions, which typically comprises of injuries or pain to the neck, back, shoulder, hip, knee and foot. Despite being able to treat all MSK conditions my real passion lies in sports injuries. As an avid sportsman myself, there is no greater satisfaction in getting patients back to the sports they love!
We are the perfect bridge between your painful back, stiff shoulder and knowing your symptoms.
What do you actually do in your clinic?
We pride ourselves in getting you moving again no matter what the problem is! Our approach is very much ‘hands on’ using manual skills for mobilisation of joints, soft tissue work alongside other techniques, to ease pain and restore your function to allow you to have the best quality of life.
As a team we work very closely with the personal trainers at Instinct to ensure any niggles you are suffering are addressed not only by a physio but also by the Instinct PT team. Collaboratively your training programme can be tailored to incorporate specific exercises to help you with an injury or optimise your function.
What’s the goal?
Keep you doing what you love doing, pain free!
What makes you stand out?
As a physio team we are all passionate about what we do, and we feel we go the extra mile for each and every patient. Our aim is for patients to leave the session having been given a diagnosis and feel more confident understanding and managing their condition.
We enjoy the challenge of problem solving, the pain is not necessarily where the problem is.
We are very fortunate to have access to the ‘state-of-the-art’ Instinct Gym, which I personally feel very lucky to be able to utilise with my patients (thank you Chris!). Demonstrating specific exercises in the gym environment is something most physio practices do not have the luxury of!
Why do you do what you do?
I am passionate about helping people return to the things they enjoy, from the everyday enthusiast to the elite athlete.
What is your favourite exercise?
The Glute Bridge it is a brilliant exercise for so many reasons and it is an exercise suitable for most people, it engages your core, glutes and hamstrings.
Lie on your back with your knees bent, feet shoulder width apart. Engage your lower abdominals, squeeze your bottom and raise up. Hold at the top for 5-10 seconds and gently lower back down again.
For progression, add a weight or try a single leg bridge.
Other members of the Physio Team
Alison is extremely experienced physio, after having had her own private practice for many years, Alison is capable of treating anything that walks through the door! In addition Alison is a specialist in treating the neck and spine. Alison’s friendly nature, passion and enthusiasm shine through with every person she treats.
Chelsey is an experienced physio working in the NHS and privately. Chelsey can treat all conditions but has a special interest in sports injuries. Chelsey also is one of our pilates experts and runs the only physio led pilates class at Instinct. Chelsey will endeavour to make sure she manages to get a pilates exercise into your home exercise programme one way or another! Whatever Chelsey does she always has a smile on her face.
Finally, tell us a little about your personal life…
I am married to Harry and we live in Bunbury with our little boy Bertie, who is 20 months old. As you can imagine he keeps us pretty busy, but if I get a spare moment, I try and get out and squeeze a run in. Running is a real passion, and even if it is the last thing I feel like doing, there’s nothing better for an endorphin release! Typically most weekends are spent with family and friends and we try spend as much time as we can in Abersoch sailing in the summer.
If you would like to book a physiotherapy appointment with Jemima and her team, please contact 07809232195 or jemimacopephysio@outlook.com
