Belle chiropractic

A back injury stopped him playing the sport he loved but led to a new life instead - he became a chiropractor and devised his own new method of treatment.

He uses a holistic approach to help patients, teaching them how to relax and improve posture to ease the cause of their pain, and is now ready to bring his skills back home to Bexhill.

He opens the Belle Chiropractic clinic in the Old Town on Monday January 5 and aims to help clients suffering a wide range of problems, from headaches and migraines to back pain and sciatica, to repetitive strain injury and restricted movement.

Ian was born and grew up in Little Common but it has been years since he lived in Bexhill, having joined the army when he left Bexhill High School. He spent eight years enjoying his gift for sport, particularly rugby, and experienced playing around the world.

When he left the army he began training as an electrician but study was sidelined when he damaged his back to the point of being immobile.

He was now unable to carry on life as before and began a round of different therapies in the hope of finding a cure.

"Because I hurt my back, I saw everybody," said Ian.

"Osteopaths, physiotherapists - anybody who thought they could help me. They were okay at giving me relief but no good at fixing me. But then I found I could sort it out myself, by technique rather than anything else."

He felt chiropractic treatment achieved the best results and began working on how he could adapt what he had learned about relaxation to help his back with chiropractic techniques. He realised at this point, having also trained as an actor and making a living as a model, that this was the career he wanted to follow and began training in London in 1994. He qualified in 2000 and emigrated with wife Tina to Australia three years later.

The couple returned to Bexhill with their three year old son and have been getting the clinic ready for opening, Ian eager to get to grips with the aching population and teach clients the way to feel better.

"I think it's about a fresh approach to an old problem. People are not aware of posture...you need to find out which muscles need to be relaxed.

"For instance, I had a patient in Melbourne. He had so many motorbike accidents that his body was really all over the place...yet I only needed to treat him three times and he was fine. Whereas I had someone come through the door who had done nothing but suddenly his back went...he came back to me time and time again. The reason the first guy could heal so quickly was he knew how to relax, but with other people I would have to work so hard to get them to relax muscles and I'd find I could relax them but they would tense up in other places.

"You have to treat acute problems first of all, then work down to the causes and start to educate patients as to the cause.

"I work on all the bones, joints and muscles throughout the body. The great thing for me as far as posture is concerned is the balance of the body. You realise how much balancing with the body is necessary - if you are working on someone's back you have to work on relaxing the sternum, and if you are working on someone's pelvis problem you have got to work on their knees and hips."

Contact Ian on 01424 224596 or email [email protected].