As a physiotherapist and a Pilates instructor Katie offers an empathetic holistic approach to rehabilitating your body beyond recovery to become fitter, stronger and protected from future injuries.
Years of training
Years of experience
Areas of expertise
Dedicated Health Professional
What I can do for you
I provide an holistic approach with the aim of reducing muscle imbalances, improve posture and correct movement patterns.
Pilates - Mat & Reformer
Modified Clinical Pilates, whether mat or equipment based (reformer, split peddle chair), will address the natural muscle imbalances of the body and help to improve posture and movement patterns. It really helps to target your core muscles and promotes dynamic stabilisation. My classes are fun but also help recondition your body from the central core to treat problems or just protect from injury.
Ante & Post Natal Pilates
Pilates is a safe and recommended way to exercise during and after your pregnancy. It will help maintain your strength and posture before and after birth to enable a speedy recovery. The focus will be on your deep abdominals and pelvic floor muscles that support your back as your baby grows. Upper body strengthening and control will also prepare you for lifting your baby and help adopt a good posture when feeding your baby.
Musculoskeletal Physio
By treating the source of the problem rather than just its symptoms, physiotherapy is likely to be more effective in curing it as well as preventing any re-occurrence. My treatment includes manual ‘hands-on’ techniques to reduce pain and increase movement initially; and specific exercises to improve posture, muscle function and movement control, for a long-term solution.
Women's health
1 in 3 women experience women’s health problems during their lifetime. However many tolerate these problems, often for years, either too embarrassed to seek help or unaware that there are treatments available. Women’s health physiotherapy is a non-surgical treatment for a number of women’s health problems (rectus diastasis, incontinence, prolapse, pelvic floor weakness, pelvic girdle and back pain).
Return to exercise after a baby
Following the birth of your baby it is advisable to have a full assessment before returning to exercise. The assessment will include the joints of your pelvis and low back, assessing your abdominals for rectus diastasis and the correct activation of your core muscles and if indicated a pelvic floor assessment. Pre exercise rehab may include manual therapy, pelvic floor and abdominal muscle retraining, provision of healing aids such as belts, tape or pelvic floor educators and advice on appropriate post-natal exercise.
Acupuncture
Acupuncture is used to manage pain and inflammation and as a means of stimulating the body’s own healing chemicals in order to aid recovery and enhance rehabilitation. Clinical evidence shows acupuncture can help reduce pain by stimulating the brain and spinal cord to produce your natural pain relieving chemicals such as endorphins, melatonin (which promotes sleep) and serotonin.
For people affected by injury, illness or by developmental or other disabilities, physiotherapy uses evidence based physical approaches to promote, maintain and restore physical, psychological and social well-being.
The first appointment will take 45 minutes. It will include a full assessment, with a few questions for you to answer to obtain all of the relevant information regarding the problem and to ascertain your goals for treatment. It will also include a comprehensive physical examination that assesses not only the problem area but also other areas that may be contributing to the problem. The diagnosis and prognosis are then discussed with the patient and together a goal orientated treatment plan is established. Subsequent appointments will likely range between 30 to 45 minutes.
Accurately diagnosing the nature and severity of a problem, but also identifying its underlying cause is essential to physiotherapy. By treating the source of a problem rather than just its symptoms, treatment is likely to be more effective in curing the problem as well as preventing any re-occurrence. Treatment is multi-faceted and will include manual ‘hands-on’ techniques to reduce pain and increase movement in the short-term and specific exercises to correct posture, improve muscle function and movement control for a long term solution.
Joint and spinal mobilisation and manipulation
Soft tissue massage
Myofascial release techniques
Individualised exercise therapy and rehabilitation
Taping
Acupuncture
Advice and education - because self management is so important!
Women’s health is a specialist area of physiotherapy that focuses on problems related to the pelvic floor and the pelvis. These problems may be either gynaecological or obstetric (pregnancy) and include conditions such as incontinence, pelvic organ prolapse, diastatis rectus and pelvic pain.
High impact exercise, high-intensity interval training (HIIT), pregnancy and menopause are all common causes of women’s health problems. Many women adapt their lifestyles and struggle on with a condition that is often easily treatable, not seeking treatment as they feel the only treatment on offer is surgery. The vast majority of these issues can be treated effectively with physiotherapy. The National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE) guidelines recommend physiotherapy as the first treatment option for most people experiencing incontinence or bladder problems
At the initial appointment you will need to answer a few questions about your general health, medical history and more detailed questions about how your bladder problems affect your quality of life. You may also be asked to fill out a bladder chart - how often you drink, how often you pass urine and how much fluid you are able to hold.
Examination - research indicates that the only effective way to assess the pelvic floor is working correctly is to perform a vaginal examination. This examination is done for several reasons:
To ensure nothing else is causing your bladder problems (such as a prolapse).
To ensure you are contracting the pelvic floor muscle correctly. It is possible to make symptoms of incontinence worse if the pelvic floor is not contracting correctly.
To assess the quality of the muscle so that an exercise programme can be designed specifically for your needs.
I do not routinely carry out an internal examination until your second appointment, and then only if you agree. This is the best way for me to work out what your problems are and to decide on your treatment options. Understandably some clients are anxious about having an internal examination. As a woman who’s gone through this myself, I know how they feel! You are welcome to bring a chaperone with you, if that would make it a less daunting prospect. (I would also add that I do not use a speculum when carrying out an examination.) Hopefully I will have gained your trust and confidence by the time an examination is necessary. But, if you simply do not want to be examined, I am happy to treat you without one.
Once your assessment has been completed, I will design your personal treatment programme.
Exercises
- Most women only need an intensive programme of pelvic floor muscle training to see a noticeable improvement with their symptoms.
Manual therapy
- Manual therapy (trigger point release, myofascial release and connective tissue manipulation), can be used to address pain related to PFM tension. Manual therapy techniques involve forceful passive movement of the fascial elements through restrictive directions, allowing for muscular relaxation or decreasing painful scar tissue attachment, increasing general circulation, freeing tissue material, and releasing nerve entrapment by surrounding structures
Bladder training
- Specific techniques can be taught to train the bladder to hold more urine and therefore need emptying less often.
Biofeedback
- This equipment is used to teach correct and effective activation of pelvic floor muscles. It can also be used to assess if there is any improvement in the strength and endurance of the muscle.
Muscle stimulation
- When pelvic floor muscle are very weak and unable to contract independently muscle stimulation can be used to remind the muscle how to work. When the muscle control has improved exercises are then added into the treatment programme.
Relaxation techniques
- Anxiety and tension make bladder problems worse. Specific relaxation techniques can help to gain control over your bladder.
General advice
- About fluid intake, bowel control, exercise levels, lifting techniques and transfers, support belts and aids and setting achievable goals.
Modified Clinical Pilates is a form of dynamic stabilization retraining that aims to address the muscle imbalances of the body and to improve posture and movement patterns. It reconditions the body from the central core to prevent, avoid the recurrence of and treat a range of postural, musculoskeletal and neurological conditions.
As our understanding of exercise and rehabilitation has evolved, the way Modified Clinical Pilates is delivered has been refined but still maintains its underlying key principles of traditional pilates.
Pilates was originally used within the dance world, focussing mainly on the outer muscle unit with little attention to the deep inner muscle core. This practice requires very good muscle flexibility, end of range joint movements and good proprioception and body awareness.
Modified clinical pilates was designed by physiotherapists for use in rehabilitation and enabling everyday movement. Traditional pilates exercises are broken down and modified to be suitable for everyone. They focus on spinal and lower back/pelvic stabilisation which is essential for every day activities.
There are 5 key elements
Lateral breathing
Centering
Rib cage placement
Shoulder blade placement
Head and neck placement
Pilates will strengthening your core and flexibility muscles to give you a lean, balanced physique. You will build up strength without excess bulk, whilst improving your flexibility and overall mobility.
Improve your posture
Relieve joint and back pain
Improved sleep
Improve your strength and muscle tone
Stay younger
Feel energized
Flat stomach
Improve your balance and co-ordination
Avoid injury
Musculoskeletal and Women’s Health Physiotherapist. Member of CSP, HCPC, AACP and POGP.
Having gained a degree in Anatomical science from Bristol, Katie graduated from Kings College London with a first class degree in Physiotherapy in 2006. Initially she worked in the NHS gaining valuable experience and developing a well-rounded view of patient care. During this time, Katie completed her pilates training through APPI.
Since 2009, she has worked privately in a sports based environment holistically addressing patients’ problems through manual therapy, pilates, general exercise, and acupuncture for which she is AACP accredited.
Katie teaches individual matwork and reformer pilates sessions for all levels. She tailors every workout to her clients' needs depending on their experience and condition. She makes it fun but recognizes their capabilities so she can challenge them, and take them a step further.
Katie believes the combination of manual therapy and acupuncture to relieve pain provides the perfect window of opportunity to then rehabilitate clients with pilates based exercise.
Whilst treating pregnancy related musculoskeletal conditions over the years, Katie has met many women who have experienced very poor urogynaecological (such as prolapse, urinary urgency, incontinence), pelvic floor and and post partum care, and have been given very little information and advice on this area. On the whole, they feel let down by the current lack of provision in the NHS. This, together with becoming a mother of two herself, has driven Katie to develop her skills further in this area, completing post graduate Pelvic Obstetric Gynaecological Physiotherapy (POGP) women’s health courses. She is also particularly interested in helping mothers with rectus diastasis (separation of the abdominal muscles following childbirth) and studying the effect of hormone levels on musculoskeletal strength, particularly for the pelvic floor.
In light of her experience, Katie feels strongly that all women should see a women’s health physiotherapist postpartum to optimize their recovery and rehabilitation and ensure a safe, effective return to daily life and exercise. As a keen sportswomen and part of an active family, she understands how important it is to stay strong and healthy to maintain the juggling act of family life. Katie is approachable, empathetic and will make you feel totally comfortable when seeking treatment and advice for what can be sensitive, or even embarrassing issues.
The additional postgraduate training Katie has done in pilates, acupuncture and Women’s health helps her to assess her clients holistically, instead of treating each symptom separately.
"Katie has been treating me for two separate conditions (foot and upper back/neck pain). She has always known how to find the route of a problem and work with it to help recovery and ease pain.”
Emma Phillips
““Unfailingly efficient and friendly service. Especially accommodating of my need to bring my 18 month old with me. Thank you!”
Julia Thomas
“I have seen and worked with many physiotherapists and Katie Marshall is one of the best. She has really helped not just to treat my injuries, but also look at my long term fitness.”
Melissa Burton
“I have been seeing Katie Marshall on and off for a year now. Quite apart from her skills as a physiotherapist and Pilates teacher she has always made me feel welcome and shown interest in my life.”
Monica Unwin
“I have very much enjoyed my physio sessions with Katie and the relaxed environment she creates and I've seen great progress over the weeks thanks to the bespoke treatment plan.”
Physiotheraphy 1:1 Pilates classes are held on Mondays to Fridays (see pricing section for times) at:
17a Broadwater Down,Tunbridge Wells, Kent TN2 5NJ