A consultant on the phone by the next working day.
I’m Dr Brinda Christopher, a Consultant in Sport and Exercise Medicine at The Shard. I diagnose and treat back, neck, shoulder, hip, knee and foot problems, and you leave the first call with a written plan.
Insured and self-pay patients. If you pay for yourself, you don’t need a GP referral.
The third plate of muscles from Andreas Vesalius, De humani corporis fabrica, 1543.
Today
Book online in a few minutes, or call the clinic. Choose a telephone review or an in-person appointment.
By the next working day
I call you myself. We go through what happened, what hurts, and what you need to get back to.
After the call
Your written plan arrives by email: the likely diagnosis, what to do this week, and any scan or referral you need.
If you need it
A full examination at The Shard, an injection, or a follow-up review to adjust the plan as you recover.
Where does it hurt?
Most people arrive knowing where the pain is, not what it’s called. Start with the part of the body and each page will help you name it.
Back and neck
Lower back pain, pain that travels down the leg, and the stiff neck that comes from long days at a desk.
Lumbar back pain, sciatica, neck pain
Shoulder
A shoulder that has slowly stiffened, catches when you reach overhead, or feels weak lifting the arm.
Frozen shoulder, impingement, rotator cuff problems
Hip and knee
Pain on the outside of the hip at night, an ache around the kneecap on stairs, or joints that are wearing.
Gluteal tendinopathy, kneecap pain, osteoarthritis
Foot and ankle
Sharp heel pain with the first steps of the morning, a sore Achilles, shins that hurt when you run.
Plantar fasciitis, Achilles tendinopathy, shin splints, ankle sprains
Elbow
Pain on the outer or inner elbow when you grip, lift a kettle or carry shopping.
Tennis elbow, golfer’s elbow
Muscle and running injuries
A sudden pull in the calf or the back of the thigh, mid-stride or mid-match.
Calf tears, hamstring tears, stress fractures
Not listed here? I also see gout, tendon problems, stress fractures and most other joint and muscle conditions. See every condition I treat
How injuries are handled in professional sport, applied to everyone.
At a football club, an injured player is assessed the same day and starts a plan the same day. If a scan is needed, it confirms or adjusts that plan a few days later. Private care usually works the other way round: everything waits for the scan.
I worked that way for years in football, tennis and military rehabilitation. It is how I run this practice. Four decisions made early change how quickly most injuries recover.
Detail from the same Vesalius plate.
Take the load off
A suspected bone stress injury that keeps being loaded for two weeks gets worse. Protected from day one, it is already healing. Too many people arrive weeks later, still running on it.
Control the swelling
Swelling left to settle in the tissue slows recovery. The right compression, started early, prevents it, but only if someone tells you exactly how and for how long.
Start rehabilitation now
Most recoveries lose their first week to “rest and see”. With a plan, the right movement starts immediately and is adjusted as you improve.
Use anti-inflammatories carefully
Inflammation helps healing in the first days. For bone and some tendon injuries, an anti-inflammatory can slow repair. Knowing when to prescribe one, and when to avoid it, is a specialist decision.
Two ways to be seen
Most patients book a standard in-person consultation. If you can’t wait, the next-working-day review gets you a plan within one working day.
Self-pay or insured
In-person consultation
£450 self-pay
Within 10 working days, often sooner
The Shard, London Bridge
Full history and physical examination, diagnosis, written plan
Self-pay only
Next-working-day review
£450 self-pay
By the next working day, guaranteed
By telephone, wherever you are
Consultant call, written plan, first treatment started
Recognised by the major UK insurers
Bupa AXA Health Vitality Aviva WPA Cigna Healix
Insured patients: your insurer sets and pays the consultation fee, so check your cover and bring your authorisation number. Follow-up appointments are £150 for self-pay patients. Fees and insurance in full
Portrait of Dr Brinda Christopher, from the photo shoot
Dr Brinda Christopher
I have spent my career getting people back to what they do, from Premier League academies and Wimbledon to soldiers returning to their units after injury.
My teaching video for Stanford Medicine 25 has been watched more than 2.5 million times. I was President of the Sport and Exercise Medicine Section at the Royal Society of Medicine, and I co-wrote Moving Medicine, the national guidance on prescribing exercise.
Football
Tottenham Hotspur, Norwich City, England Women
Tennis
The Championships, Wimbledon; LTA at Queen’s
Military
Army, Royal Navy and RAF rehabilitation, including the Parachute Regiment
Qualifications
FFSEM, MRCP, MBBS, BSc. GMC Specialist Register
From patients
Verified reviews from Doctify and Google.
★★★★★
"Dr Christopher found in ten minutes what two other clinicians had missed for a year. I had a plan before I left and was running again sooner than I expected."
Marathon runner, Bermondsey
★★★★★
"My frozen shoulder was caught early and the injection made an enormous difference. Clear and honest throughout."
Self-pay patient, City of London
★★★★★
"Booked on Monday, on the phone with Dr Christopher on Tuesday, back on court within weeks."
Insured patient, Canary Wharf
Sample reviews. Replace with the live Doctify feed before launch.
Tell me what's happened and I'll tell you what to do next.
Book online now, or send a short enquiry and the clinic will reply the same working day with appointment times.