Our Team

Pierre Van Dyk

Physiotherapist

Pierre received his formal education in South Africa, in Pretoria, and completed an Honours degree in Physiotherapy in 2000.

After qualifying, Pierre ran his own clinic in Pretoria for four years where he specialized in sports injuries and musculoskeletal problems. He was also selected as lead physio for the Blue Bulls Super 15 rugby team for two years during this time. He then decided to travel and arrived in the UK in early 2005.

Pierre started working for Ford in Southampton to assess and implement injury prevention programmes in the workplace as a certified OMT spinal physio with extensive experience in ergonomics. After eight months he accepted a position at Optimal Spine, where he is expanding his interest in musculoskeletal and sports injuries. He works closely with patients in regards to posture and exercise and treats children with physical development problems as well as ladies with pregnancy-related issues.

Pierre applies his knowledge to better understand how patients injure themselves and seeks out ways to prevent related issues. Pierre shares his experience and knowledge as he believes that educating the patient creates a better partnership for the healing process.

Samuel Harry

Performance and Rehabilitation Coach

Samuel graduated in 2015 from St. Mary’s University with a degree in Sport Rehabilitation. During his studies he gained vital knowledge in functional rehabilitation exercises and hands on treatment. He is also keen runner, competing nationally in 800m as well as various events up to half marathons.

Samuel’s wide ranging personal and professional experiences, coupled with several years in a clinical environment, mean he is able to help clients deal with all types of injuries. These can be anything from lower back pain to knee pain and posture awareness. He strongly believes that by gaining an understanding of the body’s movement and habits, we can better appreciate its sub-conscious compensations and therefore the true reason why the pain has occurred. Only once this reason is unearthed can treatment be fully successful.
Samuel strongly advocates personal, individually prescribed exercises to help alleviate pain, such as strengthening activities and working on weaknesses; an excellent recovery and enhanced quality of life will then follow. He specialises particularly in functional injury rehabilitation, running coaching and in-depth injury assessment.

Samuel believes in working closely with his colleagues to achieve the very best outcome for his patients. He runs a range of programs concerning treatment and individual exercises with particular focus on tailored maintenance.

Mikael Porath Petersen

Doctor of Chiropractic

Mikael decided chiropractic was his future after suffering a severe back injury. He graduated from the Anglo European College of Chiropractic in 1997 and immediately started working with professional athletes, including the Danish National Football team. Mikael is always prepared to be challenged, one of his latests latest projects is an Olympic swimmer with a nerve irritation, which reduces her muscle strength. Mikael is convinces that she will soon be on the podium.

Sports Chiropractic Demonstrated the Potential

Working with such an array of professional athletes made Mikael realise that chiropractic doesn’t simply relieve pain and restore nerve function, it is also an incredible catalyst that allows the body to express its true potential once the spine is free from nerve interference.

The last decade has seen Mikael’s career focus on the general public, especially postural improvements and the effect of gait/foot mechanics on spinal function. Mikael truly loves his profession and when asked what he would do if he had not become a chiropractor, says “I would be a chiropractor.”

Education is Key to Community Health

Mikael gives regular health talks to companies, schools, sports clubs and special interest groups throughout London, in addition to his weekly Posture and Health talks at the clinic. “I find” he says, “that education is the most important part of my job as a chiropractor. We are creating so many health problems for ourselves, many of which can be prevented or at least partly prevented by a slight change in lifestyle.”

Mikael is often complimented for his bedside manner, which he explains is a result from working weekends for two years in his youth as a nurse at an old peoples’ home in Denmark. Today, Mikael continues to travel the world attending seminars given by leading chiropractic researchers and practitioners.

Mikael lives by the motto that the best doctor of chiropractic knows what to do, how to do it and why to do it.

Grace Reilly

Sport Rehabilitation Therapist

Since graduating from St Mary’s University, Twickenham in July 2018. Grace has been heavily involved with various sports clubs and competitive environments providing injury diagnosis, rehabilitation and emergency first aid. Her main settings have been within the GAA and SERC Irish Dancing where she has been able to use her skills to help both acute and chronic injury patients back to full fitness and trophy success.

Being a part of numerous Gaelic football and hurling teams across North and North West London has exposed Grace to a plethora of injuries for clients of all ages and sporting ability. They are sports that have been in her family throughout the years and she’s very proud to continue the tradition.

Grace has been curious about injury rehabilitation and re-injury prevention from an early age as being an Irish dancer herself saw her pick up injuries which later resulted in prematurely stepping back from dancing competitively. Her love for dance didn’t stop when Grace hung up her shoes, as the experiences and understanding of the extremes the body is pushed to in this industry lead her to also work with Principle ballet dancers in the London Coliseum and with World Championship Irish dancers across the Southern England region.

Despite the range of clientele, Grace’s main focus in her treatments with all patients have always remained the same; to restore pain free movement and to provide each individual with specific rehabilitation exercises to avoid a repeat of their injury. She believes it’s really important not to only just fix your problem, but to make yourself even stronger than before.

Annie Bass

Sport Rehabilitation Therapist

Annie graduated from the University of the West of England, Bristol in July 2018 with a degree in Sports Rehabilitation, as an accredited BASRAT practitioner. Annie has had a wide range of experience working within various settings, including hospital, clinical and professional sport. This has provided her with a wealth of knowledge and experience of various injuries; from bone breaks to muscle strains. She has experience in Exercise Prescription, Sports Therapy Treatment, Shockwave Therapy, Trigger Point Therapy and the use of Ktape.

As a keen swimmer, rock-climber and dancer from a young age, Annie has always been fascinated about how and why the body works the way it does; as well as picking up a few injuries herself along the way! Annie continues to work closely with athletes and the general public alike, either to achieve general strengthening or push for personal records and trophies. Annie’s main form of exercise now also includes yoga as part of a daily routine.

Throughout her career, Annie’s primary focus has remained the same: to restore and support the body in its daily functional movements, moving without pain and being motivated to continue to look after the body. Each body is different, but every body is capable.