Who would've thought an innocent day at home could lead to such pain? ... "Let's go and do some gardening" he said. "It will be fun" he said. Yeh, well it was until I tripped over the dog and fell into the lemon tree (yes, I said into, not out of).

When he stopped laughing at me, the other half said perhaps I needed to see someone if I'd hurt myself. A few scratches weren't worth worrying about, but I knew I'd done something to my lower back, because it felt like every muscle around that part of my spine was on fire.

Our neighbour heard me wailing, and she volunteered that she'd had great results visiting Southside Osteopathy, rather than a physio, when she'd hurt her back. I would have gone to see a Witch Doctor, I was in so much pain. So we gave Southside a call, and I got an appointment later that day.

I was a bit sceptical, being more of a "traditional medicine" sort of person, and I didn't really know what to expect. What I found was almost a combination of physio and chiropractic, with a bit a massage in the mix. My Osteopath Courtney was thorough, alternately gentle and firm as needed, and when I mentioned previous shoulder injuries, she worked on them as well as my back. At the end of the consultation, I walked out almost upright, with only a little discomfort in my back.

I went back for a follow-up appointment a week later, and by the end of the second treatment, I was virtually pain-free. Was I happy? You betcha I was. Would I go back to Southside if I needed to? Absolutely. In fact I'm booked in next week, so that we can work on reducing the number of migraines and headaches I get. I've got high hopes that they can help me with this too.

The practice is located on Unley Road, near the corner of Hughes Street, and there's limited parking out the front, with lots more in Hughes Street. There's lots of choice with appointment times, prices are reasonable, and they use HICAP so that you can claim from your health fund on the spot, and only pay the Gap yourself. I certainly don't look forward to injuring myself, but now I know that if I've got aches and pains, there's somewhere to go that can help me without costing an arm and a leg.

Have been going to this place for nearly 3 years, and the service and treatment is always outstanding, i cant recommend this place enough!!