If you’ve ever had a sore back, neck or knee, there’s a good chance you’ve paid a visit to an osteopath, and if you haven’t, well now’s your chance. We’ve just come across the recently established and super funky studio in Geelong, Bay City Health Group, who specialise in not only osteopathy, but also exercise rehab, clinical Pilates and reformer Pilates. We sit down with Dr. Clint Cooper and Dr. Felicity Porter to find out more.
First up, can you introduce yourself to our readers?
We are both originally from Ballarat but have spent the last 7-8 years working at the Gold Coast and Byron Bay area. Yes, we get asked a lot ‘why would you move back’? Our answer is the time was just right for us to move back closer to family and friends and create a life in the beautiful Geelong and Surf Coast region. How can you not love it here???
Can you tell us a bit about Bay City Health Group?
Bay City Health Group is an integrated health and movement studio offering a combination of services – mainly focusing around Osteopathy & Pilates. Our aim was to establish a vibrant and positive clinic that integrated professional health services with a ‘feel good’ vibe to it.
Why did you decide to focus a business on both Osteopathy & Pilates – is there a close relationship between the two?
We are both Osteopaths and Clinical Pilates teachers, so it made sense to combine the two into the same business. Osteopathy and Pilates are typically both described as being ‘whole body’. The blend of the two are the perfect combination that covers a wide range of people and their specific needs.
What are the main differences between these two services you offer?
The main difference being that Osteopathy is predominately hands-on manual therapy which aims at diagnosis and treating the cause behind pain – not just the symptom, whereas Pilates is movement and exercise based which can cover fitness, rehab, falls prevention, pre and postnatal specific movements. Again, there is a strong focus from both on the whole body – albeit addressed very differently.
Who would benefit from visiting your clinic?
We have set up a studio/clinic that caters for a huge variety of people and their purposes – from people in acute or chronic pain that need pain relief, to people who are after an awesome workout on the Pilates machines and everyone in between. Any age (our oldest Pilates client is 89) is welcome.
Tell us a bit about the reformer class you offer? Who is this best suited to? We hear reformer classes can be quite tough!
Reformer classes can be very tough – but only if we make them that way! The best thing about Reformers is that you can modify the spring tension on the machine to cater for people at all different levels. Modifications are easily made for those who need assistance with movement and need to recruit the right muscles to athletes who need a strong focus on form and fitness.
For someone interested in attending the clinic, what’s involved in the very first visit – for both Osteo and Pilates?
In the Initial consult for both services we always start with a patient history. It is important to gather all of the right information from the client about their issue, the history behind it and how it is affecting them. Included in both is also a full assessment. Once we know what is going on we then either treat in the Osteo consult room or take the client through movement or rehab in the Pilates studio. We take pride in educating our clients on what is happening within their own body.
Dr. Clint Cooper and Dr. Felicity Porter
Your clinic is very welcoming and comfortable, as opposed to the usual surgical vibe of some clinics. Can you give us a brief description of the vibe and theme you’ve created and why?
It was super important to us to create something special that people wanted to be a part of. The main thing we said when designing the fit out was ‘we don’t want that sterile, hospital type feel’. We tried to bring a bit of Goldy and Byron influence to our space and blend it with plenty of natural, earthy materials. A client said to us the other day that the studio was ‘Hygge Style’ (which after googling what it meant – we had to agree! Totally unplanned though).
Thanks for the chat! Lastly, how do we go about booking an appointment?
There are three easy ways to make a booking with us:
1) you can visit our website www.baycityhealth.com.au and book any appointment online;
2) you can call the clinic on 03 5229 3220;
3) Pop into the clinic and make a booking through our receptionist.
Bay City Health is located at 5/368 Latrobe Terrace, Geelong.
