Flesh and Bone Osteopathy

About

Your Osteopaths

Anna is a New Zealand trained Osteopath and Western Medical Acupuncturist, having completed her Bachelors in Human Biology (BAppSci) and Masters of Osteopathy (M.Ost) at Unitec in Auckland. Followed by a Postgraduate Certificate in Western Medical Acupuncture at Auckland University of Technology.

She enjoys the challenge of problem solving each case, not only looking at the area of discomfort, but also investigating whole-body function and daily habits to determine the true cause of the issue. Anna is a firm believer in manual therapy and has experienced first-hand how it improves the overall quality of life through pain relief, increased movement, and vitality.

OSTEOPATH B.APP. SCI., M.OST. WESTERN MEDICAL ACUPUNCTURE – OCNZ and ACC registered.

When not at work, Anna and her partner Chris are busy juggling their full time jobs with parenting and their passion project Rad Community Trust. Prior to embarking on a 6 year slog at university, Anna owned a motorbike shop on the Kapiti Coast called Bike Clinic and worked in London at a marketing agency. Anna loves snowboarding, mountain-biking, a good dad-joke and a heavy dose of sarcasm.

Now this is a man I’m excited to introduce! Dr Nick Penney will be working for Flesh and Bone Osteopathy this summer, and I think the good people of Wanaka are really going to appreciate him.

Nick has been an osteopath for longer than I have been alive, he is a true Master of Osteopathy. Nick has spent his life continuing to study various modalities that encompass what it means to be an Osteopath – considering the body as a whole system. He is here to enjoy Wanaka for a short time only before his teaching commitments recommence, so get in while you can!

Graduating from the British School of Osteopathy in 1980 Nick has over 40 years experience working as an Osteopath. He then went on to complete his Ph.D. at the Centre of National Research on Disability and Rehabilitation Medicine, the University of Queensland in 2009. Nick’s PhD focussed on low back pain, and he found that low back pain is present in over half of all patients suffering with chronic pain.

Adding to this, Nick has been practicing Mindfulness for the last 20 years. Nick has taught mindfulness extensively in New Zealand, Australia, the UK and Thailand, and recently became an accredited teacher trainer for The Mindfulness in Schools Project UK, going on to teach mindfulness in schools in Auckland and Christchurch.

Nick helps patients understand their pain, associated symptoms, and disability from the biopsychosocial perspective. He is a chronic pain specialist that helps patients to get results by creating individually tailor-made treatment programs and advice. When surgery isn’t an option or has failed to provide relief, Nick is who you want in your corner.

Here we go again, more experience and expertise coming to work for Flesh and Bone! In town from February – March 2024.

Belinda is an Honours Graduate from the British School of Osteopathy in London, graduating in 1986 after previously obtaining a BSc in Chemistry. After working in England in general practice and running a sports injury clinic for Southampton University she arrived in New Zealand in 1992 setting up several large practices in Auckland and becoming part of the Osteopathic academic course development. She continued as a Senior Clinical Tutor at Unitec until the closure of the course in 2022.

Belinda has an interest in treating headache, migraine and concussion symptoms. Her combined skillset of Chemist and Osteopathy is a perfect blend of hands on and functional medicine, allowing her to identify deficiencies, discuss drug optimisation and supplementation and educate on fad diets.

As a contemporary of Dr. Penney, Belinda also follows the Biopsychosocial model of treatment, maintaining a holistic approach by incorporating functional medicine and assessing biomechanical factors affecting each patient to provide complete and individualised care.

Belinda enjoys the challenge of complex cases and will recruit other specialised areas of care as needed including mindfulness (Dr. Penney), rehab prescription and pilates.

Belinda is a keen mountain biker, runner, swimmer, and skier and hence is regular visitor to Wanaka, looking forward to meeting and aiding our patients.

Claire is a New Zealand trained Osteopath, having completed her Bachelors in Human Biology (BAppSci) and Masters of Osteopathy (M.Ost) at Unitec in Auckland. Claire has been working as an osteopath in Auckland since 2009. She has also been teaching pilates since 2004, and has been running a pilates studio for the past 10 years. Claire has also conducted extensive research into how Pilates can help chronic low back pain as this was the focus of her Masters research project and thesis. And was coauthor of an article published in the Journal of Bodywork and Movement Science in 2018.

OSTEOPATH AND PILATES INSTRUCTOR – M.Ost, B.AppSci, OCNZ & ACC Registered

General Treatment

Claire enjoys treating a variety of acute injuries and chronic conditions. She has mainly had a structural approach complimented by knowledge of pilates exercise rehab protocols. But more recently has been learning more about Biodynamic cranial osteopathy and traditional osteopathic philosophy. Another area of particular interest is hip pain, and has been studying online with Dr Alison Grimaldi’s Hip Academy. She has also recovered fully from two Caesarean section births, and enjoys helping new mums regain their inner strength.

Personal Experience

In her spare time Claire likes to get outdoors in nature, and believes it has many healing benefits. She has recently been learning more about breath work and stress mitigation techniques for managing chronic stress and upregulation of the parasympathetic nervous system. She enjoys yoga, snowboarding, and a cold plunge so is looking forward to enjoying all Wanaka has to offer.