Stop Chasing Pain
Let's Find The Driver
For High-Performing Adults In Dublin Who Are Done Managing Their Back Pain — And Want It Solved Properly, Permanently, With A Guarantee.
How We Work
We don’t begin by chasing pain.
We begin by understanding how your body is coping with movement and load.
Pain is rarely random.
It’s often the result of adaptations — to injury, habits, workload, or protective guarding.
Our role is to identify:
• What your system is protecting
• What is overworking
• What is not contributing
• What your body can safely tolerate right now
Assessment provides direction.
Our Difference:
Integrated Clinical Reasoning
Most back pain care is delivered through a single lens.
Physiotherapy.
Osteopathy.
Manual therapy.
Exercise rehabilitation.
Pain science.
Each discipline offers valuable insight.
But no single discipline explains the whole picture.
Our approach integrates principles from physiotherapy, osteopathy, human biomechanics, pain science, and functional neurology into a single diagnostic process.
Structured movement assessment — including the Selective Functional Movement Assessment (SFMA) — allows us to examine how your body is functioning as a system.
Not simply where symptoms appear.
Through this process we identify:
Where movement is restricted
Where control is insufficient
Where the body is compensating
How your system responds to load
What your nervous system may be protecting
Two people with the same symptoms rarely require the same plan.
Direction comes from depth of assessment.
The Real Issue.
Recurring back pain in active adults is rarely random.
It usually reflects a dysfunction elsewhere in the movement chain
that has never been properly identified.
Until the driver is found, treatment becomes management.
We don’t manage. We investigate.
You’re not unlucky.
You’re under-assessed.
The Back Specialists can help with:
Persistent or chronic low back pain
Herniated discs & sciatica
Degenerative disc disease & spinal stenosis
SI joint dysfunction & facet joint pain
Muscle imbalances, weakness, & postural issues
Spondylolisthesis (slipped vertebra)
Failed back surgery syndrome
Myofascial pain (chronic muscle tightness)
Pelvic, hip, & sports-related back pain
Radiculopathy (nerve pain from spinal compression)
The Back Pain Movement Roadmap™
Phase 1 – Reset Weeks 1–4
Reduce protective tension. Restore baseline movement.
Phase 2 – Rebuild Weeks 5-8
Correct the driver. Increase load tolerance and control.
Phase 3 – Resilience (if required) Weeks 9–12.
Stress-test the system under real training and performance demands.
Reassessments at weeks 4, 8, and 12 ensure measurable progress.
Our Programmes And Methods Work
Best For People Who:
✓ Are 30–55, want to be active, but back pain is interfering with your training, sport, or lifestyle
✓ Have already tried standard treatment and it hasn't held
✓ Want to know the root cause — not just manage symptoms
✓ Follow data. Trust processes. Do the work.
✓ Can commit to at least a 4-week structured programme
✓ Understand that a body this complex requires expert-level assessment — and you're willing to invest in that
✓ Are ready to act now.
This is NOT for you if:
✗ You want a quick fix or a passive treatment where someone does it for you
✗ You're not willing to modify training in the short term
✗ You don't follow through on plans
Client Success Stories
Conor, Dublin
Ian, Cork
Ian B. Cork
"Incredibly eye opening experience as he took a holistic view to why I had back pain instead of just treating the inflicted area (it turned out that while my back was compressed, the cause was a serious injury I had suffered when I was a kid). John is incredibly approachable, has great insight and is superb at explaining the issue and his approach to fixing it. Gives great exercises to do that I could really feel help benefit me. Continue to go to him now to strengthen my back and ensure no issues will occur in the future. Couldn't recommend him enough!
Michelle, Dublin
I cannot recommened John from the The Back Specialists highly enough. From my very first appointment, I felt listened to and taken seriously. Everything was explained in a way that made sense. The treatment was tailored specifically to my back problems.The excercises I was given made a huge difference. My overall experience was extremely positive and John has such depth of knowledge. If you are dealing with back pain and want someone knowledgeable who cares and genuinely invested in helping you recover, this is the place to go.
Mick, Cork
I went to see John in 2020 with a disc issue that had been causing me significant pain for 4 months. I’d seen numerous physios that could not help. I’d had a disc operation in 2006 and went to a neurosurgeon who was categorical that I required further surgery. I did not want this and with John’s help avoided a further op. John helped me to correct the slipped disc through a wholistic approach incorporating movement, posture, stretching, strengthening, homework and repetition. Four years on I am walking, cycling and exercising without pain. He’s a fantastic educator and shares excellent guidance for recovery homework. I can’t recommend him highly enough and I’m very grateful. Thanks John.