Meet the Therapist: Juke van der Scheer, Physiotherapist
Juke has over 20 years of experience in physiotherapy in the Netherlands, France, Belgium and China. She specializes in women’s health issues and spinal problems such as low back pain.
This isn’t your first time moving to a different country. Tell us a little bit about your path to Shanghai and joining Body & Soul.
After starting my career and working for over 10 years in the Netherlands, my husband and I moved to France in 2004. I learned French, gave birth to two healthy babies and worked in a private practice. After five wonderful years in the French countryside with our young children, we moved to Brussels where I worked in a hospital focusing on chronic pain patients. That is also where I started to work with women in their pre-and post-natal period.
Our family relocated to Shanghai about a year ago when my husband was offered an important career opportunity. Our children are now 11 and 13-years-old and it’s been a wonderful experience for us all. We love living in Pudong’s quiet, green environment but with access to all Shanghai has to offer.
I’m excited to join Body & Soul, particularly being able to cooperate with other practitioners. We can provide comprehensive solutions to the multifaceted problems patients face. I hope I can make a difference for people who come to see me. And that we, as a team at Body & Soul, can create more awareness of how to learn to listen to your own body.
Tell us a bit about your professional background.
I have many years of experience working with acute and chronic pain patients. I am a certified MDT (McKenzie Method of Mechanical Diagnosis and Therapy) physiotherapist (the only one in Shanghai and one of two registered in China). This means I specialize in making a diagnosis for spine and other articulation problems and treating those problems with a specific methodology. In 2015, I received my master’s degree in perineology. My focus the past three years has been in this area of women’s health.
Describe your work with women’s health and what perineology is.
Perineology is a specialty dealing with the pelvic floor muscles and the three connected organs. I use a variety of methods to treat issues such as urinary incontinence, constipation or diarrhea and sexual discomfort or problems. Low back pain is another common symptom. Many patients come in before or after giving birth, while other women experience problems around menopause. The specialty understands this area of the body holistically, rather than looking at the organs separately.
Explain a bit more about the McKenzie method and who it benefits.
MDT is highly effective for spinal problems. It starts with a thorough diagnosis. This guides an efficient treatment plan, with the goal of coaching the patient for further improvement and future prevention. Because the treatment method and patient training is so effective, we achieve results with fewer sessions.
Eager to discover the wonders the McKenzie Method can do for spinal and articulation issues or suffering from problems perineology can address? Get in touch with us to schedule a consultation appointment with Juke. Juke offers sessions in our Downtown Clinic – Xintiandi in English, Dutch and French.