Burton Physiotherapy Clinic in Aberdeen provides leading expertise in the diagnosis and treatment of musculoskeletal pain and sports injuries. We can help anyone with musculoskeletal pain and injuries, ranging from the general public to elite and professional athletes. We also specialise in sports massage, sports injury prevention, sports performance and strength & conditioning services. The clinic is led by Dr Ian Burton, who is a world leading physiotherapy expert in the treatment of musculoskeletal conditions, as ranked by expertscape.com.
Our mission is to provide a world leading standard of physiotherapy and sports performance services to the people of Aberdeen and North East Scotland, to help them resolve musculoskeletal pain and injuries, improve their health and wellbeing and achieve their goals.
We guarantee that if you book an appointment at our clinic, you will be seen by a world ranked leading expert, and receive a standard of physiotherapy care on par with the best in the world.
We guarantee that if you need to be seen quickly, we will offer you an appointment within 24 hours and in most cases can offer you an on the day appointment within a few hours of enquiry.
We guarantee you will not be seen by someone unqualified, inexperienced, or a clinician who is not a registered physiotherapist with both the HCPC and CSP, or a Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist (CSCS) with the NSCA.
We guarantee you will not be seen by a new graduate inexperienced physiotherapist, as is common practice at other private Aberdeen physiotherapy clinics. You will be seen by a world expert who has held senior positions in the NHS, and has several years of experience working privately, is a published expert and educated to doctorate level.
We guarantee that we will leave no stone unturned in helping you resolve your pain or injury. If we can’t make progress or feel you need imaging or a consultant referral for surgical opinion, we will help you arrange it.
We guarantee that you will be satisfied with your experience, have a resolution to your problem or at least improve significantly, or in the case of chronic conditions an effective management plan to reduce symptoms. Based on the outcomes and feedback of hundreds of previous patients and our world leading reputation, we are confident in offering this guarantee to you. Therefore if you feel unsatisfied with your experience or feel you have not improved sufficiently or found a resolution to your problem, we will happily give you your money back without dispute!
Prior to forming Burton Physiotherapy in January 2025, Ian had been working part-time as a private physiotherapist for several years at the former Total Endurance Sports Therapy Clinic, which has now been replaced by Burton Physiotherapy. Despite working with a range of patients with musculoskeletal injuries and pain across the general population, the link with Total Endurance has allowed for extensive experience to be gained with athletic populations from all backgrounds, but particularly running athletes and triathletes.
Ian also worked full-time for the NHS from 2020 to 2025, and from 2022-2025 he worked full-time with NHS Grampian as a Band 7 Highly Specialist Musculoskeletal Physiotherapist and First Contact Physiotherapist (FCP) working alongside GPs in primary care, after undertaking an extensive advanced practice training program. The FCP service effectively replaces GP’s as the first point of contact in primary care for those with musculoskeletal conditions. Working as an advanced practice physiotherapist allowed for experience to be gained in ordering medications, imaging such as x-rays and blood tests, beyond the scope of standard physiotherapy practice. While working for NHS Grampian, Ian became the lead NHS physiotherapy clinician for tendinopathy in Aberdeenshire after establishing and running a successful specialist tendinopathy clinic which received referrals from other clinicians for patients presenting with difficult and non-improving cases of tendinopathy.
Prior to working as a Physiotherapist, Ian worked as a Sports Development Officer and Basketball Coach while playing semi-professional basketball and completing an undergraduate degree (BSc) in Sports Science and Coaching from Ulster University in his native Northern Ireland. He then undertook a master’s degree in Physiotherapy (MSc) at Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen, and then a Doctorate in Physiotherapy (DPT) from the University of Montana in the United States.
Ian is nearing completion of a PhD in physiotherapy and has 20 peer reviewed scientific research publications in some of the world’s leading physiotherapy and sports medicine journals within his specialist area of tendon injury rehabilitation. Ian’s research explores new treatment methods for the rehabilitation of chronic lower limb tendon injuries in athletes, known as tendinopathy, which are notoriously difficult to treat. He also serves as a peer reviewer and editor for several internationally leading sports medicine journals and is ranked among the world’s foremost experts in tendinopathy, ranking in the top 0.5% of tendinopathy experts worldwide on the expertscape medical rankings, and is the highest ranked physiotherapist in Scotland. He is also a globally ranked expert in strength training and shockwave therapy, ranked in the top 1.5% of experts globally by expertscape.com. His scientific published work has currently been cited over 150 times in world leading journals, and has been included in several eminent international sports medicine textbooks.
Ian is also a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS) with the NSCA, and has particular interests in athlete development, injury prevention and sports performance enhancement, having worked with many amateur youth athletes to help them develop into professional athletes. He has previously served as the Head Coach and Head of Physiotherapy for the University of Aberdeen Men’s basketball team and the Robert Gordon University Women’s basketball team.
Ian is a registered Physiotherapist with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC), and a registered member of both the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy (CSP) and the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA).
For a full list of peer reviewed scientific publications please visit this page.
