Galen: A golden age for progressive wellbeing

Stepping inside the spacious entryway of 9 Queen Anne Street, I feel my shoulders loosen and the tension melt away. I’m here to discover Galen, a soon-to-open clinic that promises to revolutionise aesthetics and functional physical treatments.

Galen’s website promises a place where ‘your biological potential meets our unrivalled expertise’, a nod to its vision to harness the body’s own regenerative abilities under the expert care of acclaimed surgeons. Offering a mixture of surgical and non-surgical services the clinic’s impressive roster of treatments features, though is not limited to, reconstructions, implants, facials, facelifts, IV infusions, longevity therapies, along with intimate mindfulness and mediation seminars.

Sinking into the scented embrace of the clinic’s reception lounge, the space is a cocoon of light, courtesy of the discerning eye of glamorous founder Popi Makri and interior design partner Sissy Feida. Chatting with Popi – who’s co-founder is husband and acclaimed Greek surgeon, Dr. Androulakakis – it’s immediately clear that London is home.  Having spent years here first studying and working, then raising their family, she shares that it was the only choice for their first holistic centre, Galen.

When I visit pre-opening, it’s already proving popular in the understated way one would expect of such an upscale offering. Many of the clients have Dr A’s personal mobile – “on holidays one of us is on the phone, one of us is in the pool”, smiles Popi – and this dedication to their clients makes Galen feel something of an extended family. A rather glamorous one, but seated in the warmth of their sophisticated townhouse, you can see the allure of returning time and time again. I could happily spend the day sipping tea with Popi which, as she confides, some do. 

A tour of the townhouse reveals surprisingly extensive facilities. The elegant facade guards the floors of consultants’ offices and treatment spaces, together with a high-spec boardroom for knowledge-sharing, all suffused with an atmosphere of calm. Treatment chairs and equipment tucked out of sight behind screens or in private rooms, offer clients discretion and tranquility. A decorous and, one imagines, comforting contrast to the physical realities being discussed as clients share their physical frustrations, battle scars, or hopes for longevity. 

Overseen by Dr A and a team of first-rate surgeons and specialists, the subterranean hospital-grade surgery beckons complete with sterile air, private recovery room, and London’s first EBO2 machine. At the heart of Galen’s promised approach, the EBO2 is hailed as a revolution in regenerative medicine. Reducing inflammation and boosting the immune system, it speeds up recuperation post-surgery and, for Galen’s clients, will be an integral part of any treatment to help them on their road to recovery. 

Another ground-breaking piece of technology is Galen’s Mitovit hypoxic training machine. Agreeing to give it a try, I lie back and survey a calming video of mountainscapes as my lungs are exposed to high-altitude oxygen. I relax and recharge as the machine takes me up a virtual mountain, down to earth, and back up again – ever higher. Capping out at 9%, it seems my lungs are pretty tolerant to oxygen depletion and, over a course of several sessions, I could improve my body’s abilities further. For athletes, the marginal gains it offers are appealing, and could mean the difference between a consolatory second or coveted first place. It’s perhaps unsurprising that Galen already has an Olympian on its books, undertaking this very treatment. 

Based on Nobel Prize winning medicine and proven to improve metabolic and cardiovascular function, it’s also been used for the treatment of chronic diseases, no small feat. Improving recovery, combating jet lag, and boosting energy, it’s one more offering to give clients that extra edge as they step out of the cocoon of Galen’s gilded walls, back into the busy world.

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