Our Physiotherapists have a comprehensive knowledge of foot and ankle biomechanics and can effectively treat a wide range of foot and lower limb injuries, including:

Achilles Tendon pain, Heel Pain, Plantar Fasciitis, Post-Surgical Rehabilitation, Acute Sprains & Strains, Muscle Dysfunction, Tibialis Posterior Tendinopathy and Ligament Injury.

Your Sports & Spinal Physiotherapist will provide you with long term solutions for your recovery and tailor your treatment plan to your history, injury and physical goals.

Your rehabilitation exercises are designed to quicken your recovery and build strength to prevent further injury. This may involve seeing a podiatrist, modifying footwear, or a combination of stretching, taping, and specific rehabilitation exercises to strengthen the foot and ankle structures.

Knee Pain is one of the most common musculoskeletal complaints, with many causes ranging from acute meniscal tears to ACL rupture and more long term osteoarthritic changes.

An appropriately structured rehabilitation program will get you back in action faster, safer and doing what you do best!

Our Physiotherapists can help your knee issues, whether it is by increasing the range of movements, strengthening the muscles, releasing soft tissue restrictions, bracing or strapping, reducing inflammation and activity modification.

Many of our patients also decide to opt for ‘pre-habilitation, attending Physiotherapy preoperatively to optimise their chances of the best possible outcomes.
Sports and Spinal therapists will work closely with your General Practitioner or Orthopaedic Specialist to ensure you receive ideal management for your individual condition.

Whether it’s returning to the football field, getting ready for your annual ski holiday, making it around 18holes, or simply helping achieve your personal goals of improved mobility, our therapists will get you moving!

Hip pain and joint injury are common for all age groups. The hip joint and its integration with your pelvis, SIJ and lumbar spine (lower back) make it a complex region to correctly analyse and assess any dysfunction.

Many factors can cause hip pain. Often, you may start feeling hip pain for no apparent reason. Sometimes recreation or sports puts a repetitive strain on the hip, causing pain.

Lower limb biomechanics involving your knee, foot and ankle, plus your thigh and calf muscles, can also affect your hip function due to your hip being a major weight-bearing joint. The hip is responsible for functional activities like walking, running, rising from sitting, and climbing stairs. Pain in the hip can limit these activities.

Your Sports & Spinal physiotherapist will spend the time with you to fully assess the origin of your hip pain and investigate whether it is a hip joint, muscular, nerve or biomechanics issue.

Through careful analysis and assessment, we can identify your issue and any associated knock-on effects, relieve your pain and minimise your chance of recurrence.

The neck contains a complex network of nerves, blood vessels, muscles, ligaments, tendons, and bones. Because the neck contains so many structures and has an extensive range of motion, it can be prone to injury.

Symptoms of neck pain often include; 

• Tight muscles that restrict movement 
• Pain that travels
• Headaches or migraines
• Sharp neck pain

Treatment with neck pain includes manual therapy such as; massage, joint mobilisation or manipulation, exercise therapy, and advice beyond the treatment session. 

Getting expert help can put you on the right track to a happy, healthy and pain-free life.

While some minor pains can be fixed easily, ongoing headaches and migraines may have a more serious underlying problem. If you suffer from this pain regularly or it interferes with your daily life, it is essential to seek help.

One way to help find a solution and ease the symptoms is through Physiotherapy. Physiotherapy treatment is an effective tool in treating headaches caused by musculoskeletal dysfunction, such as cervical headaches caused by neck dysfunction or tension headaches from muscle strain. Sports & Spinal have Physiotherapists with additional training in headaches and migraines.

Our headache Physiotherapists will assess you to locate the potential source of the problem and identify how best to fix it or ease the symptoms.

Treatment with neck pain includes manual therapy such as; massage, joint mobilisation or manipulation, exercise therapy, and advice beyond the treatment session.

Sports and Spinal provide quality and experienced management options for Shoulder Rehabilitation and Shoulder Pain. The key to effective shoulder pain treatment is an accurate diagnosis.

Sports & Spinal Shoulder Physiotherapists can assist with Chronic Shoulder Pain and Stiffness, AC Joint Injuries, Subacromial Bursitis, Tendon Pathologies, Shoulder Muscle Spasm and Tension, Rotator Cuff Disorders such as Tears and Strains, Frozen Shoulder and Arthritis of the Shoulder.

Treatment will include:

• Hands-on therapy
• Education on biomechanics & posture
• Advice for optimising the function of your shoulders
• Specifically tailored exercise programs that are customised to meet your individual needs.

Plus many more techniques to provide optimal care on your rehabilitation journey.

Hand Therapy is a type of rehabilitation performed by an accredited physiotherapist with unique knowledge and training in treating problems specific to the hand & upper limb. Rehabilitation enables patients to fasten their return to a productive, active lifestyle after injury.

Patients who are candidates for hand therapy may have difficulty using their hands for regular daily tasks or have an injury that prevents them from doing heavy lifting, driving, gripping or fine motor tasks.

Some common symptoms of a hand injury that therapists can treat include; stiffness, weakness, wounds, scars, burns, injured tendons or nerves, fractures, or even amputations of the fingers, hands or arms. Others include patients who suffer from conditions such as wrist pain or tennis elbow and chronic problems such as arthritis or persistent pain.

Hand therapy provides:

• Accurate diagnosis & treatment of hand, wrist & elbow problems
• Custom-orthotic fabrication (usually made from thermoplastic material)
• Help with pain or stiffness in the hand, wrist & elbow.
• Exercise prescription & strengthening programs for regaining full function
• Regaining movement, strength & dexterity in the upper limb after surgery
• Help to reduce sensitivity from nerve problems.
• Help to get back to work & sport with the best recovery.
• Help foster a supportive and clear communication link between surgeon and GP for best treatment and successful outcomes for the patient involved.

If surgery is needed, hand therapists can also help with a patient’s recovery. This may include helping wounds heal, splinting, scar management and reducing swelling.

The conditions that a hand therapist can assist include:

• Flexor and Extensor Tendon repairs
• Finger sprains / dislocation
• Wrist fractures & injury
• TFCC damage
• Wrist instability & pain with loading
• Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
• Osteoarthritis

Elbow: 

• Tennis/Golfers Elbow
• Ligament Sprains
• Chronic, overuse conditions
• Elbow fracture post-immobilisation rehabilitation

Other:

• Neurological changes in upper limb function
• Trauma to the arm after an accident
• Surgical post-operative rehabilitation

Women’s Health Physiotherapy (also referred to as Pelvic Health or Pelvic Floor Physiotherapy as Men are also affected with Pelvic concerns!) is the area of Physiotherapy that deals with conditions relating to the bladder, bowel, pelvic floor, and pelvis, as well as pregnancy-related conditions including mastitis and lower back pain.

Our Women’s Health Physiotherapists are trained in pelvic floor assessment and treatment, and work closely with local specialists, surgeons, GPs and other health professionals to ensure that the treatment you are being provided is of the highest level and supported by current evidence.

Some of the areas and conditions that our Physios may be able to assess and treat include:

• Pregnancy & Postnatal Pelvic Girdle of Coccyx Pain
• Pregnancy & Postnatal Lower or Mid Back Pain
• Rectus Abdominis Diastasis (RAD or DRAM, Tummy Muscle Separation)
• Postnatal Pelvic Floor Assessments (including post third and fourth-degree perineal tears)
• Return to Exercise Assessments
• Mastitis
• Bladder issues – Stress Incontinence, Urge Incontinence/ Overactive Bladder Syndromes, Bladder Pain Syndromes (including Interstitial Cystitis) and Retention
• Bowel concerns – Constipation, Faecal Urgency, and Incontinence
• Pelvic Organ Prolapse and Pessary fittings
• Painful Intercourse (Dyspareunia)
• Persistent Pelvic and Vaginal Pain (including Endometriosis driven pain)
• Pre and Post Gynae Surgery Pelvic Floor Muscle Training and Advice
• Pre and Post Prostatectomy Pelvic Floor Muscle Training and Advice

BPPV (Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo) is one of the most common causes of dizziness, affecting up to 50% of patients over the age of 70. The biomechanical condition is caused by the dislodgement of calcium carbonate crystals into the region of the inner ear with the sensory organs, triggering the sensation of vertigo. Physiotherapy can be remarkably effective in treating BPPV and assessments are available in our physiotherapy practices.

Physiotherapist performs non-invasive tests such as the Dix- Hallpike test to confirm a BPPV diagnosis and to determine which ear is affected. The type of nystagmus (involuntary eye movements) observed will also identify which canal(s) is/are involved.

The dizziness resulting from BPPV can be dramatically relieved by specific techniques performed by a skilled physiotherapist that use the forces of gravity to reposition the displaced calcium carbonate crystals out of the sensory areas of the canals in the inner ear.

Standard physiotherapy treatment uses a sequence of repositioning maneuvers – such as the Epley, Semont or Lempert – to move the crystals out of the semi-circular canal.

Once the primary cause is addressed, physiotherapy treatment may involve a targeted exercise program to reduce the patient’s vertiginous in response to certain positional changes such as bending forward and looking up. Targeted balance training may be offered to patients with any residual balance defects. Exercises such as Brandt Daroff exercises may be prescribed for patient self-management.

Other inner ear disorders for which vestibular rehabilitation can offer improved outcomes include vestibular neuronitis/labyrinthitis; acoustic neuroma (post-op); oto-toxicity; movement-induced dizziness and Meniere’s disease.

Vestibular rehabilitation can help address these vestibular system disorders and restore the best use of the remaining vestibular function by teaching unaffected balance mechanisms to take over the function or teaching other parts of the body to compensate. Let our highly skilled professionals be part of the treatment plan for your BPPV.

Dizziness is one of the most common complaints patients take to the doctor and occurs more frequently as people age. Physiotherapists have the skills to perform specific techniques which can cure the majority of patients suffering from BPPV in a single treatment.

Clicking, locking or pain? Grinding your teeth? Do you hate going to the dentist or struggle to eat your favourite food?

TMJ Dysfunction is:

• Teeth Grinding/clenching
• Clicking
• Popping
• Limited range of movement and ability to open
• Unable to fully clench your jaw
•  Tenderness around the Jaw
• Teadaches, ear pain, dizziness and upper neck pain.

Jaw (TMJ) problems are more common than many people think. These problems tend to build up over many years and can affect the quality of life in many different ways. TMJ can cause headaches, dizziness, upper neck pain and ear pain. Some of our patients have also reported pain or inability to move or clench their jaw completely. Ear ringing (tinnitus) might also be related to TMJ dysfunction.

If you’re unsure how to treat your TMJ, we suggest speaking to one of our Sports & Spinal physiotherapists. Together with your dentist, we can assess your condition and begin corrective treatment if appropriate.

Chronic or persistent pain is an area of rehabilitation that is challenging and satisfying, as new approaches offer hope. Chronic pain patients often present with;

• A long history of pain
• Adjoining mental health deterioration
• Failed numerous rehab programs,
• Flared up with standard rehabilitation approaches
• Intense fear and paranoia to exercise
• A cocktail of medications to control their symptoms,
• Poor long term prognosis

Statistics from the Pain Management Research Institute at the University of Sydney show that 1 in 5 people in Australia is in a chronic pain state, including adolescents and children, 1 in 3 people aged over 65.

Current literature advocates treating chronic pain with a multidisciplinary team. This includes a Pain Specialist, General Practitioner, Physiotherapist, Clinical Psychologist or Psychiatrist, and Occupational therapist or social worker. The team needs to be interactive, approachable and available. Importantly, as a team, a consistent message is delivered to the patient.

The Physiotherapists role involves Education, Graded Motor Imagery (GMI) and Normalising movement patterns.

Prehabilitation programs can be a successful pre-surgical intervention option to reduce post-surgical inpatient stays, helps improve post-surgical outcomes and improve recovery times. It is therefore recommended that you take part in a specifically prescribed rehab program prior to surgery to increase muscle strength and reduce the chance that you will require extended inpatient rehabilitation prior to being discharged home after surgery.

The goal of a post-surgery physiotherapy program is to help you return to physical function. Surgery without rehabilitation can often lead to poor results. Sports & Spinal Physiotherapy can help you achieve a successful post-operative result with effective evidence-based rehabilitation.

Acupuncture originated in China over 5000 years ago and is based on the belief that good health is determined by a balanced flow of Qi (energy) along the twelve major meridians of the body which are linked to specific internal and external organ systems. It recognises that the body has an innate ability for self-healing through stimulating the brain to produce natural pain-relieving chemicals called endorphins, assisting in pain relief.

At Sports and Spinal, we insert single-use, sterile and disposable needles at specific points along these meridians to alter the flow of Qi in order to relieve muscular tension, stress and ultimately pain. In acupuncture, we also use what is called Ah Chi points which basically trigger points in a muscle that are not found on a meridian. These are the points that are used in Dry Needling.

In dry needling and acupuncture, the needles tend to be left in situ for any given period of time based on the desired effects in the treatment of Myofascial Pain and Dysfunction eg increased blood flow, muscle relaxation etc.

Acupuncture and Dry Needling are useful modalities that provide a safe and effective treatment for a variety of conditions assisting in pain relief and injury rehabilitation. Below is a list of the most commonly treated conditions;

• Back Pain
• Arthritis
• Headaches/Migraines
• Neck Pain
• Shoulder Pain
• Elbow Pain
• Achilles Injuries
• Hip and Leg Pain
• Knee Pain
• Ankle Pain
• Fibromyalgia
• Sinus troubles
• Musculoskeletal Injuries/Muscle/Joint Pain

Trigger point needling (which an acupuncturist will also call dry needling) is where a needle is poked in and out of the trigger point quickly (like pecking) to stimulate a twitch response to reset the muscle spindle. It is very uncomfortable and can leave the patient feeling quite sore (aching) for anywhere from 2hours to 2days following this type of needling. It is used more in chronic conditions eg a runner who continues to get tight calf muscles, overactive gluteals in low back pain etc.

For more information as to whether acupuncture, dry needling, or trigger point needling can help you, please ask your physiotherapist.