A physio practice dedicated to understanding your problem and helping you get painfree fast. What makes Adelaide West Physio and Pilates different?
You will notice the difference as soon as you walk in the door. You will feel like you have been listened to - we spend more face to face time with you so that we can fully understand your problem. You have our undivided attention for the whole appointment time. We don’t put you on a machine and treat someone else at the same time. We have expertise that set us apart:
• headache and migraine solutions
• low back pain
• persistent pain
• sports physiotherapy
• running performance and running injuries
• credentialled McKenzie therapists who use the McKenzie method
We are fully committed to helping you get better quicker - it is more than just a job. Our passion is helping, that is why we chose to become physiotherapists and massage therapists. You will know exactly what is going on - we provide you with a clear plan of attack and an estimate of the number of treatment sessions required to get you better. You can feel reassured that we know our stuff - we spend time and money on continuing professional development and higher qualifications. We are committed to using scientific evidence to inform our treatment so you get better quicker and you get the best bang for your buck. Adelaide West is an independent physiotherapy clinic, not part of a franchise. That means we have autonomy in how we do things, which means that we can be more responsive to our patients so we can help you the best we can. You will enjoy using our fully-equipped and supervised Pilates studio - it doesn’t matter if you are completely new to Pilates, we give all the help that you need to make sure that you get the best out of it. If you suffer from headaches, we have a dedicated headache service - Adelaide West Headache Clinic - for more information, see www.adelaidewestphysio.com.au/headache-clinic or the Adelaide West Headache Clinic page. If you are looking for something to help out with tired or tight muscles, or you are an athlete looking for a pre or post game massage, you can't go past our Remedial Massage Therapists, who also work closely with the physiotherapists. All of this means that you get quicker results with less visits. On top of that, we have arguably the friendliest practice around, with the best reception staff!
22/10/2025
BOOK OF THE MONTH - Pain and Perception: A Closer Look At Why We Hurt
Who is the book for? Anyone, particularly someone who would like to learn about the body works.
We like this book because:
- it’s a fascinating mix of brain science and illusions.
- makes learning about pain fun and eye-opening.
You’ll never look at your body the same way again!
It's on display in the clinic, check it out when you are in next.
21/10/2025
“Keep your back straight!” We’ve all heard it — maybe even said it.
But research challenges the idea of a ‘straight back’. It shows people with and without back pain actually lift in similar ways.
A bit of bend isn’t dangerous — it’s human.
Life doesn’t happen in perfect form. Groceries, dishwashers, kids, boxes — every lift looks a bit different.
Our backs are designed for that variety. So rather than chasing a textbook lift, build a back that’s resilient and adaptable.
Strong enough to handle whatever your week throws at you!
Reference:
Saraceni, N., Kent, P., Ng, L., Campbell, A., Straker, L., & O’Sullivan, P. (2020). To flex or not to flex? Lumbar spine flexion during lifting and low back pain: A systematic review with meta-analysis. Journal of Orthopaedic & Sports Physical Therapy, 50(3), 121–130. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31775556/
20/10/2025
Worth sharing this screenshot from continuing education on concussion recently. As you can see, the overlap in symptoms from whiplash and concussion is significant.
More than that, the force involved in concussion is many, many times the force that is required to create whiplash.
What this means is that although the brain and brain mechanisms are the primary concern with concussion (and rightly so), the neck must always be considered.
The neck is a strong contender in post concussion syndrome symptoms, when things drag on longer than you might hope or expect.
18/10/2025
16/10/2025
Ever feel like you are being watched? 🦧 This is Aniket demonstrating the use of a laser to test neck proprioception.
Neck proprioception can be affected in whiplash and concussion and a cause of ongoing dizziness and pain.
It is easy to test, to rule it in or rule it out as a problem.
16/10/2025
🎈 Happy birthday to Matt, our fabulous remedial massage therapist. He could probably demolish that in one action, I reckon.
14/10/2025
Want fewer days with back pain this year? The best pain solution isn’t a fancy chair or gadgets… it’s movement.
Exercise outperforms belts, braces, and even back-pain education when it comes to prevention.
Just two or three sessions a week — walking, cycling, sport, gym, Pilates — can make a big difference 🚶
It doesn’t need to be perfect, just consistent.
If you enjoy it, you’ll keep doing it — and that’s where the real protection lives.
Move because it feels good — your back will thank you later 💚

References:
Steffens, D., Maher, C. G., Pereira, L. S. M., et al. (2016). Prevention of low back pain: Systematic review and meta-analysis. JAMA Internal Medicine, 176(2), 199–208. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26752509/
Shiri, R., Coggon, D., & Falah-Hassani, K. (2018). Exercise for the prevention of low back pain: Systematic review and meta-analysis of controlled trials. American Journal of Epidemiology, 187(5), 1093–1101. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29053873/
13/10/2025
Following concussion this is a test of how the brain, the vestibular system and the eyes handles this complex task with conflicts between them.
Physiotherapists play a vital role in rehabiliation post-concussion.
We have been doing continuing education as a group into assessing and treating concussion, and the current best practices.
It’s fair to say that the knowledge about what happens with concussion and the best ways to manage it have moved forward a lot over recent years, so it is important to stay up to date so that we can offer our clients the best care possible.
Questions about concussion or post concussion syndrome? We are happy to chat free of charge over the phone.
11/10/2025
Hey Lachy, hope your holidays were great! The hopper is full - we're ready for you. See you Monday am 😁
10/10/2025
Our new banner speaks for itself! Often with headache and migraine, medication is the mainstay of medical treatment.
However, our job is finding out if there is an identifiable cause relating to your neck.
I'm still surprised how often there is, and how easy it is to identify.
IMPORTANT QUESTION: how do we know if something we find in the neck is actually relevant to the headache or migraine problem?
It's actually quite easy - we expect to see a noticeable change in symptoms within a small number of sessions (like 5 sessions or less).
If we don't see a positive change, we aren't making a difference 😁
08/10/2025
Did you know you can speak with one of our physios free of charge*? It’s perfect if you’ve been down a Google (or ChatGPT 😅) rabbit hole and found a lot of generic advice… but you’re still not sure what actually applies to you.
During your free chat, you can:
• Get some quick, personalised advice over the phone
• Work out what your next step should be
• Find out if physio is the right move right now — or if something else makes more sense
You’ll also get a feel for whether we’re the kind of people you’d like to work with — no commitment required.
FULL TRANSPARENCY: We hope that a few people who call will book in with us, of course! But there is absolutely no obligation to do so.
It is just a nice thing to be able to do for the community, and the odd person who does choose to book in will make up for all the people who don't.
We would like to think that it might make life easier for a few people who are stuck and don't know what to do!
If that sounds it might be helpful for you, give us a call on 8356 1000 or book online at bit.ly/AdelaideWestOnline.
Lisa would love to chat! 👋
*Adelaide residents only, we don't have the resources to field Australia-wide phone calls!
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Contact The Practice
Send a message to Adelaide West Physio + Pilates Headache Clinic:
Read our story and see if we sound like your kind of people!
to provide a reliable and professional service with the highest level of expertise, using the best current research, science and consensus.
to help our patients reach their maximum potential of their physical health and quality of life by establishing and working towards the patients’ own goals.
to make use of the power of education and self-management principles wherever possible.
to provide our services in a friendly, supportive and caring environment, by enthusiastic practitioners, with acknowledgement of the importance of psychological health as part of total health.
We aren’t part of a franchise – we don’t dance to the tune of a head office.
If our customers or one of our staff suggests an improvement to our practice, we can just do it!
We value our continuing education very highly – we each attend external courses throughout the year and we invest in our physios to do so. Plus we hold two sessions of one hour of continuing education each week.
In other words, that’s two hours each week to improve the outcomes for our customers and clients.
The end result? Our customers get results faster and save money and time.
You should feel really welcome to give feedback – good or bad, feedback is the only way that we know how we are doing as a clinic.
We always want to know how we can improve.
Some of our services are quite special – there aren’t many practices in Adelaide with:
- a Headache and Migraine clinic and a Watson Headache Certified Practitioner
- Credentialed McKenzie Method therapists and a focus on the well-researched McKenzie Method
- our knowledge and passion for pain biology and novel approaches to persistent pain
- involvement in studies with UniSA and Return To Work SA
- physios with an in-depth understanding of strength and conditioning
- regular GLA:D exercise classes for knee and hip osteoarthritis management
You can be sure that we are using the best evidence to back up our treatment methods – you won’t find us using outdated concepts, unnecessary or ineffective electrotherapy, or any ‘pseudoscience’ like many sadly do in health.
It means getting your results faster instead of stuck in wasteful and expensive treatment cycles.
We take the time – our appointments are purposely scheduled to give you the time that you need to explain your problem and so that we can really listen. You won’t feel bundled out of the door with a bunch of unanswered questions. You will have our undivided attention for your whole appointment.
We want you to understand your problem. You need to understand it to get the best results.
We make an effort to stay in touch – we want to make sure that you get exactly the outcome that you are looking for.
We follow up with all our clients because we aren’t satisfied until you are.
We offer 5 guarantees on your visits - there aren’t many places that offer guarantees in health care! You can read more about them here.
This is a sign of how much we believe in our therapists and front desk staff.
You will know exactly what is going on - if you have something wrong, there is nothing quite like having a clear explanation of what is wrong, a plan of attack of how you are going to get better and an estimate of your recovery time.
We provide you with a clear plan of attack and an estimate of the number of treatment sessions required to get you better
