Many people suffer neck and back pain. Spinal conditions include a "crick in the neck", sciatica, back ache and stiffness amongst other things. Back and neck pain are extremely common and arise for many reasons, (bending, lifting and sitting being common causes). Many people live with their spinal pain unnecessarily. Treatment and exercise may help these conditions significantly.

This category includes injuries such as sprained ankles, twisted knees, hamstring strains, dislocated shoulders, tennis elbows and calf muscle tears. Sports injuries can be suffered at home just as easily as on the sporting field and you don't have to be a sports person to suffer them!

Many headaches can be as a result of a problem with the upper three vertebrae in the neck and their surrounding muscles. Headache symptoms may include pain at the base of the skull, pain behind the eyes, and a ache in the forehead or temple region and even nausea, light sensitivity or watery eyes. Headaches and migraines can in many instances be reduced or eliminated with appropriate treatment.

Muscle injuries can occur at work, sport or during leisure times. These can include such things as hamstring tears during sprinting and calf tears playing tennis. Muscle pain can also develop in muscles that are worked hard. Physiotherapy techniques such as massage, stretching and strengthening can help alleviate muscle pain and help strained muscles heal.

Twisted knees and sprained ankles are very common injuries. These types of injuries normally involve damage to ligaments. The result is a stiff, swollen joint, sometimes with lots of bruising. Physiotherapy can help to reduce swelling and restore function to sprained joints.

Tendons and ligaments are soft tissue structures. Tendons generally join muscles to bones while ligaments join bones to bones (usually to stabilize a joint). These structures can be damaged and painful. Physiotherapy can reduce the pain and help the healing.

Overuse injuries are somtimes called repetitive strain injuries. These are often injuries that build up over time. They may originate from a very small initial injury but repeated stress to the injured area prevents full healing and the injury remains or possibly becomes worse. Examples of overuse injuries are tennis elbow, achilles tendonitis and jumpers knee. Treatment of these injuries involves a very thorough assessment. It is important to look at technique and associated muscle tightness. Treatment includes correcting training, technique and equipment faults that may affect the injured area.

Many joints become arthritic with years of use. Arthritic joints can be swollen, painful, and stiff. Physiotherapy can help reduce swelling and pain and improve range of movement. Physiotherapists can teach people with arthritic conditions how best to manage their condition and reduce flare ups.

Incontinence is a common problem affecting 2 million Australians of all ages. Weakened pelvic floor muscles, damage or disease to the bladder or bowel may cause incontinence. This may be the result of: childbirth, menopause, constipation, weight gain, prostate problems, chronic cough, trauma or neurological diseases and multiple sclerosis/stroke.

The physical strain and hormonal changes that occur in pregnancy and effect the women in early motherhood can result in neck, back, pelvic joint and coccyx pain. Physiotherapy can provide treatment and advice on these problems, also on safe and appropriate exercise, childbirth education, postnatal perineal/pelvic floor dysfunction and breast conditions that may result from breast-feeding, eg: blocked ducts.