Manual Therapy and Hands-On Physiotherapy in Adelaide
Hands-on treatment for stiff joints and tight, sore muscles. We use it to ease pain and get you moving, then exercises make the change last.
- Who it helps
- People with a stiff neck or back, a joint that will not move freely, or tight, sore muscles.
- What happens
- Assessment first, then joint mobilisation, soft tissue work or nerve gliding, whichever suits the problem.
- How it feels
- Firm, sometimes uncomfortable, never sharp. You may feel a little sore the next day.
- Cost
- $98 first visit, or bulk billed with a GP care plan. Health fund claims on HICAPS.
Your visit, step by step
We find the cause
We work out which joint, muscle or nerve is behind the pain before we treat it.
Hands-on treatment
Pressure, stretching or gentle mobilising. We explain each technique first, and you can stop at any time.
Then exercises
One or two simple exercises from the first visit, so the change holds. Visits spread out as you improve.
Often helps with
- Stiff neck
- Lower back pain
- Stiff shoulder
- Tight, sore muscles
- Pain down an arm or leg
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Meet the team you will see
Every appointment is with one of our own AHPRA-registered physiotherapists. See their background, the conditions each of them focuses on, and how they approach your assessment and treatment.
Common questions
Is it the same as a massage?
No. A massage relaxes muscle. Manual therapy treats a specific joint, muscle or nerve found in your assessment, and comes with exercises to keep the change.
Does it hurt?
It can be uncomfortable, but it should never be sharp. Tell us and we change it or stop.
How many sessions will I need?
If it is working, you should notice within two or three visits. If nothing is changing, we change the plan.
Read more about manual therapy
It is not, on its own, the whole answer. The evidence is consistent that hands-on treatment works best paired with active work, and thin when used alone over months. So we use it for what it is good at, and we are straightforward about what it does not do.
What hands-on treatment involves
- Joint mobilisation — graded pressure through a stiff joint to restore the movement it has lost
- Joint manipulation — a quick, small-range technique, used selectively and never without explaining it first
- Soft tissue and trigger point work — pressure and stretch through guarded or tight muscle
- Myofascial release — sustained work through the tissue layers around a muscle
- Nerve mobilisation — gentle gliding of an irritated nerve, for pain that travels down an arm or leg
- Dry needling — a fine needle into a tight band of muscle, which has its own page
What it is good at, and what it is not
Hands-on treatment is at its best early, when pain is high and movement is guarded. It can settle a locked neck, free a stiff rib joint, and drop the pain of an acute back enough that you can move again. That change is often quick, and sometimes it happens within a single session.
What it does not do is build capacity. A joint that moves freely on the table and then fails under load has not finished its treatment. This is why we pair hands-on work with exercise rehabilitation from the first appointment rather than the fifth, and why a plan built entirely on passive treatment is one we would question.
Is it painful?
It should be uncomfortable at worst, and only where discomfort is useful. Deep tissue work on a guarded muscle can be firm, and you may be sore for a day afterwards in the way you are sore after exercise. Sharp pain is a signal to stop, not something to breathe through, and you can say so at any point — nothing about the technique requires you to endure it.
Manipulation, where it is used at all, is explained and consented to before it happens. If you would rather not have it, the rest of the plan works without it.
How many sessions
Fewer than people expect. A course of hands-on treatment that is working usually shows it within two or three sessions, and the sessions should get further apart as the active work takes over. If treatment is being repeated weekly for months with the same effect each time and no lasting change, something in the plan needs to change — and we would rather say so than keep booking you in.
Book an appointment
Same-day appointments available. Book online in about a minute, or call. No referral needed.
New patient? Choose Initial Consultation. Your assessment is free, and treatment is $49 when you book your second session, otherwise $98. Offer terms
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