Physiotherapy for Over-60s in Adelaide

• Osteoarthritis of the knee, hip, hands and spine. The evidence is clear that the right exercise reduces arthritis pain and delays or avoids surgery; it is the first-line treatment, not the last resort.
• Rehab after a knee or hip replacement, continuing what the hospital started, closer to home and without the wait.
• Balance and falls. A fall after 65 changes lives. Balance can be trained like any other skill, and the research on falls-prevention exercise is some of the strongest in physiotherapy.
• Back and neck pain that has been around for years and is now limiting what you do.
• Shoulder problems that stop you reaching, dressing or sleeping.
• Getting going again after illness, a hospital stay, or a long spell of doing less.

Slowly enough to be safe and quickly enough to matter. The first visit is a careful assessment of what hurts, what you can do, and what you want to be able to do: the garden, the grandchildren, the walk to the shops, the bowls. Treatment is hands-on where it helps and exercise-based throughout, pitched at your level and progressed as you get stronger. We explain everything, write the exercises down in large print, and involve a family member if you want one there.

For people who find the clinic hard to get to, we offer home visits. For those who need gentler loading, the warm-water pool takes the weight off sore joints while they get stronger.

The hospital gets you walking. We get you back to your life. Rehab after a knee or hip replacement is a few months of progressive work on movement, strength and confidence, and the people who do it properly get a far better result from the same operation. We coordinate with your surgeon's protocol and report back to your GP.

• You have stopped doing something you enjoy because of pain or because you do not trust your balance.
• A knee or hip that limits how far you can walk.
• A fall in the last year, or a near-miss that frightened you.
• Stiffness in the morning that takes more than half an hour to ease.
• A joint replacement coming up, or one behind you that never fully came good.

Age is not a reason to put up with any of these. Most of them improve a great deal with the right program.

Most patients over 60 with a long-term condition are eligible for a GP Chronic Condition Management Plan, which gives up to five physiotherapy sessions a year that we bulk bill in full: no gap, nothing to pay on the day. Ask your GP. DVA Gold and White Card holders are billed to DVA with a GP referral. Otherwise sessions are a standard private fee with your health fund rebate claimed on the spot. Our ways to pay page has the detail.