Spine-focused physiotherapy clinic
Our practitioners develop a depth of clinical knowledge in spinal assessment, diagnosis and rehabilitation. Whether your condition is straightforward or has been difficult to resolve, you will be seen by someone who understands the spine specifically.
Spinal physiotherapy is a focused approach to assessing, diagnosing and managing conditions of the cervical, thoracic and lumbar spine. At The MSK Studio in Adelaide, it combines hands-on manual therapy, targeted exercise rehabilitation and movement retraining to reduce pain, restore function and build the physical capacity needed to manage your spinal health long-term. What distinguishes spinal physiotherapy from general physiotherapy is the depth of assessment, rather than treating back or neck pain as a generic complaint, we assess each case to identify the specific structure involved and why it is behaving the way it is.
Spinal physiotherapy at The MSK Studio covers the full range of cervical, thoracic and lumbar spine conditions. We regularly assess and manage low back pain, neck pain, sciatica and lumbar radiculopathy, disc bulge and disc herniation, facet joint dysfunction, sacroiliac joint dysfunction, headaches and migraines with a cervical component, shoulder pain, and pre and post-operative rehabilitation following spinal surgery. Whether your condition is acute or long-standing, our approach begins with a thorough assessment to establish what is driving your symptoms, and builds from there.
This depends on your specific procedure and your surgeon’s protocol, which is why we contact your surgeon directly before your first post-operative appointment at The MSK Studio. For decompression procedures such as a microdiscectomy or laminectomy, physiotherapy often begins within one to two weeks of discharge, focusing initially on safe movement retraining and early mobilisation. Spinal fusion involves a more conservative early timeline given the bone healing required, though guided movement and functional activity begins sooner than most clients expect.
Yes, low back pain is the most common presentation at our Adelaide clinic, and in the majority of cases it responds well to physiotherapy. The key is identifying what is actually driving the pain. Low back pain can arise from the lumbar discs, facet joints, sacroiliac joint, surrounding musculature, or a combination of these structures and each requires a different treatment approach. At The MSK Studio, assessment establishes the specific pain source before treatment begins. From there, management combines hands-on therapy to address the acute irritation with a progressive rehabilitation program to restore spinal load tolerance and reduce the likelihood of recurrence.
