physiotherapy

Our Waiheke physiotherapy service uses a unique approach, combining Connect Therapy, the Thoracic Ring Approach, and the latest evidence-based physiotherapy techniques from around the world.

We focus on identifying the root cause of your pain or injury, improving movement habits, and teaching you how to move well for long-term recovery — not just short-term relief.

Our initial physiotherapy consultations are one hour, longer than the standard New Zealand appointment. This allows time to:

  • Fully understand what’s driving your symptoms

  • Provide high-quality, hands-on treatment

  • Integrate movement in our Pilates and strength studio

  • Ensure you understand your home exercises and why they matter

The result? Fewer appointments, faster recovery, and longer-lasting results.

⬇️ Scroll down for more pricing, including shorter sessions and women’s health.

Physio with acc

1 Hour - $80 Senior Physio / $65 Associate Physio

40 Min - $65 Senior Physio / $55 Associate Physio

Physio private sessions

1 Hour - $140 Senior Physio / $125 Associate Physio

40 Min - $120 Senior Physio / $105 Associate Physio

BACK PAIN RELIEF

  • If you've got lower back pain, stiffness or an ache - it's very tempting to think that it's nothing, that it will go away on its own. Or, you pass it off as having just slept "awkwardly" or that it's just a spasm that everyone gets. If that’s happening to you, you’re not alone – and we hear this type of thing all the time.

    In fact, lower back pain is the most common injury we see in our Waiheke Physio clinic. When it comes to living with back pain, everybody we see wants to know how to get rid of it quickly. We can help you with that.

  • “Help I Just Pulled My Back What Should I Do?”

    “WHY AM I STILL SUFFERING WITH BACK PAIN AFTER PUTTING UP WITH IT FOR 6 MONTHS (OR MORE)."

    “OH MY GOD I CAN BARELY MOVE. WILL I BE CRIPPLED FOR LIFE?”

    Maybe your back pain was caused by doing something like lifting, gardening or over training or maybe it was caused from months of poor posture in front of the computer at home during lockdown that caused your back muscles to become weaker. We are here to help you.

    • If your back pain is severe, bed rest may be needed temporarily, but if at all possible it should not be more than a day. When you can, get out and move within pain limits!

    • Try these awesome exercises initially in our blog post “Help i’ve just hurt my back”

    • Avoid high impact activities but start light activities as soon as you can, such as short walks. Slow movement is good!

    • Try to do most of the normal things you do at work and at home except heavy lifting or twisting may need to be modified initially.

    • Posture is very important. When you are sitting or standing, have your shoulders relaxed back and you should feel tall.

    • Good posture allows your muscles and joints to work effectively. When sitting, sit in a hard chair not the couch! Ideally with a rolled up towel in the small of your back for support

    • Avoid long periods of sitting or standing. Regularly change position and stretch, or get up and move frequently.

    • If you have had back pain for more than 3 months watch this.

    • Get a thorough diagnosis, an understanding of what is causing your pain, and hands on physiotherapy to help decompress your stiff back joints and muscles and get you back to what you love as soon as possible. Simply click here to book at our Waiheke island Physio clinic.

    • Quickly reduce your pain and stiffness within a couple of sessions through our hands on techniques and use of acupuncture needles that relax the muscles and loosen the joints to relieve your pain and quickly.

    • Help you understand the root cause of your back pain.

    • Film your faulty movement patterns and posture so you can see for yourself why certain areas are stiff and sore.

    • Get you to begin moving again safely in our exercise and Pilates studio with a program to do at home as well.

    • Help you sleep better by removing the pain that is giving you broken sleep.

    • Help you get back to living a pain free life and return to your healthy active lifestyle.

knee injuries

  • Knee pain can be really frustrating and affect your day to day. Your knee can hurt going up and down stairs, on long walks or half way through your run and they can even start "making funny noises". No matter what caused it, we have you covered. We will identify what has caused your knee pain, which muscles aren't working and which muscles need to be stretched and work with you on the best approach to get you to a full recovery.

    • Don't sit cross legged or lock your knees when you stand.

    • Don't walk or run through pain. This just increases swelling and inhibits your muscles from working properly.

    • Check our blog for our favourite pain relief tapings or simply click here for my fave.

    • If you have had enough of knee pain and just want to get back to what your love with confidence in your knee simply click HERE to book in at our waiheke physiotherapy clinic

    • Film your walking/running to identify any technique or biomechanical faults.

    • Tape or bracing.

    • Dry needling and massage to reduce pressure on your knee.

    • An individualised strength and stretch session.

    • Get you on our Better Knees 8 Week Program based on the latest scientific studies to be published.

running and triathlon injuries

  • Running injuries can occur because of sudden changes in load for example you are used to doing a 50km week and you spike to 80 kms or you add an extra speed session. Or they can happen because of a change in shoes or orthotics or because of poor technique/ bio mechanical issues. We have done extensive running injury training with some of the best running injury specialists in the world. We will film your technique, check your shoe choice and exclude biomechanical issues.

    We have a fair amount of experience treating runners and triathletes having been working with some of Australia’s leading athletes for years.

    • Look for patterns, is your pain worse in the morning, during the run or after a run. Are you able to run 5kms before the pain kicks in or more? Does it swell?

    • Have you changed anything lately? These questions help you identify what you can change to get you back running.

    • If there is swelling don't run until you have seen a specialist. Ice and compress the area to reduce swelling. Reducing swelling helps with muscle function.

    • Never run through pain. If your pain doesn't warm up and disappear after a few hundred metres see a specialist as soon as possible.

    • Digital Running Analysis

    • Program design

    • Running technique modification

    • Dry Needling and Massage

    • Strength and stretch program

FOOT AND ANKLE PAIN

  • FOOT OR ANKLE PAIN? YOU ARE IN LUCK, WE LOVE FEET!

    If you've sprained your ankle or have niggling foot pain - it's very tempting to "walk it off", that it will go away on its own. I am never sure why the poor foot and ankle just gets ignored! They need TLC just the same as every other part of the body. In our opinion, given they hold us up, more so!

    Maybe your ankle pain was caused by a rolled ankle 3 months ago, changing your shoes recently, changing your running style or you just have no idea it just started hurting! We actually love feet. We are known as the Foot and Ankle Physio Clinic and would love to help you.

  • “I JUST ROLLED MY ANKLE AND I HAVE MY FINAL IN 3 WEEKS.”

    “WHEN I RUN I GET THIS SHARP PAIN ON THE INSIDE OR OUTSIDE OF MY ANKLE or under my heel."

    “I FEEL LIKE I COULD GO OVER ON MY ANKLE ANY SECOND.”

    “THE FIRST FEW STEPS IN THE MORNING ARE EXCRUCIATING.”

    • Compress your ankle as soon as possible. Use tubigrip or compression bandage. The difference in recovery times of those who compressed the ankle in the acute stage versus those who didn't is quite impressive.

    • Don't take anti inflammatories in the initial few days. We are programmed to take voltaren after an ankle foot sprain. Don't. It has been shown to inhibit scar tissue production which is what we actually want. Use ice or panadol for pain relief.

    • Do not drink alcohol in the first few days. Alchohol dilates your blood vessels. This leads to more bleeding and swelling.

    • Get in some slightly supportive runners as soon as possible.Read this blog we wrote called

    • “Help i’ve just sprained my ankle”

    • Reduce your walking load OR consider rest days (bike/ swim).

    • Get a thorough diagnosis, an understanding of what is causing your foot and ankle pain, and hands on physiotherapy to help your recovery and get you back to what you love as soon as possible. To get your foot or ankle injury sorted once and for all simply click HERE to book at our Waiheke Physio clinic

    • Quickly take away your pain and stiffness within a couple of sessions through our hands on techniques and use of acupuncture needles that relax the muscles and loosen the joints to relieve your pain and quickly, tape acupuncture needles.

    • Tape the area to promote healing and get you back to your healthier self as soon as possible.

    • Help you understand the root cause of your foot and ankle pain.

    • Video Analysis of faulty movement patterns and posture to better identify why certain areas are stiff and sore.

    • Give you an exercise plan and teach you how to strengthen your neck and improve your posture for long standing relief.

    • Help you sleep better by removing the pain that is giving you broken sleep.

    • Help you get back to living a pain free life and return to your healthy active lifestyle.

sports injuries

  • If you've hurt yourself playing sport and want to recover quickly for your next match or for the upcoming season then read on!

    Sports Injuries are inevitable. As Sport Physio’s we understand the importance of needing to make the rest of the season and to do absolutely everything possible to get your body to heal quickly and get you back on the field with minimal cardio, strength or power loss. We have worked with Gold Medalists, Olympians, professional triathletes and Wallabies and we would love to look after you.

    We are passionate sports people ourselves with our staff participating sports from soccer and cricket to dancing, muay thai and Brazilian Jujitsu. We know how important making the next game, match or event is for both your physical and mental well being and would love to help you.

    • If you think you have sprained a joint or strained a muscle:

    • Compress the area as soon as possible

    • Use ice/panadol over anti inflammatories as this can disrupt scar tissue production which is what you want.

    • Minimise your walking for the first couple of days if you can barely walk. This will reduce the damage done.

    • Don't train again until you have seen us to minimise any further damage

    • Get a thorough diagnosis, an understanding of what is causing your pain and get hands on physiotherapy to help decompress your stiff back joints and muscles and an exercise plan to get you back to what you love as soon as possible.

    • Quickly take away your pain and stiffness within a couple of sessions through our hands on techniques and use of acupuncture needles that relax the muscles and loosen the joints to relieve your pain and quickly, tape acupuncture needles.

    • Tape the area to promote healing and get you back to your healthier self as soon as possible.

    • Help you understand the root cause of the pain. In certain cases we will film the way you move to explain why certain areas are stiff and sore.

    • Provide you with an accurate diagnosis and same day imaging for urgent matters and let you know exactly how long you will be out.

    • Give you an exercise plan and teach you how to strengthen your problem area and long standing relief.

    • Help you sleep better by removing the pain that is giving you broken sleep.

    • Help you get back to living a pain free life and return to your healthy active lifestyle.

hip and pelvic pain

  • “WHY IS THE PAIN ON THE OUTSIDE OF MY HIP?”

    “WHY DOES IT HURT SO MUCH AT NIGHT?"

    “EVERY TIME I TRAIN THE FOLLOWING MORNING MY GROIN OUTSIDE HIP PAIN IS AGONY”

  • Maybe your hip pain was caused by doing something like walking with your friends, f45 or running or maybe it was caused from years of poor posture such as ballet dancers being taught to “tighten their buttocks as tight as possible (really bad idea). Finally to all those mums out there no matter when you had your children unfortunately this is a common mum injury. This caused your glutes or core to become weaker. We actually love hips. We are lucky in New Zealand to have some of the worlds leading research in hip Physiotherapy. Nick has done extensive training on how to manage all types of hip pain or trochanteric bursitis and pelvic pain backed by the latest research meaning you can be confident your treatment plan is based on solid scientific evidence.

    • If your pain pain is severe, bed rest may be needed, but if at all possible it should not be more than a day. we have loads of great advice on good sleeping posture here

    • Avoid high impact activities but start light activities as soon as you can, such as short walks. Slow movement is good! Take smaller strides than normal!

    • Try to do most of the normal things you do at work and at home except heavy lifting or twisting may need to be modified.

    • Posture is very important. When you are sitting or standing, have your shoulders relaxed back and you should feel tall. Good posture allows your muscles and joints to work effectively. When sitting, sit in a hard chair not the couch! Ideally with a rolled up towel in the small of your back for support. Don’t cross your legs with a hip injury!

    • Avoid long periods of sitting or standing. Regularly change position and stretch, or get up and move frequently.

    • Get a thorough diagnosis, an understanding of what is causing your pain, and hands on physiotherapy to help decompress your stiff hip joint and muscles and get you back to what you love as soon as possible. Click the contact us button to make an appointment at our waiheke physio location today!

    • Quickly take away your pain and stiffness within a couple of sessions through our hands on techniques and use of isometric hip pain relieving exercises.

    • Tape the area to promote healing and get you back to your healthier self as soon as possible.

    • Help you understand the root cause of your hip pain.

    • Video Analysis of faulty movement patterns and posture to better identify why certain areas are stiff and sore.

    • Give you an exercise plan and teach you how to strengthen your hip and improve your posture for long standing relief.

    • Help you sleep better by removing the pain that is giving you broken sleep.

    • Help you get back to living a pain free life and return to your healthy active lifestyle.

PUT AN END TO NECK PAIN AND STIFFNESS

  • If you've got neck pain, stiffness or an ache - it's very tempting to think that it will go away on it's own. Or, you pass it off as having just slept "Awkwardly" or that it's just a spam that everyone gets.

    If that's happening to you, you're not alone - and we hear this type of thing all the time. In fact, neck pain is a very common injury we see in our physio clinic.

  • “OH MY GOD I CAN’T MOVE MY NECK HELP!"

    “I CAN’T GET COMFORTABLE IN MY SEAT AT WORK. I ALWAYS NEED TO CRACK IT”

    “I CAN’T TURN TO THE LEFT?”

    “I THINK MY HEADACHES ARE COMING FROM MY NECK”

  • Maybe your neck pain was caused by sleeping in a different bed, gardening or high intensity training or maybe caused from sitting in front of the computer for a long period of time that caused your neck muscles to become weaker.

    • Quickly take away your pain and stiffness within a couple of sessions through our hands on techniques and use of acupuncture needles that relax the muscles and loosen the joints to relieve your pain and quickly, tape acupuncture needles.

    • Tape the area to promote healing and get you back to your healthier self as soon as possible.

    • Help you understand the root cause of your foot and ankle pain.

    • Video Analysis of faulty movement patterns and posture to better identify why certain areas are stiff and sore.

    • Give you an exercise plan and teach you how to strengthen your neck and improve your posture for long standing relief.

    • Help you sleep better by removing the pain that is giving you broken sleep.

    • Help you get back to living a pain free life and return to your healthy active lifestyle.

    • Avoid working on a laptop on the couch.

    • Sit in a hard chair with a rolled up towel in a small of your back.

    • Avoid slouching over a laptop and get a seperate keyboard and mouse.

    • Avoid high impact activities but start light activities as soon as you can such as short walks. Slow movement is good!

    • You may find applying heat packs soothing in the first day or two.

    • Get a thorough diagnosis, an understanding of what is causing your pain, and hands on physiotherapy to help decompress your stiff neck joints and muscles and get you back to what you love as soon as possible. Click HERE to book at our waiheke physio clinic

Rib and Spinal Pain

  • The rib cage has been poorly understood for many years. The pioneer of rib cage treatment has been Dr LJ Lee (Our clinic mentor). Some of our Physiotherapists assist Dr LJ Lee around the world teaching Physiotherapists how to treat the rib cage. All of our physiotherapists have done advanced training in the treatment of the rib cage.

    What does this mean for you? If you are suffering from rib cage or spinal pain you know that you are experiencing the most advanced and research based treatment approach for getting you out of pain as soon as possible. We are commonly called the “rib physios”

    You can check out more about our “Thoracic Ring Approach” here

    • If your rib pain is severe, bed rest may be needed, but if at all possible it should not be more than a day.

    • Avoid high impact activities but start light activities as soon as you can such as short walks. Slow movement is good!

    • Try to do most of the normal things you do at work and at home except heavy lifting or twisting may need to be modified.

    • You may find applying heat packs soothing in the first day or two.

    • Posture is very important. When you are sitting or standing, have your shoulders relaxed back and you should feel tall. Good posture allows your muscles and joints to work effectively. When sitting sit in a hard chair not the couch! Ideally with a rolled up towel in the small of your back for support

    • Avoid long periods of sitting or standing. Regularly change position and stretch often or get up and move frequently.

    • See us when you are able to get out of bed to begin treatment to get you back quickly!

    • Get a thorough diagnosis, an understanding of what is causing your pain, and hands on physiotherapy to help decompress your stiff joints and muscles and get you back to what you love as soon as possible.

    • Quickly take away your pain and stiffness within a couple of sessions through our hands on thoracic ring approach and use of acupuncture needles that relax the muscles and loosen the joints to relieve your pain and quickly, tape acupuncture needles.

    • Tape the area to promote healing and get you back to your healthier self as soon as possible.

    • Help you understand the root cause of the pain. In certain cases we will film the way you move to explain why certain areas are stiff and sore.

    • Video Analysis of faulty movement patterns and posture.

    • Give you an exercise plan and teach you how to strengthen your problem area and long standing relief.

    • Help you sleep better by removing the pain that is giving you broken sleep.

    • Help you get back to living a pain free life and return to your healthy active lifestyle.

  • “IT HURST TO BREATHE SO BADLY!"

    “I CAN’T GET COMFORTABLE IN BED AND IT'S AFFECTING MY SLEEP.”

    “COUGHING, LAUGHING, BENDING... IT ALL HURTS!”

    Maybe your pain was caused by doing something like lifting, gardening or high intensity training or maybe it was caused from years of poor posture.

dry needling

  • Dry needling can reduce your pain, increase flexibility and improve the way your muscles work. Dry needling is often used as a form of muscular trigger point therapy (muscle tight and sore spots), and is an effective way of alleviating soft tissue tension in the presence of pain. At Connect Studio dry needling is used alongside a range of other hands on treatment tools to better get you out of pain and moving better faster!

book with us

Book your initial or follow up physiotherapy consultation here…

Book Now

Physio with acc

1 Hour - $80 Senior Physio / $65 Associate Physio

40 Min - $65 Senior Physio / $55 Associate Physio

30 Min - $55 Senior Physio / $45 Associate Physio

1 Hour Women’s Health - $125

40 Min Women’s Health - $85

30 Min Women’s Health - $65

We can do ACC forms without a doctor referral in your session

Physio private sessions

1 Hour - $140 Senior Physio / $125 Associate Physio

40 Min - $120 Senior Physio / $105 Associate Physio

30 Min - $110 Senior Physio / $95 Associate Physio

1 Hour Women’s Health - $190

40 Min Women’s Health - $140

30 Min Women’s Health - $110

  • Connect Therapy

    WHAT IS CONNECT THERAPY?

    ConnectTherapy is a whole person, total body approach to discovering why you are experiencing your problem or pain. It is really useful if you have had ongoing problems and old injuries for weeks, months or years and you feel multiple areas of your body are involved.

    Using this unique and revolutionary framework we not only look at how your body moves but how all aspects of your life are contributing to the symptoms you’re feeling in a more holistic approach to your traditional Physiotherapy clinic.

    By looking at how everything in your body is connected, we aim to identify the reason for your pain. We do this by recognising the true underlying cause of your symptoms which could be other regions of your body that are not supporting optimal movement causing your painful bits to be the victim.

    Your ankle sprain 5 years ago that you think is no longer a problem may be causing your body to change the way you walk and stand, leading to hip pain. Maybe the dislocated shoulder you had when playing rugby might be causing your upper back and neck to be stiff because these areas were helping to look after your shoulder when it was sore. Or the old twisted knee you suffered may no longer hurt but the muscle imbalances that developed could be contributing to your lower back pain.

    These regions, the ones that are the underlying cause of the symptoms you’re experiencing now, are known in ConnectTherapy as Drivers. By fixing the drivers as well as reducing your pain we get a far more long term solution as opposed to first aid.

  • WHAT IS THE THORACIC RING APPROACH?

    The Thoracic Ring Approach is the innovative and revolutionary 3D assessment and treatment model used for addressing issues with the thoracic spine and rib cage that has been created by our mentor Dr. LJ Lee.

    Traditional physiotherapy (as well as other manual therapies like chiropractic) has viewed the thoracic spine as a very stiff structure and hasn’t really looked at this region of your body as a 3D model. Historically we’ve tried to push, poke, and manipulate the thoracic vertebrae to improve how it moved. The thoracic spine and rib cage were not really assessed as a functional unit.

    LJ’s research into the entire thorax has proven this wrong. The thorax is an incredibly flexible part of your body with many moving parts (think of how much a golfer rotates their upper body during their swing).

    Each thoracic ring is made up of 2 vertebrae in your spine, the ribs on the right and left at each level, and the connections of the ribs into your sternum. Each ring needs to be able to move independently of one another and be controlled as a functioning unit.

    A dysfunctional thorax can be the reason, or Driver, for many different types of pain. Consider all the rotator cuff strengthening you have been doing to help your shoulder pain; maybe the missing link to finally feeling better is the part of the body your shoulder sits on, the thorax. What about all the core rehab you’ve been doing; potentially your muscles aren’t functioning optimally because the upper part of your core, the thorax, isn’t able to move the way it should. Maybe the constant tightness you feel across the top of your back and shoulders that won’t release with massage needs to be looked at from a 3D perspective.

    Nick has undergone extensive post-graduate training in ConnectTherapy and the Thoracic Ring Approach (and assisted Dr LJ Lee in teaching the models to other Physios for many years!)