Canterbury Sport & Spinal Physiotherapy

Providing the best solution for your injury

Accurate diagnosis; hands-on, evidence-based treatment; exercise prescription and management strategies that get you sorted

Treatment

Whatever your injury we provide expert advice and management strategies to help you get fast, effective results. We aim not only to resolve your symptoms but help you to understand the cause of your problem.

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About Us

Our friendly, expert team is led by past NZ Winter Olympic Lead Team Physiotherapist, Antony Bush. With 20-years’ experience in both spinal pain and musculoskeletal sports injuries, Antony has worked with a wide variety of elite international athletes.

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Contact Us

If you are unsure whether physiotherapy is right for you, please do not hesitate to contact us. We are happy to discuss the appropriateness of different options, or where necessary, refer you on to the appropriate specialist.

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  • Accurate Diagnosis

    Every time.

  • Expert treatment

    Using the latest, up to date research.

  • One on One

    Guaranteed with no interuptions.

  • Professional Advice

    To get it right.

  • ACC Cover

    No GP referral required.

  • Exercise Prescription

    To get you strong and pain free

Don't put up with Low Back Pain

Download The Back Fix eBook to learn the real and effective strategies to fix your low back pain yourself.
The Back Fix

Expert Advice & Injury Management

Whatever your injury we provide simple, clear and effective strategies to help you get fast, lasting results. We aim not only to resolve your symtoms but help you to understand the cause of your problem so that you never have to see anyone for the same injury again - a solution, not just a band aid.

We deliver high-quality, unrushed, one-on-one sessions for both ACC and private patients.

You don’t need a doctor’s referral to see us, if you haven’t filled out an ACC claim, you can fill one out at the clinic.

We treat a wide range of sports injuries and spinal complaints, from acute injuries, to overuse and chronic conditions.

If you are unsure whether physiotherapy is the right for you, please do not hesitate to contact us. We are happy to discuss the appropriateness of different treatment options, or where necessary, refer you on to the appropriate specialist.

How to fix our low back pain

A staggering 80% of us experience it at some stage in our lives, at any given time up to a quarter of adults are suffering from it, it has the highest claim rate of any medical condition, yet according to recent research the great percentage of treatment we are receiving for low back pain is unhelpful, if not harmful.

Recent research shows that although traditional ‘passive’ treatments (like a back rub or manipulation - where you lie there whilst someone does something to you) can create short-term relief of symptoms, they don’t have a long-term impact on your outcome; meta-analysis (crunching all the back-pain research data) shows that these traditional ‘treatments’ are no more effective than taking simple painkillers such as paracetamol. Download The Back Fix eBook to learn the real and effective lifestyle strategies to fix your back pain yourself

So why pay for the GP and a back rub or manipulation if it is no more effective than Panadol?

Well that’s a good point, because the way to treat low back pain successfully is now completely different and many health practitioners have been slow to respond.

The most effective way to treat low back pain involves a paradigm shift on the part of both the patient and health-practitioner; because it's not what's done to you that’s important - it's what you learn to do for yourself that gets results. Research clearly shows that traditional passive treatments are outperformed by a simple 'self-treatment' approach. So that’s why you should see us. Because a one-hour session receiving passive treatment may give you pain-relief for a period of a few hours, but learning how to move and position yourself painlessly the other 23 hours of the day is the game changer.

In addition to sorting out unhealthy lifestyle habits, learning to move well is one of the key components to fixing your back pain and that’s where we can help. This often involves learning simple ways to adjust your spinal posture and move in a relaxed manner and then building confidence around that. It’s all about learning functional movement strategies so that you can ‘self-manage’ your problem.

Low back pain doesn’t just cost you, it costs all of us, so don’t just sit there if your back is getting no better with traditional passive treatment from your current health-practitioner, ask us to teach you how to self-manage your back pain. Your back at least will thank you for the effort!

Corporate Health & Wellness

Providing expertise and real world experience to help individuals and businesses of all sizes increase their profits.
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Knowing What To Do For Low Back Pain

Our backs are resilient and robust structures...

... But unfortunately there are some very unhelpful and persistent myths surrounding back pain that have tended to foster a reliance on ‘passive’ treatment (like a back rub or manipulation - where you lie there passively whilst someone does something to you). For instance, we know now that backs do not ‘go out’, nor can they be ‘put back in’. We know that disc bulges and degeneration are normal age-related changes and are just as commonly seen in people who don’t have pain. Also, whilst back muscles may tense up and go in to spasm in response to pain or fear of movement they are rarely a primary cause of pain. In fact, 85% of the time our low back pain cannot be directly linked to any structural issue on X-Ray, MRI or CT imaging.

Unfortunately many health professionals tend to over complicate back pain and throw confusing technical terms at their patients.

But in many cases injuring your back is really no different to spraining your ankle and it can often be treated with some simple load management strategies, strengthening and movement advice. The object is to get to get you moving painlessly again as quickly as possible by educating you about how to move, control and self-manage your back pain.

Some people are overly fearful of low back pain and in fact your emotional state plays a huge part in your experience of low back pain.

If you are stressed or depressed and not sleeping for instance, this can amplify your low back pain, which in turn can negatively affect the way you move and posture yourself which can then make the whole thing worse. Mindfulness, relaxation, rest and pacing can all help.

Some of What We Do