Conditions We Treat

Exercise-based Rehabilitation

We use evidence-based rehabilitation/interventions, strength coaching and graded progression of exercise to rehabilitate musculoskeletal injuries, orthopedic conditions and chronic pain. Some of the areas of rehabilitation that Prana Physiotherapy specializes in include: lower back pain/dysfunction, shoulder injuries/dysfunction, anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) rehabilitation, patella femoral syndrome (PFS) dysfunction and post knee/hip replacement with strength/mobility deficit amongst elderly clients.

Breathing Assessments and Treatments

Quality of breath makes a huge difference to our quality of life. This philosophy is fundamental to our treatment methodology. At Prana Physiotherapy, we come across dysfunctional breathing patterns in our clinic regularly. Breathing disorders have a profound impact on health, wellbeing, energy expenditure and potential to function normally. We commonly find breathing pattern disorders (BPD) in patients presenting with tension headaches, neck stiffness and shoulder problems among other more acute conditions such as hyper ventilation syndrome (HVS). We seek to identify such problems and optimize respiratory patterns by using a holistic approach. Our approach includes physiotherapy interventions, structural restoration techniques, mental skills intervention, along with restorative yoga to restore abnormal or dysfunctional breathing patterns. Workshops and classes are coming soon.

Kettlebell (KB) Workshop for Shoulders

This workshop caters for athletes who are participating in sports such as Judo, Jujitsu, throwing and overhead games. We incorporate corrective and strengthening techniques by using KB’s to increase dynamic shoulder stability, proprioceptive work and ipsilateral training for improving movement through the entire kinetic chain.

Strength and Conditioning for Rugby/MMA

We offer a combination of services, ranging from sports physiotherapy and concussion management, to strength and conditioning services specific to martial arts and combat sports. Martial arts is a core area of practice at Prana Physiotherapy.

“The Way of the Warrior” is a home grown system that binds the martial arts traditions and the arts and sports science behind mixed martial arts under one roof, with an aim to create the ultimate fighter’s experience for kiwis and international fighters. (We have recently conducted workshops across the largest chain of MMA gyms in India.)

Knee Osteoarthritis (OA) Focus Sessions

We use individual sessions and small group classes for elderly clients who suffer from chronic pain due to Knee OA. These sessions equip clients with strategies to manage pain and aim at improving their quality of life through functional strength training and orthopedic manual therapy.

Tendinopathy Rehabilitation

We understand that tendinopathy injuries can be quite challenging to manage and may have an adverse impact on daily living. Fortunately, tendinopathy rehabilitation has gone through a paradigm shift in recent years. Principles of mechanotrunsduction have revolutionized treatment procedures and improved our knowledge of tendon pathology, tendon pain management and exercise dosage, resulting in better treatment outcomes. Our physiotherapists incorporate load management principles for rehabilitation and pain relief based on the tendinopathy stage (reactive tendinopathy, tendon disrepair or degenerative tendinopathy). Some of the strength training protocols that may be used are isometrics, negative only training and high-load super slow training for tendinopathy rehabilitation.

Movement Screening

Movement screening is an assessment technique that helps us gain information and understanding of an individual’s movement competency in different planes of motion. It helps us identify faulty movement patterns which, when ignored, will cause micro traumas over a period of time and may lead to tissue damage and injury. The information gained from movement screening helps us design and guide strength training programs without causing further damage to the neural and musculoskeletal system.

Fall Prevention Program

This is a rehabilitative program that uses movement as medicine for people who are at risk of falls, as well as clients living with Parkinsons. We have developed this program by incorporating the principles of strength training, neurophysiotherapy and movement patterns from various forms of martial arts styles like Qigong, Tai Chi and athletic training. The program tackles problems such as freezing, festinating, shuffling gait, proprioceptive deficits and lack of confidence among others. Currently the programs are being tested in individual and small group settings in the community. We aim to conduct clinical trials for this program in the near future.