Physio for tradies, by a working tradie.

So when you tell me your knees are gone from kneeling on slab all week, I’m not nodding along from a textbook. I was on a job site this morning. I know what your day looked like.

The pain I see in tradies every weekend

Most tradies I treat come in with one of four problems:

• Lower back — from lifting awkward loads, twisting under benches, or carrying gear up scaffolds. Often gets worse over the years, not better.
• Knees — kneeling on hard floors, squatting in tight spots, jumping in and out of trenches. Pain at the front of the knee, around the kneecap, or deep in the joint.
• Shoulders — overhead work is brutal. Sparkies, plasterers, painters, and anyone running cable in a roof space ends up here eventually.
• Hands and wrists — repeated gripping, vibration from power tools, awkward angles. Carpal tunnel, tendon pain, and grip strength loss are common.

Different trades. Same patterns. Almost always treatable, and almost always neglected too long.

Why most physio doesn’t work for tradies

Here’s what I noticed before I started practising this way: nearly every tradie I worked alongside had been to a physio at some point. Most said the same thing — “They didn’t really do anything. Just gave me some exercises.”

That’s not by accident. Most physio clinics today run on a high-volume, exercise-and-education model. You walk in, get a quick assessment, hear something about your posture, and walk out with a printout.

For a tradie, that approach falls apart fast. You’ve already done a full day of physical work before you ever get to the clinic. Your body has lifted, kneeled, twisted, gripped, and braced for eight or ten hours. More exercise isn’t the answer. More exercise is what got you here.

That’s why in my clinic, exercise is homework — not the appointment itself. The appointment is hands-on work: manual therapy, dry needling, soft tissue release. Actually getting to the structures causing the pain.

How I work around your job

• Weekend appointments only— I’m open Saturday and Sunday morning so you don’t have to lose a day on site.
• Treatment that doesn’t leave you wrecked for Monday— hands-on work timed and paced so you can still go to work. If something’s going to flare you up, I tell you before we do it.
• Realistic advice— no “stop lifting for two months.” If you can’t stop, we figure out what you can change.
• Direct answers about timeframes— how many sessions, how much it’ll cost, when you should feel better. No padding the schedule.

What a first session looks like

• Quick chat about your job, the actual movements you do, and how the pain showed up
• Hands-on assessment — I’ll move you, palpate the area, work out what’s going on
• Treatment in the same session: manual therapy, dry needling if it’s the right tool, soft tissue work
• A short list of things to do (or not do) at home and on the job — only what actually matters

You leave knowing what’s going on, what to expect, and when to come back.