Alpine Physiotherapy

Alpine Physiotherapy A team of physio’s based in Wānaka. Specialists in sports injuries, rehab and hand therapy.

Working with Olympians since 2015 and love working with Wānaka locals. Fully funded physio for specific knee, back and shoulder injuries under ACC.

Pickleball players, this one's for you!Here are 5x exercises you can use to up your Pickleball game by improving strengt...
25/11/2025

Pickleball players, this one's for you!
Here are 5x exercises you can use to up your Pickleball game by improving strength, coordination and helping to prevent injury:

🏓Crab walk / side shuffle: with a resistance band around your feet, adopt a squat position and step sideways while maintaining your squat form
🏓 Bulgarian split squat with weight pass: with one foot behind you raised on a bench, hold 1x dumbbell and perform a single leg squat, at the bottom of your squat pass the weight from one hand to the other (can also use your paddle instead of the weight)
🏓 Skater side hops: hop from one foot to the other in a side to side motion, each landing must have hip/knee/toe well aligned
🏓Split stance single arm row with rotation: Adopt a lunge stance, using a cable or band for resitance pull into a row action, add some rotation from your trunk to the same side
🏓 Pallof press: Stand side on to your band or cable with firm stance and core muscle engaged, with resistance throughout the exercise, press the band or cable away and toward your body, using your trunk muscles to avoid rotation

Did you know: some people have muscles that other people don't?? This is human evolution taking place before our eyes!He...
17/11/2025

Did you know: some people have muscles that other people don't?? This is human evolution taking place before our eyes!

Here’s an interesting anatomy fact:
💪 You might have muscles that your friends don’t — and vice versa. These are called vestigial muscles, they are evolutionary leftovers from our primate ancestors. Some of the most famous examples are:

👉 Palmaris Longus (forearm muscle)
Helps flex the wrist (a little)
Present in ~85% of people
Totally missing in the other 15%!
Needed when we used to climb trees

👉Plantaris (behind your calf)
Used to help our ancestors grip with their feet
Missing in up to 20% of people

👉Pyramidalis (tiny abdominal muscle)
Found in the lower abs
Completely absent in 20–30% of people

Good luck from all of us here at Alpine Physio to those running in the Queenstown marathon event today!Enjoy the views a...
14/11/2025

Good luck from all of us here at Alpine Physio to those running in the Queenstown marathon event today!

Enjoy the views and the great vibes!

We have had 3 spots open up in our Monday 10am Mums & Bubs class and Wednesday 12.30pm Pre-Natal class starting next wee...
14/11/2025

We have had 3 spots open up in our Monday 10am Mums & Bubs class and Wednesday 12.30pm Pre-Natal class starting next week.

Be sure to pop us an email to admin@alpinephysiotherapy.co.nz if you'd like to join for the next 5 week term.

If you are into your boat sports we highly recommend a regular strength and conditioning program targeting the hamstring...
13/11/2025

If you are into your boat sports we highly recommend a regular strength and conditioning program targeting the hamstring muscles specifically.

Waterskiing as a sport has a high incidence of hamstring injury ocurrences, these tend to be more common during deep water starts and slalom style skiing.

Hot tip: trying adding a Nordic Curl into your gym program, these are great for the eccentric strength of your hammys.

Hamstring injury warning signs:
👉 Sudden pain in the back of the thigh
👉 Swelling or bruising in the back of the thigh
👉 Pain and/or bruising at the top of the thigh just below the buttocks
👉 Difficulty bending the knee or extending the hip

If yourself or a loved one sustain an injury with any of the above symptoms, come and see us as soon as you can for appropriate care. We can refer for imaging and specialist review if required.

Safe to say we are beyond excited to be in our beautiful new clinic. Thanks Cook Brothers Construction!
13/11/2025

Safe to say we are beyond excited to be in our beautiful new clinic. Thanks Cook Brothers Construction!

A 2021 systematic review of running related injuries found:🏃‍➡️ Around 40‑45% of runners report an injury each year. 🏃‍➡...
11/11/2025

A 2021 systematic review of running related injuries found:

🏃‍➡️ Around 40‑45% of runners report an injury each year.
🏃‍➡️ Most common injuries are shin splints (umbrella term for shin pain), Achilles tendinopathy, plantar fasciitis, and knee issues.
🏃‍➡️ Trail running: knees are especially prone.
🏃‍➡️ No statistical differences were noted in anatomic location of injuries when comparing ultramarathoners to non-ultramarathoners.

Kakouris et al. 2021

Upper Limb Injuries in Rock Climbers — What's common?🧗‍♀️🧗‍♂️All forms of climbing and bouldering push your upper body ...
09/11/2025

Upper Limb Injuries in Rock Climbers — What's common?🧗‍♀️🧗‍♂️

All forms of climbing and bouldering push your upper body to the limit — especially your hands, wrists & elbows.

Our Hand Therapist Katherine regularly sees these climbing-related injuries:

🖐️ Finger pulley injuries (finger ligaments)
🔹 Most common in sport climbers
🔹 Often caused by dynamic moves on small holds or crimping when fatigued

🖐️ Flexor tendon issues (tendons that flex the wrist and fingers)
🔹 Overuse of the finger flexing tendons
🔹 Common with volume-heavy training or rapid progression
🔹 Presents as finger stiffness or aching

🖐️ Lateral Epicondylalgia ("Climber’s Elbow")
🔹 Commonly known as "Tennis Elbow"
🔹 Pain on the outer elbow from overloading wrist/finger extensors
🔹 Linked to high training loads and poor strength

🏃‍➡️ Getting twinges or dull pain at the front of your knee during or after runs? You might be dealing with runner’s kne...
06/11/2025

🏃‍➡️ Getting twinges or dull pain at the front of your knee during or after runs? You might be dealing with runner’s knee (Patellofemoral pain).

🦵 The Patellofemoral joint describes the Patella (kneecap) and the groove in sits in and tracks within on your knee, at the very end of your Femur (thigh bone).

🏃‍➡️ PFPS is one of the most common overuse running injuries in both short and long‑distance runners.

🦵Factors that increase load on the patellofemoral joint include: faster running speed, steep descents/ascents, longer strides, low cadence (steps per minute).

🏃‍➡️Often strength defecits and imbalances are involved with altering the biomechanics at the knee.

Want your knees to hold up while exploring trails around Wanaka? Work with your Physio to put together a solid plan to run smarter & safer.

As the weather continue to warm up many of you will be dusting off the spokes and getting back out onto the trails! If y...
02/11/2025

As the weather continue to warm up many of you will be dusting off the spokes and getting back out onto the trails! If you mange to come out worse for wear after a crash, we are hear to help get you back on your bike.

The shoulder is one of the most frequently injured body parts during MTB crashes - usually injured by falling directly onto the shoulder or with the arm awkwardly outstretched.

Here are the most common shoulder diagnoses we see:
👉 Clavicle fracture (broken collar bone)
👉 AC joint injuries
👉 Shoulder dislocations (or partial disolcations)
👉 Rotator cuff muscle tears

Some signs and symptoms to look out for after a crash?:
👉 Visible deformity eg. bump on the shoulder
👉 Inability or great difficulty raising your arm up
👉 Swelling and bruising
👉 Numbness or tingling in your arm

If you experience any of the above symptoms after a bike fall, it's important to have the injury assessed asap.

We hope that you'll all be riding safley out there (and ideally staying on your bike)!

Runners - with 2 weeks to go until the Queenstown 1/2 marathon, have you got a tapering plan? Tapering off your running ...
31/10/2025

Runners - with 2 weeks to go until the Queenstown 1/2 marathon, have you got a tapering plan?

Tapering off your running training in the 1-3 week lead up to your event helps to:
🏃 Allow muscles and joints to recover, leaving the body fresh and primed for race day
🏃 Reducing volume of training helps to decrease cumulative load, but maintains neuromuscular and aerobic capacity
🏃Use this time to optimise your sleep, nutrition and hydration
🏃 Leaves more time in your schedule for mobility and running efficiancy drills (finetuning) - and your Physio exercises!

Noticing pain and/or stiffness in the Achilles tendon (back of your heel)? As a runner with heel pain you might experien...
28/10/2025

Noticing pain and/or stiffness in the Achilles tendon (back of your heel)? As a runner with heel pain you might experience your symptoms while running, afterwards and/or even the next morning after a run.

Achilles Tendiopathy (painful Achilles tendon issues) can be a very painful condition, or can be more of a ni**le - either way if you're starting to notice something is not right, getting it sorted out sooner rather than later will set you up for better recovery, and improve your running experience.

What we do:
🏃‍➡️ Discuss your activity load.
🏃‍➡️ Assess your Achilles and calf pain and function.
🏃‍➡️Thorough biomechanical assessment of your whole lower limb.
🏃‍➡️ Check out your footwear.
🏃‍➡️ Tailor your strength program and ensure your function meets appropriate benchmarks during rehab.
🏃‍➡️ Help you manage running load and recovery.

Address

1/1 Umbers Street
Wanaka
9305

Opening Hours

Monday 7am - 7pm
Tuesday 7am - 7pm
Wednesday 7am - 7pm
Thursday 7am - 7pm
Friday 7am - 4pm
Saturday 8am - 2pm

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