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Monday 08:00 - 18:00 Tuesday 08:00 - 18:00 Wednesday 08:00 - 18:00 Thursday 08:00 - 18:00 Friday 08:00 - 18:00

Physio Cape Town

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Physio Cape Town

Physio Cape Town is a passionate team of Physios/Biokineticists who are happiest when searching for the cause of the problem.

We combine skills such as Pilates, strength training, Craniosacral and Visceral therapy to treat the entire being. At Physio Cape Town we pride ourselves in providing the best all round service possible for our clients. We look at our clients holistically, as a unit, and not just as a body part. We are extremely interested in rehabilitation and we strive to diagnose and treat the cause of the problem instead of just the symptoms. We work closely with other health practioners to ensure that when needed, our clients receive an intergrated team approach to restoring them back to normal function. Love for exercise and the outdoors helps us to relate to our more athletic clientelle and their injuries, while also instilling the need to teach these tools to others through the practice of Pilates and strength training. Our main interests are in orthopaedic rehab, sports injuries, neck and back pain, dry needling, pre and post-operative rehabilitation, cranio-sacral and visceral therapy, kinesio tape/strapping and spinal manipulation.

07/03/2025

Usually on the 6th of March every year I bring cake and treats to the practice to celebrate the day I moved my practice into the gorgeous building that is 4 Glynville Terrace.
(This year I was distracted by a surprise visit to celebrate my mums birthday with her in Plett.)

13 years ago on the 6th of March was my first day of working from what is now Physio Cape Town.
It just so happened to coincide with my mom’s birthday. Which is fitting as she is the reason I became a physio and then explored further into the fields of Craniosacral and Visceral Therapy.
She is also my partner in ownership of the property.
How lucky I am to have had such a wonderfully supportive mother in my career choice and my life!

I am also extremely blessed to work from such a beautiful building with incredible clientele.
I couldn’t have made 13 years in the business without having people to treat, so thank you to everyone who has walked through our doors and helped me keep my dream of being a Physio alive.

Also a huge thank you to all my staff and colleagues who gave given so much of themselves to help me get to where I am today.

Blessed is a phrase that is often overused but I can’t think of a better phrase to describe how I feel when it comes to where I work, who I work with and the work that I do.

There will be belated cake and celebrations on Monday the 10th🎂💐
Here is to, at least, another 13 more years!!!

09/12/2024

This time last week I attended a symposium in Johannesburg and met the great man himself Jean-Pierre Barral.
What an incredible human being. At the age of 80 still treating clients, still teaching students, still travelling the world and still learning. Something to aspire to.
Jean-Pierre started as a Physiotherapist but then went on to study Osteopathy, all in his home country of France. He was lucky enough to take on a job in a hospital that allowed him to work with clients whilst they were alive and once they have passed on, as part of the dissection team. It was here that he started to gain invaluable experience of how the internal anatomy could have been the cause of the symptoms his clients were complaining of. He started to explore being able to feel and treat these internal structures from the outside using his manual therapy background. And so Visceral Manipulation or Therapy was born. His work was so profound that he was recognised by TIME Magazine as one of the Top Healing Innovators of our century.

Truly a more humble man you will not meet. I am so extremely grateful to Jean-Pierre for opening my eyes to the wonder of the human body. For teaching me how to listen to the body and to trust the innate intelligence that resides within our bodies.
He has not only made me rethink the way I treat clients but the way I approach my own health/body and life.

I am fortunate to love the work that I do and a large part of my passion for my work is thanks to the incredible techniques that I’ve learnt through the teachings of the and the
Thank you to all involved in bringing these wonderful courses to life. And thank you to all my clients who have let me develop my skills through treating them.

If you’d like to find out more about Visceral or Craniosacral therapy feel free to visit our website www.physiocapetown.co.za

08/12/2024

Two weeks late but better late than never, which pretty much sums up my experience of running my first 55km run!!
Not every day can be your best running day and sometimes your not running days coincide with your big event - not ideal but it’s a good life lesson right there.
Despite feeling completely flat from my first big climb, 8km in, I was in excellent spirits. I signed up for the 55km event as it was on my birthday- what better way to spend my day than exploring our beautiful mountain. So I had to walk A LOT MORE than usual, but it meant I got to take in more of the views and the wildlife (over 40 that means birding).

The trail running bug bit me just as another bug arrived - my daughter 9 years ago, followed by my son 7 years ago. Every mother is on their own journey and for me it took me this long post children to feel strong enough to contemplate taking on a distance like this. 2 kids and a busy physio practice took precedence. Honestly signing up for this event really pushed me out of my comfort zone and I doubt I would have got to the start, or over the finish without the excellent support of

A big shout out also to for introducing me to some of the Cape Town trail running community. Meeting people like Erin from and was not only inspiring but such a welcome relief. I’ve yet to come across a sport that’s filled with such talent, human grit and humility.
I’ve yet to encounter a grumpy trail runner on the mountain. Whether on a casual run or in an event. There is always time for a kind word, jovial banter or even a simple smile.
I couldn’t imagine my life without trail running, trust me I’m not a pleasure to be around when I can’t run, just ask mg husband. I think he wills my injuries/illnesses away quicker than me!!

To anyone thinking of taking up trail running - go on, do it. You’ll never look back.
To anyone thinking I could never run a marathon/that far- that was me at the beginning of this year. The human body is remarkable, trust in its abilities. If I can do it you can.
To the moms out there, be gentle. Your time will come when YOU ARE READY. Don’t be in a rush.

30/09/2024

I realise it’s been ages since I did an actual post on here. This page has seen a lot of change since its inception. Feeling refreshed from a holiday in the Drakensberg now is a great time to tell you a bit more about who I am & what we do at Physio Cape Town.

This is me,Tamsin(my birth name) or Tammy(my first friends doing) or Tam(for the people too confused to choose).
A lot of the time I’m also Mom to my 2 kids & my infamous beagle Basil.
I qualified from UCT in 2004 with a BSc in Physiotherapy, inspired by my mother who loved being a Physio. She was clearly onto something as I too am passionate about my job. I gain such joy & fulfilment from my work that it seems wrong to even call it a job.
Being naturally curious & in awe of the human biology my Physio training has continued to include becoming a Pilates instructor, a Gyrokinesis instructor, a Craniosacral therapist, a Be Activated Therapist & a Visceral Manipulation therapist.

The more I learn about the body the more I realise how interconnected everything is. Where does the body end & the mind begin, for example. So although Physio is traditionally body focused I’ve realised that unless we include the mind/brain & the nervous system in our treatments the body is unlikely to make ‘a full or proper recovery’. My treatments are therefore focused on the being as opposed to the just the body. I also love networking with other like minded professionals so if I feel my clients would benefit from a therapy different to what I offer I can refer on knowing they’ll be in excellent hands.

I used to employ several Physios when I started my practice & I’m grateful to each of them for what they taught me. The main lesson I learnt is that my strengths are better suited to being a practitioner than a practice manager.

I’m most happy when treating clients, going on physio related courses, running on the mountain, walking Basil, reading books, swimming in the sea & spending time with family/friends.

At Physio Cape Town each Physio now owns their own practice. By working independently alongside each other we can each play to our own strengths within the support of a team. I love it here. I hope you do too.

08/05/2024

On Wednesdays I don’t work.
I use Wednesday mornings to take my kids to school, to do my own exercises, my own admin, house admin, family admin and then I bring my daughter horse riding.
From a person who worked 7 till 7 five days a week, and said I’d never let my kids ride horses, how did I get here?
I still get a little pang of guilt when I hear patients commenting on my day off, in the beginning I even felt the need to explain/justify it.
However having lived this 4 day work week there is no doubt that I’m a better therapist, mom and being for it. So whilst it’s true that you may have to wait a little longer for an appointment with me, I guarantee you that you will get a better treatment for it.
It took me many years to figure out that no one knows better than me what I need. And that no one can take the action needed to meet those needs better than me.
We only get one life. There is no rehearsal. This is it, live the life you want to live.
As for the horse riding - I see it as a long term investment. Spending money on equine therapy now will hopefully offset the costs of psycho therapy later🤣
But seriously to be out in nature, surrounded by these special animals, no devices involved- I’ve come to see these afternoons as a sanctuary to the busy city lives we lead. Other than the cost and regular falls there is no downside.
Pure joy radiating from my daughter’s face - worth it all.
I love my Wednesday’s and I’m so grateful that I’m in a situation that allows for me to live this life.
I hope this post inspires you to take a step towards making the time to do the things that nourish you and bring you joy.

04/01/2024

I can’t remember when last I read a book that has made such an impression on me!!!

Educated comes to mind but that was an autobiography of one girl/womens individual fight to get herself out of the crazy circumstances she had been born into. (Read it, you won’t be sorry, human resilience at its best.)

Stolen Focus makes for some frightening reading of how all of our minds, children included, are withering in terms of their ability to hold attention.
And no it’s not just social media to blame, that is just part of the problem, there are 13 chapters in this book covering the variety of causes.
Some of which may surprise you, for example air pollution is cited as a factor that is scientifically shown to affect our ability to focus.
Several times I had to walk away to fully take in the frightening statistics cited in this book.
This isn’t a self help book. The answer is not just to purge yourself of all technical devices. There are great suggestions for how to regain your focus as an individual but there are also issues that need to be tackled by the community which you reside within.
This is a book that outlines how we as individuals need to band together to form an ‘Attention Rebellion’ against big tech companies and other institutes that are purposefully manipulating our brains. If a few individuals long ago didn’t stand up for women’s rights would we be where we are today? It seemed insurmountable at the time but it just took a few individuals to start the movement.

As an individual I urge you to read this book.
As a healthcare provider I urge you to read this book. As a parent or educater I urge you to read this book. As an employer or employee I urge you to read this book.
Please read this book. If you’ve read it I’d love to hear your thoughts and any action that you’ve already taken.
Let’s get together and reclaim our brains!!

27/12/2023

This pic is the last day of work for 2023, feeling all the Festive Season feels🎄🎉
It’s natural, well for me it is, to go into reflection mode when it’s a milestone/big time of year.

2023 will be the year remembered as the year :
- I had surgery on my right(dominant handed) wrist
- My game reserve year

As a therapist who promotes the self healing ability of the body it’s quite a big thing for me to go ‘under the knife.’
I love my work & a large part of my life purpose is derived from this, so being unable to work for 2 months, plus the uncertainty regarding the impact the surgery would have on the rest of my career was scary.
If this injury, I fell trail running & completely tore some important ligaments, had occurred 10 years ago I’d have been a nervous wreck. But luckily as I age I’m learning that suffering is often positive in that it offers us opportunity to grow.
The love & grace that my colleagues & clients shared with me was phenomenal.
I learnt so much from my time off & healed way more than just my hand.
Thank you to everyone who played a part in my healing journey.

During my time off I had many dreams of being in the game reserve. For me the bush epitomises stillness & connection. 2 qualities that are fundamental to our well being but that are not often valued in our current society. I strongly believe that all the answers lie within us, we have the capacity to heal ourselves. But to harness our ‘inner physician’ we need to be still so that we can connect to what truly lies within. Nature is an incredible teacher with regards to the interconnectedness of all things. There is no lack of self esteem or questioning of purpose in nature. Each plant or animal is unique & in its uniqueness lies its power. In never doubts its own inner voice. It listens & relies on its intuition to survive.
I started with a beautiful photo of some elephants in our reception, bringing the connection of nature into the practice. Thanks to for her beautiful piece.
Life then gifted me 2 trips to the bush - more in 1 year than ever!

May you find stillness & connection in 2024.
Thank you for continuing to trust in me.

13/07/2023

My happy face at being back in my happy place.
8 weeks to the day that I underwent ligament repair surgery on my right hand.
It has been an interesting few weeks, hard to convey adequately through text.
The rest has been a blessing, ask any mom of 2 young kids, they won’t say no to stepping off the hamster wheel for a few weeks.
I’ve also been able to experience therapeutic treatments myself and explore how I can learn from these/incorporate my experiences into my sessions as the therapist.
But it’s also been hard not having my happy place, my safe/zen work space to go to daily.
Thankfully I’m slowly, 1-2 patients a day, getting back into it. I was actually nervous to go back, the mind can really play tricks on you when you stop doing your ‘thing’.
But it felt so great to be back. As if I’d never left but better. I’ve gained a deeper level of compassion and I can feel it translates into more accurate listening on many levels.
I am so excited to be back.
Thank you to everyone for your support and patience during this period. It has been tremendously helpful as part of my healing journey.
I’ve still got a long way to go but I’m choosing to rather focus on my achievements and the thrill of being back in my saddle seat 🤣

20/06/2023

For those of you wondering how I injured my hand/what surgery I had here is the story & some anatomical pics (From Netter’s - obviously, they are just the best).

On Mother’s Day I treated myself to a 20km Table Mountain trail run in support of the , a worthy cause indeed. About 3km in I had a minor misstep going up Kloof corner, landed on both my hands & knees, very gently. No broken skin or my worst torn pants! Dusted myself off and carried on. Really thought nothing of it.
Later that night my right base of thumb & dorsal(not the palm side)wrist was sore, particularly with wrist flexion I.e. doing up the zip of a jacket.
I assumed it was just bruising & headed off to my full day of patients the following day.
I congratulated myself at work for getting through the days patient load with minimal pain & was pretty pleased that it seemed to be nothing serious. However that evening my hand became very achey & I had moments of intense pain when I did certain movements, usually associated with wrist flexion. I couldn’t sleep due to the pain & this usual non-popping-pain-pills-physio had to scrounge around in the medicine cabinet. Tuesday morning the dorsal aspect of my wrist was swollen, hot & incredibly painful. I knew something was seriously wrong.
I luckily got an appointment with hand OT Tammy Williams. She did some physical tests along with specific x-ray views for my scaphoid bone. She also made me a splint which felt heavenly to wear. Her diagnosis was torn scaphoid lunate ligaments & she suggested I see Dr Dirk vd Spuy as according to the literature, plus in clinical experience, the best management of this injury in acute cases is surgical repair. Luckily I saw the Dr early the next am. He sent me for a specific stress view. On that x-ray it was clear that I’d completely torn the ligaments & my joints were no longer stable. In fact even on static views you could see that my scaphoid was not sitting in the correct alignment.
So clinically I presented with both a static & a functional instability of my scaphoid lunate complex.
Having always prepped my patients to get 2nd opinions & never be bullied into a quick op-I had the op the next day!

16/06/2023

Four weeks post surgery and here’s where I’m currently at:
I’m finally allowed to start mobility work. Yay!!!!

My goodness but the body gets stiff when we don’t use it!! Look the surgery I had was to repair torn ligaments and make the joint stable so it is supposed to be stiff, but it feels like someone has replaced the inside of my wrist with a block of wood….
I would be lying if I didn’t admit to moments of panic and doubt that my hand will ever be of any use again. Sometimes the feelings are so strong that I have to move/cry/breathe to process them through my body. But that’s just it they do pass and they are normal.
Luckily I can draw on my experience as a Physio in assisting patients with post operative rehab(this being my first orthopaedic surgery) to reassure myself in those moments of doubt.
And I can see how far I’ve already come in the four weeks.
To think that four weeks ago I was under anaesthetic and a surgeon was digging around inside my wrist it’s pretty remarkable that apart from having a very stiff wrist I feel otherwise great. Even went for my first run today which was heavenly. The bodies ability to heal and it’s resilience is truly remarkable. And generally this is what I choose to focus on, rather than the bubbles of doubt.
Overall I’m still extremely positive and see this injury/time off as a gift. Time seems so pressured in our modern world. To be able to slow down and focus on just being is cathartic. I feel that by creating time to heal, what was supposed to just be my hand injury, I’ve been amazed by what else has needed to heal in my body. That has been my biggest lesson this week.
So if you also find yourself injured I implore you to make sure you take the time to really heal, from whatever is clearly irking you know but also from what might be lurking a bit deeper down. Accept it all. Feel it all. Move your body. Breathe. Rest. Eat what feels nourishing. And reach out for help in your healing if you need it. I find body work like osteopathy, kinesiology, accupuncture, physio, ot,massage all wonderful tools to help support my healing. Happy healing ❤️

09/06/2023

3 weeks post surgery (yesterday actually).
21 days…
I’ve always loved the number 21- probably got a lot to do with us playing Blackjack/21 with my dad as kids ♠️
Week 2-3 has been surprisingly tough. I guess the novelty of not going to work is starting to wear off and the reality that I still have many more weeks to go before returning to normal function is kicking in.
I’m also by nature very much a do-er. The exercises for my hand are minimal due to the fact that I had ligaments repaired so right now immobilisation is what those ligaments need to properly anchor and repair. It’s hard to flick the switch from do-er to being.

But I’d be lying if I haven’t been told by various people that I need to work on exactly that. Do less and be more.
The funny thing is I’m my work - cranio and visceral therapy - I’m really good at just being. Listening to the wisdom and tissue of my clients. Trusting that the answers are all there. Feeling and following where my listening takes me, which is usually to the source of the problem, rather than being tempted to treat where my physio brain tells me to treat, which is often just the site of the pain.

So week 2-3 for me has been about intentional healing. Giving myself time to let my body process the pain and emotions linked to this injury. And also to other injuries/trauma. It’s amazing how our body connects various emotions/traumas and stores them in the body. The big lesson is to not resist what comes up, which is hard as we don’t want to relive painful experiences. But trauma needs to be processed, unprocessed trauma alters our physiology and can keep us in a heightened state (think flight/fight/freeze). A nervous system that is stuck in one state is an unhealthy one. Stagnation is dis-ease/disease, in our bodies and in life. Flow is essential. (Gorgeous flow of water on the mountains in Cape Town at the moment- great visual reminder of this).
So no matter what cards you get dealt with/have been dealt with, the trick is to work with what you’ve got. Acceptance is key, not easy but key.
Take the path of least resistance, just like water does, to find flow.
Here’s to finding flow I’m my everyday life.

01/06/2023

Week 2 post-op:
Pink backslab came off this week- hurrah🎉
It’s been really interesting being a patient- it’s much harder than it appears!!!
What I hated most about the backslab, the list is long, was not being able to see or touch my injured hand. I could feel that if I wanted proper healing to occur my brain needed to integrate with my hand. Even though I still have to wear a splint 24/7 for the next 2 weeks - being able to remove the splint to wash my hand, touch my hand and just look at my hand has catapulted me into the next level of healing.
It also means no more hideous orange shower glove, having to wear short sleeve clothes in winter as nothing fitted over my bulky backslab and better hygiene as I can wash my hands properly.
Other big changes in week two:
No more meds for me (I came off painkillers last week already but only finished my anti-inflammatories today)
I can do up shoelaces
I can do up my bra straps
I have returned to gentle Pilates sessions

Thank you to everyone for all the messages of support and for your understanding about having to wait a little longer for your therapist to return to work.
I just want to say a big thank you to a few people who have been amazing and again express my gratitude for private health care in SA.
Dr Dirk vd Spuy- my surgeon.
I mean look at that scar. Incredible. Superseded my expectations.
Dr Mark Murray- my anesthetist. Having had a previously traumatic theatre experience he was extra caring and it really helped set the tone for a positive procedure.
Tammy Williams- my OT.
She is available to answer all my questions, as a fellow therapist I have a lot! Plus her splint making skills are supreme.

I’ve had a few people asking for more specifics on my injury- I’ll get to a post on that soon.
In the meantime I’ve read no books, done none of my online work courses or anything vaguely work related. I’m leaning heavily, so heavily I’m horizontal for half the day, into the gift that is free time. To just be. To breathe. To lie in the sun. To walk the dog on the mountain. To play games with my kids.
Whilst I don’t wish an injury on anyone I do wish you all the gift of time to just be. It’s so healing.

Address

4 Glynville Terrace
Cape Town
8001

Opening Hours

Monday	08:00 - 18:00
Tuesday	08:00 - 18:00
Wednesday	08:00 - 18:00
Thursday	08:00 - 18:00
Friday	08:00 - 18:00

Website

http://www.physiocapetown.co.za/

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Our Story

At Tamsin Hodgson Physiotherapy we pride ourselves in providing the best all round service possible for our clients. We look at our clients holistically, as a unit, and not just as a body part. We are extremely interested in rehabilitation and we strive to diagnose and treat the cause of the problem instead of just the symptoms. We work closely with other health practioners to ensure that when needed, our clients receive an intergrated team approach to restoring them back to normal function. Love for exercise and the outdoors helps us to relate to our more athletic clientelle and their injuries, while also instilling the need to teach these tools to others through the practice of Pilates and Gyrokinesis. Our main interests are in orthopaedic rehab, sports injuries, neck and back pain, dry needling, pre and post-operative rehabilitation, cranio-sacral therapy, kinesio tape/strapping and spinal manipulation.