Rachael Burke


Lipoedema – Why are my legs so big?

Lipoedema (or Lipedema if you’re American!) is a little known and poorly understood condition that affects the way the body stores fat.  It generally affects the lower half of the body but in some cases can also involve the arms.  In extreme cases it can cause considerable swelling, pain and tissue enlargement leading to difficulty […]

Lipoedema compression leggings

Persistent pain, woman in pain

Persistent pain – the issue isn’t in the tissue

What is pain? Pain is an unpleasant sensation or emotion associated with actual or potential tissue damage. Everyone will have most likely experienced pain at times in their lives. You therefore will know that pain is never fun. However, it is really important for us to be able to feel pain. It is our alarm […]


Looking After Yourself During COVID-19

  These last few weeks have been a turbulent roller coaster for everyone – not only within our own families and towns, but within New Zealand and the world.  Our world has never before experienced a mass shutdown of this nature.  COVID-19 brings anxiety and worry, which of course has a negative impact on our […]


Dizzy cartoon

Vestibular (Dizziness) Physio

Do you experience dizziness? Do you feel the world is spinning when you get up from lying down? Maybe you have been told you have vertigo? If you answered yes to any of the above, you may benefit an assessment from one of our vestibular physios. There is a high chance you are experiencing these […]


Back Pain Myths

Most of us will have back pain at some point in our lives.  Some of us worse than others.  But what are the things we need to know to help make sure it is just a brief episode and doesn’t turn into a long term issue?   Keep reading while we bust some myths for you……. […]


Picture of scoliosis in spine

Scoliosis – A bend in the back

What is it? Scoliosis is the medical term for a curved spine. It is a relatively common condition that, unfortunately, is often misunderstood and over-emphasised. It is estimated that scoliosis is present in about 2-3% of the population. Of this number 20% are congenital (meaning present from birth) and 80% are idiopathic (meaning it develops […]


Sporting Balance for Children

How do we achieve sporting balance for our children? We all want children to grow up healthily.  As well as keeping our children physically fit, sports also have a range of other benefits such as teaching them team work, perseverance, honesty, integrity and respect for authority. However, there has been a 60% surge in sports […]

Children playing football

Man exercising in Wanaka

Motion is Lotion!

Here at Central Lakes Physio we are regularly asked  “What is the perfect posture?” Often people think of an upright, erect position as the best posture, however this may not necessarily be the case. Lead UK physiotherapist and lecturer, Kieran O’Sullivan, last year highlighted the fact that there is little research linking ‘poor posture’ with […]


Thoracic Outlet Syndrome – A Pain in the Neck!

Do you ever experience pain or tightness in your neck and shoulder area and have numbness in your hand?  Thoracic Outlet Syndrome could be the cause. Your thoracic outlet is the space between your collar bone and 1st rib where blood vessels and nerves run through going down into your arm and hand. Thoracic Outlet […]

Thoracic outlet

Physio Wanaka Gardening

Keep your garden – AND BODY – flourishing!

With spring well underway and summer fast approaching, people are making the most of getting out in the garden.  From mowing the lawns, planting the flower beds or veggie patches, we are moving our bodies and loading the muscles in ways they may have not been used to over the winter months. When gardening you […]