Andrew Macdonald
Senior Consultant Physiotherapist
Andrew began his career in Perth working with WAFL and amateur league football clubs, then spent more than four years in London across St Thomas' and Guy's Hospitals and a private practice treating athletes and performers. His main areas are hip and groin pain, tendinopathies, lower-limb overuse injuries, and rehabilitation before and after orthopaedic surgery.
Registration and credentials
- AHPRA registration:
- PHY0002098797
- Medicare provider:
- 5310304W
- In practice:
- Since 2016, 10 years
You can check any AHPRA registration yourself at ahpra.gov.au , search the register by name or registration number.
Qualifications
- Bachelor of Physiotherapy, University of Notre Dame Australia, 2016
- Member, Australian Physiotherapy Association
Background
- Began his career in Perth with WAFL and amateur league football clubs
- More than four years in London across St Thomas' and Guy's Hospitals
- Private practice in London treating athletes and performers
What Andrew works with
- Hip and groin pain
- Tendinopathies
- Lower-limb overuse injuries
- Rehabilitation before and after orthopaedic surgery
Book an appointment
Appointments are booked online or by phone. Fees and what a first appointment involves are on the physiotherapy page.
What Andrew treats
- Low back pain: what helps, and what to ignore
- Sciatica: what it actually is, and what helps
- Mid-back and rib pain
- Neck and shoulder pain from desk work
- Stomach sleeping and neck pain
- Headaches from the neck: which kind responds to treatment
- Jaw pain and TMJ problems
- Whiplash treatment in Melbourne
- Posture and back pain: what the evidence actually shows
- Stiffness and mobility: when it is age and when it is not
- Shoulder, hip and knee pain: what the assessment separates
- Pregnancy-related back and pelvic pain
- Achilles tendinopathy: why rest is the wrong instinct
- Hamstring strains and cramps
- ITB syndrome: sharp pain on the outside of the knee
- Runner's knee: pain at the front of the knee
- Running injuries: why most of them are load problems
- Shockwave therapy: what it is and when it helps
- Tennis elbow: pain on the outside of the elbow
- Sports injuries: the first two weeks matter most
- Osteoporosis: what protects bone, and how to exercise
- Shin pain: shin splints, stress fractures and the difference
- Plantar fasciitis: why the first steps hurt most
- CAM walker boots: what they do and how to get one right
- Dry needling: how it differs from acupuncture
The rest of the team
Questions
Physiotherapy questions
What is physiotherapy?
Physiotherapy is the assessment and treatment of problems with movement, muscles, joints, tendons and the way they work together. A physiotherapist diagnoses what is causing the problem, treats it with hands-on techniques and prescribed exercise, and gives you a plan to stop it recurring. Physiotherapists in Australia are university-trained and registered with AHPRA.
What conditions does a physiotherapist treat?
Physiotherapy at Brunswick Health focuses on musculoskeletal and sports problems, including:
- Sports injuries, hamstring, calf, ankle, knee and shoulder
- Back and neck pain, including disc-related and postural pain
- Tendon problems such as Achilles, rotator cuff and tennis elbow
- Post-operative rehabilitation, including knee and shoulder surgery
- Workplace and repetitive strain injuries
- Joint stiffness and loss of range after injury or immobilisation
What is the difference between physiotherapy and chiropractic?
Both manage musculoskeletal problems, but the emphasis differs. Physiotherapy leans towards exercise-based rehabilitation, restoring strength, control and load tolerance, while chiropractic leans towards hands-on joint and spinal techniques. Neither is better in general; they suit different problems and different people. Plenty of problems respond to either. Brunswick Health has both in the same practice, so if you start with one and the other is a better fit, you can be moved across without a new referral, a new waiting list, or repeating your history from the beginning.
Do I need a referral to see a physiotherapist?
No. You can book a physiotherapist directly in Australia. A GP referral is only needed if you are claiming under a Medicare Chronic Disease Management plan, or if your visit is being funded through WorkCover or the TAC.
Is physiotherapy treatment painful?
Most treatment is comfortable. Some hands-on techniques and some rehabilitation exercises produce short-lived discomfort, particularly when working on a stiff or irritable area, and you may feel sore for a day afterwards in the way you would after unfamiliar exercise. Treatment should not be something you have to endure. Tell your physiotherapist if it is, and the approach will be changed.
How many physiotherapy sessions will I need?
It depends on what is wrong and how long it has been there. A recent, uncomplicated strain may need two or three visits; a post-operative knee or a long-standing tendon problem is usually a programme over several months. Your physiotherapist will give you an expected range after the first assessment, and will tell you if you are not responding as expected rather than continuing indefinitely.
Bookings
Book with the practitioner you have just read about
Appointments are booked online or by phone, and reception books you with the person you asked for rather than the next available one.
No payment needed to book · Confirmation by SMS · No referral needed