Helen McKendrey

Dip Phty, Dip MT

Helen has worked in physiotherapy for more than 20 years in both New Zealand and the UK.  She gained her Diploma of Physiotherapy from Otago Polytechnic in 1988, and also has a Postgraduate Diploma in Manipulative Therapy.  She joined Capital Sports Medicine as a director in 1997. 

Helen is particularly interested in recurring injuries that stem from poor body mechanics.  Like when your sore back is actually caused by your over tight hamstring.  She looks at how the body works as a whole, and whether weakness or tightness of some muscle groups is putting too much strain on others, and causing re-injury.  From there she develops exercise programmes to address the problem area. 

She is very excited about the new Real Time Ultrasound machine recently purchased by Capital Sports Medicine.  The cool thing about this machine is that we can see your muscles working on the screen live (as you contract them!).  You can see whether your core is working properly or whether some other muscles are over compensating.

For you ladies who have had children or if you have bladder issues, we can tell whether your pelvic floor is working the right way and if it is strong enough.

Helen has taken the plunge in 2010 to further her studies, doing papers in Ultrasound Imaging, breathing and performance to hone her skills.

Exciting times!

Another special interest area is dealing with ‘wonkies’, that is minor asymmetries in structure………. in plain English that is leg length difference and how it contributes to recurrent injuries.

Outside of work, Helen keeps herself fit with swimming and running as well as off road cycling (and at times more off than on the MTB!), doing crazy navigational stuff – she doesn’t always know where she is but always knows where home and a hot shower is!