Fusion Physical Therapy
Life without pain and dysfunction is possible.
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Wayne Stafford has helped people from all over the world get their movement restored and their pain, trauma and injuries resolved.
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Life is an ongoing exercise in organising your structure sufficiently, in order to be able to manage load efficiently. A complex task, made easier by boiling it down to simple cues and balancing your structure.
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“Balance, Structure and Intent is what we need to move, train and live pain free”
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Freedom From Pain And Trauma Starts Now!
Wayne Stafford has helped over 30,000 people find relief from pain.
Whether you have
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Back Pain
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Whether you have lower back or mid back pain, disk trouble, muscle spasms, post surgical pain, headaches, migraines, sciatica or even a scoliosis.
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Shoulder\Arm Pain
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Frozen shoulder, post fracture or dislocaltion, sporting injures, tennis elbow, carpal tunnel or just woken up stiff and sore.
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Neck Pain
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Whiplash, disk injuries, falls, bad pillow, can't turn left or right, having trouble looking over your shoulder when driving.
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Hip Pain
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if you've been injured playing sport, had a fall or a cycling accident, bursitis or tendonitis or even got a bit of ostearthritis and you're not moving as you used to.
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Knee Pain
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Post op knee surgery, sporting injury, meniscus issues, bakers cyst, had a fall or post dislocation
Foot Pain
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There are 26 bones in each foot and if those bones are stuck and not moving like they should you will have pain, arch pain, heel pain, spurs, neuromas or plantar fascitis
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Wayne will help!
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Book an appointment online today!
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How we fix you
What’s happening to me?
Ok here's the deal. After a session at the gym you walk home and all of a sudden you feel something give, pain shoots through your body and movement suddenly becomes difficult. For some, it might be a round of golf or maybe just an afternoon gardening. Either way, you begin to question your pain and ongoing lifestyle… continuing with sports, playing with the kids even just enjoying everyday life. This is a common scenario and common thought process when your muscles go into spasm and your joints hurt.
What now?
The most logical next step people take is a visit to the general practitioner. By the time you get into your consultation you're convinced that your life is on a fast-track downward spiral. Then you hear the ominous words "Ahhh, you're in your thirties, you're getting on a bit, it's around this time that your body starts breaking down”.You are sent off for scans, perhaps a Cortisone injection, a course of anti-inflammatories, X-rays, CT scans or maybe an MRI. Days off work are complimented with a course of pain-killers, anti-inflammatory drugs or even muscle relaxants. You can't sleep because of the pain and your discomfort makes simple tasks such as getting to the bathroom difficult.
Feeling helpless is common
It's around this time that you start feeling a little despondent even depressed. Feelings of helplessness is common and many compensate with unhealthy eating habits of potato chips, lollies, fizzy soft drinks or caffeine. These may make you feel a little bit better but we know they are not helping your condition. Sugar and junk food toxins makes muscles tighter, more constricted and unable to get the proper blood flow and nutrients needed to function. Combined with lack of movement it's a wonder you can muster the strength to go to the toilet.
The diagnosis merry-go-round
Your follow-up results can be confusing, vague and unresolved. Is it a disease, condition or a syndrome? You feel bamboozled with names like degenerative disk disease, prolapsed or sequestered disk, ligament dysfunction, facet syndrome, facet joint disease, spurring, arthritis, spinal stenosis, nerve impingement syndrome. sciatica or piriformis syndrome. The list goes on… and the medical merry-go-round starts.
For some, the next step is physiotherapy, an ultrasound or electronic therapy. Stretching exercises are prescribed and pilates is advised as the only path to recovery. After six weeks of physiotherapy some of the pain and discomfort has subsided and your core feels a little stronger. However, something is still not right. You still feel tender and afraid to do something that might aggravate your injury. You go back to the doctor, back to the gym and back to square one with pain and discomfort.
A feeling of helplessness leads many to seek help from a chiropractor (that comes highly recommended by your friend) or an osteopath, an acupuncturist … and …. on it goes. Months later and hundreds of dollars out of pocket and not much has changed.
Stop right there, help is here!
Research and analyze injury history & pain
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Before your first session, we review the details you’ve provided in your pre-appointment forms. This includes past injuries, current medications, health conditions, and your general lifestyle. This thorough review allows us to begin forming an understanding of the contributing factors to your pain or movement issues. At your initial appointment, we’ll explore these findings with you in more depth, ensuring nothing is overlooked.
Analysis of your gait, movement & posture
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A key part of your assessment involves observing how your body moves. Using advanced tools—including a force plate—we assess your standing posture and how your body aligns with gravity. We then examine how your joints behave throughout movement and walking (gait) to identify imbalances, restrictions, or dysfunctional patterns that may be contributing to your pain or limiting your performance.
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Formulate a treatment plan
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With a clear picture of your movement, posture, and injury history, we design a treatment plan tailored specifically to your needs. This plan addresses your current symptoms while also aiming to correct the underlying causes of dysfunction. No two plans are the same—each is crafted to suit your body, your goals, and your pace of progress.
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Strengthen your body
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Strengthening the body is essential to restoring function and preventing future injury. Your program may include a blend of mobility drills, yoga-inspired movement, resistance training, kettlebell exercises, and bodyweight conditioning. These exercises are carefully chosen, demonstrated, and adapted to suit your capabilities—ensuring they support your healing and build your confidence in movement.
Review & evaluate your movement
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Your progress is continually monitored and measured. Using your initial assessment as a benchmark, we regularly review your movement patterns, pain levels, and physical capabilities. Follow-up gait and posture analysis ensures your body is adapting positively and helps us make informed adjustments to your treatment. If new issues arise, we address them early, keeping you on track toward lasting recovery.
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Movement is Everything
Understanding your pain
Our Treatments
Personalized Care
Explore our range of personalized therapy programs designed to restore movement, resolve pain, and promote holistic wellness. Each program is customized to cater to your individual health needs, providing a comprehensive approach to healing.
Musculoskeletal Therapy & Clinical Myotherapy
Pain Management
Musculoskeletal Therapy is a form of physical therapy focused on the assessment, treatment, and management of musculoskeletal pain and dysfunction, particularly those involving the joints and soft tissues such as muscles, tendons, ligaments, and fascia.
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Techniques utilized are drawn for Fascial Manipulation, Neurokinetic Therapy (NKT), Active Release Technique (ART). Emmett Technique, Lester Cox Method and Osteopathic tecniques
Anatomy in Motion
Movement Therapy
Functional Movement Therapy
Gary Ward’s Anatomy in Motion (AiM) is a movement-based therapeutic approach that focuses on restoring optimal function and balance in the body by exploring and correcting how every joint moves through all three planes of motion during gait (walking).
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At the heart of Anatomy in Motion is the belief that the body heals through movement, and that pain and dysfunction arise when certain parts of the body are not moving as they should. AiM uses the natural walking cycle as a diagnostic and corrective framework, under the principle that:
“The foot influences everything above, and everything above influences the foot.”
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Key Concepts
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1. The Flow Motion Model™
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Gary Ward’s signature contribution.
A detailed map of how each joint in the body should move through all three planes (sagittal, frontal, transverse) during each phase of the gait cycle.
It tracks movement from heel strike to toe-off and identifies where joint motion is restricted or excessive.
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2. Tri-Plane Movement
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AiM emphasizes that real-world joint function happens in three planes simultaneously:
Sagittal (forward/back)
Frontal (side-to-side)
Transverse (rotation)
Many traditional rehab models ignore or undertrain movement in these integrated planes.
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3. Closed-Chain Biomechanics
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Focuses on how the body behaves when the foot is on the ground (e.g., walking, standing).
Real-life movement is assessed in functional, weight-bearing contexts, not just isolated muscle or joint tests.
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4. Finding Centre
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The goal of AiM is to bring the body back into a balanced “centre”, where each part contributes its fair share to movement.
When balance is restored, pain often disappears without needing to “treat the site of pain.”
Watch a short video of Gary Ward when he appeared on the BBC 1 program "Doctor in the house"
Wayne and Gary Ward
Rehabilitative Strength and Therapeutic Exercises
Injury Recovery
We provide targeted strength and therapeutic exercise programs designed to improve mobility, relieve pain, and support recovery from injury.
Each program is individually tailored to meet your specific needs and help promote lasting healing and resilience.
Wayne Stafford brings a wealth of experience, holding a Diploma in Fitness, certifications as a Level 1 & 2 Kettlebell Instructor, Yoga Teaching Diploma and Deadlifting Coach.
His extensive training also includes weightlifting and bodyweight strength and movement exercises, ensuring a well-rounded, functional approach to rehabilitation and performance.
Trauma and Tension Release Exercises (TRE)
Trauma, Anxiety, PTSD and Pain
The Theory Behind TRE
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TRE is built on the understanding that:
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Stress and trauma are stored in the body, especially in deep postural muscles like the psoas and the adductors.
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When we experience threat, the body enters fight, flight, or freeze mode.
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After the threat passes, mammals typically discharge excess tension through involuntary shaking or tremoring—a natural recovery mechanism.
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Humans, due to social conditioning or fear of loss of control, often suppress this tremor response, preventing full resolution of trauma.
TRE reactivates this neurogenic tremoring safely, enabling the body to complete its healing process.
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What TRE Does
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TRE facilitates:
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Downregulation of the sympathetic nervous system (fight/flight)
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Upregulation of the parasympathetic response (rest/digest)
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Release of stored muscular tension
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Increased body awareness and emotional regulation.
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Resetting of the nervous system to a more grounded state
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Benefits of TRE
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TRE may help with:
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Chronic stress and anxiety
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PTSD and complex trauma
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Muscle tension and pain
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Sleep disturbances
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Emotional reactivity
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Burnout and fatigue
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Performance and focus (in athletes, military, performers and students)
McLoughlin Scar Tissue Release Therapy (MSTR®)
Scars and traumatic injuries
MSTR is a gentle, effective treatment for scars – and so much more.
Scar tissue can affect more than just the surface of your skin. It may lead to pain, tightness, restricted movement, and even emotional discomfort — sometimes years after the original injury or surgery.
That’s where McLoughlin Scar Tissue Release® (MSTR®) comes in.
MSTR® is a safe, gentle, and non-invasive therapy designed to help release and soften scar tissue, improve movement, and support emotional healing. Whether your scar is recent or decades old, this technique can help restore comfort and connection in your body.
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Developed by Alastair McLoughlin, this hands-on therapy uses light pressure and small, targeted movements directly over the scar. There are no oils, needles, or deep manipulation involved — just gentle, focused touch to encourage the natural release of scar tissue.
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MSTR® can be used on:
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Surgical scars (e.g. C-section, joint replacement, mastectomy, appendix removal)
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Injury scars (e.g. from burns, falls, car accidents)
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Emotional trauma-related scars
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Both new and long-standing scars
The benefits of Scar Tissue Release Therapy are:-
✅ Improved Movement
Scar tissue can restrict muscles and fascia. MSTR® helps restore natural movement and flexibility in the area.
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✅ Pain Relief
Many people experience pain, sensitivity, itching, or numbness in and around their scars. MSTR® can reduce or eliminate these symptoms.
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✅ Better Circulation & Healing
By releasing tissue restrictions, blood flow and lymphatic drainage improve — helping the body heal and feel more balanced.
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✅ Postural Support
Some scars pull on surrounding tissue and affect posture. Releasing the tension can help ease strain in areas like the neck, back, or hips.
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✅ Emotional Release
Scars often carry emotional memories. Clients frequently report feeling lighter, calmer, and more connected to their body after treatment.
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✅ Improved Appearance
While not a cosmetic procedure, many people notice their scars becoming softer, flatter, and less prominent over time.
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Your scars tell a story — but they don’t have to hold you back.
Canine Musculoskeletal Therapy
Muscle, nerve and joint treatments for our best friends.
Wayne has been a lifelong dog owner and shares a deep affection and natural connection with all our four-legged friends. He often says, “There’s no such thing as a bad dog.”
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Just like humans, dogs have soft tissue, bones, nerves and they can experience many of the same pains and dysfunctions. Muscle strains, post-surgical scarring, soreness, and arthritis can all impact their movement and quality of life.
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Wayne’s treatments are gentle, therapeutic, and highly effective. With his calm, caring approach, dogs quickly learn to trust the process often guiding the sore area into his hands themselves, instinctively knowing they will feel better afterwards.
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Business Title
Meet Wayne Stafford
Wayne Stafford is a highly accomplished individual with an extensive background in various forms of physical training. As the principal practitioner at Fusion Physical Therapy, he has dedicated his life to helping others achieve their physical goals and overcome injuries.
From a young age, Wayne had a deep passion for boxing, martial arts, and strength training. He and a friend would frequently sneak off on their bikes after school to attend a boxing gym several suburbs away. Despite the knocks and bruises they received, they continued to train and hone their skills.
The popularity of Bruce Lee and Kung Fu during this time further fueled Wayne's interest in martial arts, leading him to explore karate and kickboxing. He continued to broaden his horizons, delving into Chinese, Thai, Russian, and Japanese martial arts, both with and without weapons. In addition to his martial arts training, Wayne also spent many years practicing and teaching strength training, bodybuilding, powerlifting, and yoga.
Wayne's dedication and hard work were not limited to the world of martial arts and physical training. He was also a long-time Rugby Union player at both club and state level, demonstrating his commitment to sports and competition.
Despite his extensive experience and accomplishments, Wayne continues to train 7 days a week in weightlifting, combatives and weaponry. This dedication to his own physical health and well-being further underscores his passion for helping others achieve their own goals and overcome obstacles drawing on his many years of training around the world with such great and notable therapists such as Gary Ward and Chris Sritharan - Anatomy in Motion (Developed by Gary Ward), Carl Alexander - Proprioceptive - Deep Tendon Reflex P-DTR (Developed by Dr. Jose Palomar, Julie Ann Day, Dr. Carla Stecco and Dr. Luigi Stecco - Fascial Manipulation
(Developed by Dr. Luigi Stecco), Dr. Kathy Dooley and Thomas Wells - Neurokinetic Therapy (Developed by David Weinstock), Dr. Kyle Kiesel - FMS and SFMA (Delevloped by Gray Cook and Lee Burton), Steve Lockhart - SLM Bodywork, Ross Emmett - The Emmett Technique, Dr. James Murray and Jan Wanklyn - Active Release Technique (Developed by Dr. P. Michael Leahy), Dr. Paul Conneely - Advanced Musculoskeletal Training, Thomas Myers - Anatomy Trains, Lester Cox - Cox Tendon and Ligament Manipulation, Thomas Zudrell - Dorn Therapy, Paul Davies - Goltech and Charles and Vicki Tuchtan - Australian Institute and Richmond Heath -TRE Australia -Trauma and Tension Release Exercises (Developed by Dr. David Bercelli).
In his role as principal practitioner at Fusion Physical Therapy, Wayne uses his vast knowledge and experience to guide his patients towards optimal physical health and wellness. His diverse background in martial arts, strength training, and sports allows him to approach each patient's needs with a unique perspective, tailoring treatment plans to meet their individual goals and challenges.
Wayne Stafford
Some Testimonials
Our clients share their transformative experiences at Fusion Physical Therapy, highlighting the effectiveness of our therapy programs in improving their movement and well-being.
Ana Kostantinovic
"I have regained my mobility and strength through the personalized therapy programs at Fusion Physical Therapy. Highly recommended!" Wayne is trhe best!
Jezz de Silva
I've known Wayne for a long time, he's an even better person than he is a healer - and he's a damned good healer. I'm closing in on 50 fast (as my body keeps reminding me) and Wayne somehow keeps me moving effectively and relatively pain free despite decades of hard training. I can't recommend Wayne highly enough.
Pauline Rockman OAM
About 2 years ago, the week before I was scheduled for surgery for a hugely painful arthritic and incapacitated left foot I saw Wayne. He has definitely changed the course of my life. He worked on me successfully to allow me to regain a normal use of my foot, (no operation necessary) to exercise, and to go dancing….As the arthritis progressed more recently to my hip, those magical hands have worked on me to allow me to resume exercising once again and to keep on dancing!!!! Thank you, Wayne. You’re the best!!!!!
Jim Armstrong
Wayne has treated me on several occasions due to my many injuries over the years, thanks martial arts! Each time he has not only fixed the problem but has also given me guidance into how it can be avoided next time. His work with structure and posture is outstanding and it has helped me in so many ways. I cannot recommend Wayne highly enough. If you have a problem then he is your man to see!
I had been told by the Vet that my beloved 7yo Maltese Shitzu Dodi needed a double hip replacement, I was referred by a friend to take Dodi to see Wayne and he spent 20 minutes working on Dodi. I rang Wayne in tears the next morning because Dodi had come running down the hallway and jumped on my bed, something that she hadn't done for over a year, thank you so much Wayne from the both of us.
Dodi the Maltese Shih Tzu and Jack
