DARREN DUKES

Early in my career a wise physio told me something I’ve always found to be true: “The best advert is a good treatment.” In the age of social media and online marketing, I believe that offering good service and building real relationships with patients is more valuable than ever.

I did my Physiotherapy degree at Wits University in Johannesburg, and a post-grad specialization in Sports Physio at the University of Cape Town. I have been working as a Physio for more than 20 years, most of which was in our own clinic. 

Due to South Africas’ location it has influence from both hemispheres and this allowed me to explore fields of Physio from all parts of the world, giving me a diverse range of skills.

Over the years I have worked in different sporting codes outside of the clinic. These included a 5 year period on the SA PGA golf tour and was fortunate to work with 12 different Major winners. As well as some fun times with various professional soccer and rugby teams, and some of the junior national soccer sides.

I am a keen runner and over the years have notched up over 80 marathons and ultra-marathons. My passion and enjoyment for running led me to regular work with a number of top ultra runners in their preparation for the famous Comrades Marathon, including a couple of winners, and even a winner of the New York Marathon. The other spin-off from this involvement was developing and presenting professional courses to physios on assessment and treatment of running injuries, as well as a love of video based running gait analysis.

I value relationship with my clients, believing that the patient needs to understand and trust the approach. I love a hands-on manual therapy style, backed-up by appropriate rehab prescription. I also feel that prevention and longer term regular management is better than reactive short-term fixes. 

On the weekends I love being with my family, and spending as much time as possible outdoors exploring all that the Island has to offer, especially the endless running and hiking trails. And, obviously, being from South Africa always enjoy a good BBQ (braai) with family and new friends.