Mon–Thu, 9am–6pm
(02) 9890 7111
Parramatta · Monday to Thursday, 9am–6pm
Most people arrive having had it for months, having tried stretching, painkillers and waiting it out. Your first appointment is an examination — history, physical assessment and objective measurements — so you leave knowing what's happening before anyone decides what to do about it.
Online booking
Appointments run Monday to Thursday. Or call (02) 9890 7111 during opening hours.
New patient offer
First visit
$75
Terms: new patients, first consultation only. Does not include treatment. X-rays only if clinically required, bulk billed by Medicare. No end date.
Open Monday to Thursday, 9am–6pm
Four days a week, so booking ahead helps.
"We look properly before we do anything."
Better Backs Better Living has been practising in Parramatta since 2003, and is now at Level 1, 410 Church Street. Dr Stelios Matsis is registered as a chiropractor with the Chiropractic Board of Australia, which you can verify yourself on the AHPRA public register.
First appointments are about working out what's happening before anything is treated. That means a history, a physical examination, and objective measurements recorded at the start so changes can be tracked against something real. If what you're experiencing isn't something chiropractic care is suited to, you'll be told so and pointed toward the right practitioner — that happens, and it's better established at the first appointment than three visits in.
Presentations
The most common reason people come in. The assessment covers when it started, whether it refers into the buttock or leg, what positions make it worse, and what you've already tried. Acute episodes and long-standing recurring pain are approached differently, which is part of what the examination establishes.
Often connected to desk work, sleep position or an old injury. The examination looks at range of movement, which movements reproduce the symptom, and whether anything refers into the shoulder, arm or head.
Where imaging has shown a disc bulge, protrusion or degeneration, or where symptoms suggest disc involvement. The practice has a HILL DT decompression table on site, used in the management of some of these presentations where it's clinically indicated and after assessment.
Pain, pins and needles or numbness travelling from the lower back into the buttock or leg. Assessment includes neurological testing, because the cause determines whether chiropractic care is appropriate at all and whether referral is needed first.
Lifting at work, a fall, a sporting incident or a car accident. Recent injuries are examined carefully, and imaging or medical referral is arranged first where the examination indicates it.
For people whose back or neck settles and then returns every few months. Assessment looks at what's loading the area between episodes — work setup, sleep, activity — as well as the physical examination itself.
Offer applies to new patients only, first consultation only, one per person. $75 is the standard first-visit fee and covers the initial consultation, full-body examination and nerve system scan. Treatment is not included. Spinal X-rays are only arranged if clinically required and are bulk billed by Medicare. Ongoing offer, no expiry date.
Health funds
If your extras cover chiropractic you can usually claim on the spot. Bring your card, and check your level of cover with your fund.
Our team
Chiropractor · Wellness consultant · Public speaker
Stelios has practised as a chiropractor for more than two decades and has spent that time continuing his study of chiropractic technique, neurology and wellness principles, which he brings into how he assesses and works with patients.
Chiropractor
Pierre holds a Bachelor of Science majoring in Anatomy and Physiology and a Master of Chiropractic from Macquarie University. He is a member of the Australian Chiropractors Association and has postgraduate training in neurology, disc injury management and sports injury.
About the practice
Everything below is verifiable. Chiropractors are registered health practitioners, which means registration can be checked on a public register in about thirty seconds.
Dr Stelios Matsis is registered as a chiropractor with the Chiropractic Board of Australia. You can confirm any practitioner's registration on the public register at ahpra.gov.au before you book.
Better Backs Better Living has operated under that name in Parramatta since 2003. ABN 64 710 650 993.
Your first appointment is an examination and history before any treatment is considered. If chiropractic isn't appropriate for what's going on, you'll be told that and referred on.
The practice uses diagnostic equipment to record objective measures at the assessment, so changes over time are tracked against data rather than impressions.
The practice has a HILL DT decompression table on site, used in the management of some disc-related presentations where it is clinically indicated.
Private health extras covering chiropractic can usually be claimed on the spot. Bring your card and check your level of cover with your fund.
Your first visit
The first appointment is an assessment. You'll go through your history — when the pain started, what makes it worse, what you've already tried, any imaging or treatment you've had. Then a physical examination, and objective measurements recorded so there's a baseline. Only after that is there a conversation about whether chiropractic care is appropriate for what you're presenting with, what that would involve, and what it costs. You are not committed to anything at the end of that appointment.
In the McCarthy Salkeld building on Church Street, a short walk from Parramatta station and the Church Street mall, with parking nearby. The practice sees people from across Sydney's west.
Questions
Monday to Thursday, 9am to 6pm. The practice is closed Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Appointments across four days fill up, so booking ahead is better than calling on the day. If you send an enquiry over the weekend, reception will call you back Monday morning.
A history and a physical examination before anything else. You'll go through when the pain started, what makes it better or worse, what you've already tried, and any imaging or treatment you've had. Objective measurements are recorded so there's a baseline. Then there's a conversation about whether chiropractic care is appropriate for your presentation, what it would involve, and what it costs. You're not committed to anything at the end of it.
Chiropractic care is provided by practitioners registered with AHPRA under the Chiropractic Board of Australia, which sets the standards and training requirements. As with any physical treatment there are potential risks and side effects, and your chiropractor will discuss these with you as part of obtaining your informed consent before any treatment begins. If your examination suggests something that needs medical assessment or imaging first, you'll be referred.
Most people find adjustments uncomfortable at most rather than painful, and some report short-lived soreness afterwards, similar to after unfamiliar exercise. The practice uses an instrument-assisted technique rather than manual thrusting in many cases. Tell your chiropractor if you're anxious about it — it changes how the appointment is approached.
Fees are explained before any treatment begins, at your first appointment, so you know the cost before you agree to anything. If your private health extras cover chiropractic you can generally claim on the spot — bring your card, and check your level of cover with your fund. Medicare rebates apply only under a GP-arranged chronic disease management plan, which your GP would need to organise.
No referral is needed to see a chiropractor. Whether imaging is required is decided at your examination — it isn't routine, and it's only arranged where the clinical findings indicate it. If you already have scans or reports, bring them.
Some presentations need medical assessment first, and some need a different practitioner altogether — certain fractures, infections, inflammatory conditions, progressive neurological symptoms, and some causes of back pain that aren't musculoskeletal at all. Part of the point of the first appointment is establishing which category you're in. If that's you, you'll be told and referred rather than treated.
Chiropractic care for lower back pain, neck pain, disc-related presentations and sciatica at Level 1, 410 Church Street, Parramatta. Open Monday to Thursday, 9am to 6pm, with Dr Stelios Matsis — registered with AHPRA under the Chiropractic Board of Australia. New patients start with a $75 initial assessment.
New patients only. Covers initial consultation and examination. Full terms above.