Polly Mackie

My journey into physiotherapy began after a close friend was involved in a serious road traffic accident that resulted in a significant brain injury. Witnessing her recovery process opened my eyes to the vital role physiotherapy plays in rehabilitation and inspired me to pursue this career.
Over the years, I’ve worked across a wide range of settings and observed the evolving landscape of healthcare. My professional perspective has also been shaped by personal experiences — managing my own injuries, supporting my son who has additional needs, and caring for loved ones at the end of life.
These experiences have taught me the importance of empathy, patience, and advocacy in guiding patients through their own unique journeys. I don’t always get it right, but I strive to truly listen, show compassion, and go the extra mile for every person I work with.

Expertise

Polly can treat and advise on most musculoskeletal conditions. In particular, she is very well informed about arthritis. However, her role at Balanced will be injection therapy for stubborn joint and tissue pain and inflammation. The injection therapy on offer will be either steroid or hyaluronic acid.
Rotator cuff tendinopathy
Glenohumeral joint arthritis
Frozen shoulder
Acromioclavicular joint
Knee arthritis
Chronic meniscal injury
Greater trochanteric pain syndrome
Golfer’s elbow
Tennis elbow
Trigger finger/thumb
De Quervain’s tenosynovitis
Thumb osteoarthritis

Experience

Polly is an experienced Physiotherapist with over 20 years in the profession, spanning the NHS, private practice, and pitch-side support for several sports teams.
Following the completion of a postgraduate degree in Advanced Musculoskeletal Physiotherapy, Polly took a career break from clinical practice to work for a major medical device company specialising in hip and knee replacements. This role required a deep understanding of surgical procedures and significantly enhanced her clinical expertise.
On returning to physiotherapy, Polly combined lecturing to college students with clinical roles, including working for AposTherapy in London and Edinburgh. This experience led to her involvement with Balanced, where she supported the successful transition of AposTherapy services into the practice.
Over the past five years, Polly has worked as an Advanced Physiotherapy Practitioner within the NHS. Her role focuses on reducing GP workload and improving patient access to timely musculoskeletal care. She is responsible for assessing, diagnosing, imaging, and referring patients to secondary care when necessary. Polly is also qualified to prescribe analgesic medication and perform corticosteroid injections for joint and soft tissue conditions.

Life outside work

I have 3 small children and 2 large dogs. This keeps me busy when I’m not working but for my sanity you will often find me in the gym or out running. I used to play a lot of competitive sport (mainly hockey) and still like to dabble in anything that involves a ball, racquet or club.

My favourite thing

Ski holidays! My current project is getting all 3 children able to keep up! I love walking the dogs as it’s one of the few occasions when I get time to myself.