What to expect from a physiotherapy session

What to expect from your physiotherapy visit?

It doesn’t matter whether you are a veteran of physiotherapy practices or a new comer. Sometimes it’s nice to know what is ahead.

You’ll be greeted and asked to fill out a few forms. One of the forms is a questionnaire about how the pain is affecting you. We mark a score on it and after your treatment we ask you to fill it out again (it takes under 30 seconds) to see if there has been an objective improvement. It’s one of the ways that we use to make sure standards are high.

Don’t worry – we know that when you are in pain, you can be nervous. Our physiotherapists are well trained and are there to help you. You’ll be taken into a private room and the physio will ask you questions about the problem. Where is it? The history? How it changes? How you are sleeping? Any things that improve it? Your medical history. The all give us clues to the cause and the structure causing the problem. Your answers can tell us whether it is due to mechanical reasons or if there is inflammation. Or whether your nerves have been irritated.

Based on this interview, the physiotherapist will have an idea about what they want to test with you. They obviously will have to check out the painful or stiff muscles/joint/limb. They will do it careful and considerately. What they do and how much they do will depend on how you present. If you are in acute pain, we won’t perform 100 tests! In fact, what we are looking for is a change in symptoms within the session. How you respond to mini-treatments like loosening joint structures, stretching muscles or supporting a limb might tells us what is wrong and how to help you.

So although there is a screen of tests to assess the injured part, the main thrust of the assessment is to find out how the symptoms change and a diagnosis. Within the session, we like then to treat you (there are lots of ways), tell you about it and give you something to do to help yourself. You can also ask whatever questions you wish – now is the time to ask about your fears and worries.

It’s always hard to predict the future. In our experience it usually depends on you. How you respond in the first week or so will determine your speed of recovery. if it’s a 60% recovery, things should be pretty quick. If you feel 20% better, the potentially the recovery will take 4-5 weeks. Remember post assessment and post treatment soreness is common and doesn’t last.

The aim is always to get you better as fast as possible. We’ll NEVER drag out your rehabilitation. You will decide your treatment and goals and we’ll keep you to plan.

If you have any questions about the process, do not hesitate to contact us.

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