What is Physiotherapy?
What is Physiotherapy?
Physiotherapy is a healthcare profession which provides treatment of injuries, diseases and various conditions through exercises, manipulations, electrical modalities, patient education and many other treatment techniques over medication and surgery.
It helps assist people to restore, maintain and maximize their movement, strength, functioning and overall well-being.
Who is a Physiotherapist?
A Physiotherapist is a highly educated health-care professional who has in-depth knowledge about how the entire body works and has highly specialized hands-on clinical skills to assess, diagnose, treat and prevent pain, injuries, diseases and disabilities.
They treat people of all ages, backgrounds, professions and experiences with the aim of improving their health and achieving their goals. They constantly reassess the progress of the patient’s condition, treatment plans and adjust their approach.
When to see a Physiotherapist?
- Pain – Back pain, neck pain, knee pain, shoulder pain, any time of pain
- Any Injuries
- Pre & Post Surgery
- Joint pain, Stiffness, Arthritis
- Ligament Injuries
- Hip/Knee Replacements
- Muscle Spasms, Muscle strains
- Frozen Shoulder
- Sports Injuries
- Posture problems
- Work – related injuries
- Stroke, Spinal-cord injuries, head injuries, Parkinson’s disease, MS
- Heart or lung related conditions
- To increase balance & strength in elderly
- To increase physical fitness
Types of Physiotherapy treatments :-
Following assessment of the patient’s physical condition, the physiotherapist devises a treatment plan using one or combination of the therapies below:
- Exercise Therapy
This includes muscle strengthening, stretching, postural training, endurance training, cardio-vascular training, balance and co-ordination training and improving overall function and mobility.
- ElectroTherapy
It consists of use of various electrical modalities which use currents or impulses to reduce pain and promote healing. The various types of machines used are I.F.T, TENS, Ultrasound, Muscle stimulator, Laser Therapy, Traction and many more.
- Manual Therapy
This includes joint mobilisations, manipulations and various hands-on techniques to relieve pain, increase mobility and re-align joints.
There are many more treatment techniques but above are the most used treatment methods in physiotherapy.
Benefits of Physiotherapy
- Reduces and/or eliminate pain
- Improves muscle strength, balance & co-ordination
- Restores movement for walking, standing and running
- Drug free treatment
- Prevents surgeries
- Prevents injuries
- Increases physical activity and sports performance
- Improves breathing, cardiovascular functioning
- Effective recovery post surgeries, major illnesses/disabilities
- Promotes movement and functional Independence
What to expect in a Physiotherapy session?
Here’s what happens:
- The Physiotherapist discusses with the patient about the condition he/she is suffering from.
- Upon understanding patient’s medical history the physiotherapist examines and diagnoses patient’s condition
- Then the Physiotherapist designs treatment plan and sets goals for the patient.
- The patient is then required to complete required treatment sessions
How long does it take for Physiotherapy treatment ?
- Every condition is different and severity is different.
- You should continue Physiotherapy till you have achieved your goals as per the planned treatment or till the time the Physiotherapist decides to stop and re-assess.
- In general it takes upto 2-3 sessions or even one session or upto 6-8 weeks depending upon condition being treated.
For detail consultation of your injury please book an appointment here.