Physiotherapists perform an in-depth analysis of physical findings such as posture, alignment of the spine, range of motion, strength, and movement patterns while taking into consideration patient’s subjective account of the injury. It is essentially a lot of detective work and very similar to puzzle solving. A thorough assessment is even more important than the treatment itself since different orthopedic conditions may require a different treatment approach.
Services offered in physiotherapy may include any or a combination of the following:
Lifestyle Changes:
It is important to spend some time during the first session to get to know our patients better and make suggestions based on the condition. Lifestyle changes might involve need for physical activity, weight management, bad habits, sedentary lifestyle, poor body mechanics, smoking, etc.
Postural Education:
A typical person working a deskjob might be in front of the computer for seven or eight hours a day. If given this person adopts a sitting posture that is not favourable for his condition, it is possible that it would impede the speed of recovery or even make the condition worst.
Manual Therapy/Hands-on Work:
Quite often, we get asked what is the point of having a physiotherapist move a certain articulation when they can just do the same movement at home. Wrong. Physiotherapists are trained to work on accessory movements of different articulations and free up structures that are inhibiting the normal range of motion.
Example: Something as simple as moving the shoulder involves movements at 5 different articulations along with contraction of multiple muscle groups to accomplish a single movement.
Note: By having an understanding of how bone and soft tissues work to achieve a single movement, we can facilitate the recovery process since these mobilizations often cannot be performed by the patient on his own.
Movement Patterns:
So often, people don’t complain of pain while at rest. It is usually with certain tasks, gestures, or specific activity that they feel pain. It is therefore imperative to look into movement patterns that might reproduce unwanted symptoms. By simply analyzing and correcting how a client runs or performs a specific task, it promotes proper alignment and activation patterns.
Exercise Prescription:
Exercise is really important since it is part of the treatment that follows the patient home. Regardless of how great a physiotherapist is, he or she cannot give you muscles. The skeletal system is nothing but a system of bones floating in space, it would collapse to the ground without soft tissues or muscles holding it in place.
We have to see the recovery phase as pushing a boulder up a hill, if you don’t sustain it till the end, it would end up falling right back down. Consistently doing exercises is what helps maintain what physiotherapists are trying hard to achieve.