What to ask your physiotherapist
Sam and Andy, your treating physiotherapists at The Edge Physiotherapy
We at The Edge Physiotherapy live and breathe physiotherapy. We’ve worked as physiotherapists for a long time now and sometimes it is hard to stand back and appreciate that while we know the ins and outs of the medical world, the average person may not. So keeping in the spirit of making your physiotherapy rehabilitation as open and therapeutically beneficial as possible here are a few helpful questions you can ask us:
1) what is my diagnosis?
You need to know what you are in for, there is a big difference with treatment approach and timeframes from condition to condition. Without a proper diagnosis we as therapists and you as the patient don’t know what to expect or where we are headed. Sometimes a therapist may take a few sessions to come to a diagnosis which is not uncommon especially in cases that are acute or have multiple factors involved.
2) is there a timeframe for recovery?
Again how do you know what to expect if the therapist doesn’t? an example of this would be general soft tissue injuries which usually take 6-8 weeks to resolve. While an acute wry neck may only take up to 17 days. This comes back to my first point, without a diagnosis and timeframe we can’t measure change or improvement.
3) what sort of treatments will you use for my condition?
Not all therapists are created equal. Yes we all have our degrees but since that time we will have undertaken different professional development and worked in different capacities such as a hospital physio versus a private practice physio, very different worlds. Ask your therapist about their areas of interest and modalities they use so you know what to expect and you can also have some sense of informed choice and consent in your treatment approach.
4) how long are my treatment sessions?
At The Edge Physiotherapy our initial consultations are longer than most private practice physiotherapy clinics at 45mins. We prefer to spend more time in our consults to enable a better diagnosis, planning, and time for therapy as well. While some clinics will have therapists treating multiple patients at any one time, we only treat one patient at a time.
6) will I be expected to do anything as part of my therapy?
Physiotherapy is considered an active approach to your health, we do not advocate for passive approaches to health and as such home exercise and modification of activity based on our advice with enable better long term outcomes for you as the patient. Statistically passively driven approaches to health only enable ongoing reliance on health practitioners and high rates of chronic conditions.
7) do I need a referral?
Sometimes physios will refer you to your GP or advise that you see a specialist or other health professional as an adjunct to your treatment. What this shows is that physios like to work more holistically in terms of patient care and interdisciplinary management of cases is advisable for better outcomes.
8) do I need imaging?
This is very dependent on the case we are managing and for the sake of not confusing you my reader I would advise that you discuss this with your treating therapist. Short answer though is: sometimes.
I hope that this has helped you little with preparation for your physiotherapy consult, knowledge is power and by being active in your rehabilitation you are more likely to be satisfied with the outcome and empowered with the decisions made regarding your health. See you in the clinic.
Sam and Andy