What will a physio ask?

Before I became a physio I had only seen one once before. I was at my peak in terms of dancing where I spent the majority of my free time either in a dance class or pilates class. It was great, I felt great, I had so much energy and was enjoying life living in Sydney. Then during a hip hop class I rolled my ankle quite badly. I don’t know how I ended up seeing a physio, I guess at the time I must have thought this seemed like a good fit. I was fairly driven to keep exercising, keep up my dancing commitments and so on. Hence I knew exactly what I wanted and needed from a physio, so I already had something in mind of what they would provide for me.

So what should you expect when you first see us?

In our initial consultations we take our time with a long session to conduct a thorough history, noting your background in terms of health but also lifestyle and situation, what your commitments are etc etc. We then move onto a clinical assessment where we conduct physical testing based on your presentation, and depending on what we find we like to discuss your diagnosis, put together a treatment plan that everyone agrees with and start manual therapy. In addition, it’s very likely you’ll get an exercise or two to get started with.

How should you prepare for your first physio session?

It’s a good idea to have a think about how your condition began, what triggers it, what makes it feel better and worse, any other associated symptoms, and I always ask my patients, what they think is happening. Make sure to let your therapist know if you have any preferences for treatment what you like and don’t like, has other therapies worked for you in the past, and also what your expectations are of therapy.

What can you see a physio for?

The list is endless believe me, but having said that, you’ll find that some therapists are a “jack of all trades” or have a preference for certain styles and conditions. For example, Andrew (one of our therapists) has a special interest in treating shoulder conditions. I work with dancers and have a special interest in paediatrics.

What will they ask me?

This depends a lot on the condition, a good therapist will know what to ask and lead you down a pathway of the how’s and why’s. We’ll guide you as to what information we need. They will ask about your general health, background, medications, family history, life commitments, and little details about the condition itself.

Even if you have seen a physio before you should expect that every physio is different in their own unique way, we all have different approaches and philosophies around our professional practice and it can take some time to find a therapist you connect with. Just know that generally as a profession, we have high expectations of ourselves which drives many of us to achieve the best patient outcomes possible. So rest assured your therapist wants to see you improve.

You can find more information on our FAQs page relating to common questions patients ask.