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Written By: Wendy Shum
Physiotherapy focuses on injury rehabilitation, chronic pain management, and overall enhancement in quality of life. But how exactly does physiotherapy aid in this process? Physiotherapy management includes exercise prescription, manual therapy, and lifestyle advice to help patients recover, improve their function, and maintain their wellbeing.
Physiotherapists use their professional knowledge of the body and hands-on clinical skills to assess, diagnose, and treat symptoms of various syndrome, injury, or disability in order to improve and restore function, reduce symptoms, and prevent further problems.
Physiotherapy processes
When you visit a physiotherapist for injury rehabilitation, the treatment includes:
>Initial Assessment: Begins with a comprehensive evaluation through review of the patient's medical history, physical abilities, daily activities, and goals for rehabilitation.
>Treatment Session: Physiotherapist develops a personalised treatment plan tailored to the patient's specific needs. This plan may include a range of interventions, from exercise prescription, manual therapy techniques, education about the condition, to advice on lifestyle adjustments.
>Home Exercise: Patient should follow the exercise prescription at home before the next physiotherapy session.
>Evaluate Progress: As the treatment progresses, the physiotherapist continually reassesses the patient's condition and adjusts the treatment plan as necessary, ensuring the most effective recovery pathway.
Benefits of physiotherapy in injury rehabilitation
Physiotherapy provides a myriad of benefits in injury rehabilitation. Focusing on the root cause of the issue, not just the symptoms, helps patients recover more effectively and prevents further injuries. Physiotherapists educate patients on the nature of the injury and guide patients through exercises that enhance strength, flexibility, and mobility. This approach not only accelerates recovery but also empowers patients to participate in their healing process actively.
Moreover, physiotherapy helps manage pain without excessive medication use, reduce the need for surgery, and prevent reinjury. It also promotes healthier lifestyle habits, contributing to overall wellbeing.
Who Can Benefit from Physiotherapy?
Physiotherapy can benefit various individuals with various health conditions and injuries. Some of the people who can benefit from physiotherapy include:
- Individuals with Musculoskeletal Injuries: Physiotherapy treats and rehabilitates injuries affecting the muscles, bones, joints, and connective tissues, including sprains, strains, fractures, tendonitis, bursitis, back pain, neck pain, and arthritis. Physiotherapy helps reduce pain, improve range of motion, strengthen muscles, and enhance overall function. Physiotherapy is commonly used for:
-Peripheral joint pain such as shoulder pain, elbow pain, hip pan, knee pain and ankle pain
- Post-Surgical Rehabilitation: People who have undergone surgery, such as joint replacements, ligament repairs, or spinal surgeries, can benefit from physiotherapy during their recovery. Physiotherapy helps reduce pain, restore mobility and strength, improve surgical site healing, and facilitate a safe return to normal activities. Some conditions our physios treat include:
-Post-surgery rehabilitation
-Pre-surgery preparation
-Ligaments reconstruction
- Individuals with Neurological Conditions: Physiotherapy is crucial in rehabilitating individuals with neurological conditions, such as stroke, spinal cord injuries, traumatic brain injuries, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, and cerebral palsy. Physiotherapy aims to improve motor function, balance, coordination, and mobility and manage associated symptoms like muscle spasticity.
- Athletes: Athletes of all levels, from recreational to professional, can benefit from physiotherapy. Physiotherapists specialize in sports injury prevention, assessment, and treatment. They help athletes recover from sports-related injuries, optimise performance, and provide guidance on injury prevention techniques, training programs, and biomechanical analysis. Common sports injuries treated by physiotherapy:
-Sprained ankle
-Tennis elbow
-Swimmer's shoulder
-Dislocated shoulder
-Runner’s knee
-Achilles tendonitis
- Individuals with Respiratory Conditions: Physiotherapy benefits individuals with respiratory conditions, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), asthma, cystic fibrosis, and bronchiectasis. Physiotherapists teach breathing exercises, airway clearance techniques, and provide practices to strengthen respiratory muscles, improve lung function, and enhance overall respiratory health.
- Older Adults: Physiotherapy is vital in promoting healthy ageing and maintaining functional independence in older adults. It helps managing age-related conditions, such as osteoporosis, osteoarthritis, balance disorders, and mobility limitations. Physiotherapists develop personalised exercise programs, improve strength and balance, prevent falls, and provide strategies for managing age-related changes.
- Individuals with Cardiac Conditions: Physiotherapy is often prescribed as part of cardiac rehabilitation programs for individuals who have experienced heart attacks, undergone cardiac surgeries, or have heart failure. Physiotherapists can supervise exercise programs, provide education on heart-healthy lifestyle changes, and monitor cardiovascular health during exercise.
- Women’s Health: Women’s Health Physiotherapy aims to provide services for women at all ages, ranging from pre-natal care, pregnancy, postnatal care to menopause. Apart from addressing musculoskeletal symptoms, such as spinal and pelvic girdle pain, conditions that Women’s Health Physiotherapist focuses on include urinary/ fecal incontinence, pelvic organ prolapse, sexual dysfunction and post-gynaecological surgery rehabilitation. Women’s Health Physiotherapists are specially trained to provide internal pelvic floor assessment in order to tailor-made personalized treatment and exercise programme, which usually include exercises to strengthen the core and pelvic floor muscles, optimize posture and alignment, and lifestyle modification. Conditions that we treat includes:
-Antenatal and postnatal exercise
-Postnatal pelvic floor rehabilitation
-Rectus diastasis
-Pelvic organ prolapse
-Urinary/ faecal incontinence
-Sexual dysfunction such as vaginismus and vulvodynia
-Coccyx pain
-Post-gynaecological surgery rehabilitation
-Clogged ducts or mastitis
- Individuals with Chronic Pain: Physiotherapy can be a practical treatment for individuals suffering from chronic pain conditions, such as fibromyalgia, chronic low back pain, repetitive strain injuries, or postural-related musculoskeletal issues. Physiotherapists can use manual therapy, therapeutic exercises, and modalities to reduce pain, improve function, and enhance quality of life. We also provides ergonomic assessment to prevent onset of pain and re-injury.
At OT&P, our BodyworX team of experienced physiotherapists is committed to providing personalised care that focuses on your unique needs and goals. We believe in empowering our patients to be active participants in their recovery, equipping them with the knowledge and tools they need to regain and maintain their health. Our physiotherapists at OT&P are here to guide and support you every step of the way.
