By Sumaiya Farheen and Andrew Siyabalawatte, July 2023.
Physiotherapy, or physical therapy, is a transformative healthcare discipline that restores mobility and function. By blending science, compassion, and innovation, it provides personalized care, empowering patients to lead fulfilling lives. Let’s explore its essence, unique approach, and crucial role in preventive care and mental well-being.
The Essence of Physiotherapy
Physiotherapy is a specialized branch of healthcare that aims to improve movement and quality of life. It utilizes evidence-based techniques, exercise, and manual therapy to address a wide range of physical conditions, aiding in injury recovery and managing chronic pain.
A Holistic Approach
What makes physiotherapy exceptional is its holistic approach to healing. By identifying the root cause of issues and considering individual factors like lifestyle and emotions, physiotherapists design personalized treatment plans for comprehensive recovery.
Tailored Care for Individual Needs
In physiotherapy, individuality is paramount. Each person’s unique physical challenges are acknowledged and met with personalized treatment plans. Physiotherapy honors uniqueness. Customized treatments cater to athletes recovering from injuries or elderly patients seeking independence.
Prevention as the Best Cure
Physiotherapy goes beyond treatment, emphasizing preventive care. Personalized exercises and education foster well-being and longevity by helping patients mitigate risks.
Supporting Mental Health
Recognizing the mind-body connection, physiotherapy provides emotional support. By addressing anxiety and stress alongside physical challenges, it promotes a positive healing journey.
Physiotherapy holds the power to transform lives through movement. Compassion, science, and innovation converge to nurture physical and emotional well-being. With its personalized approach and preventive focus, physiotherapy stands as a vital pillar of healing, empowering individuals to embrace life with renewed vigor and vitality.
Embracing Technology and Innovation
In the realm of physiotherapy, a harmonious fusion of cutting-edge technology awaits. Welcome to a world where rapid advancements bring forth groundbreaking tools like shockwave therapy and low-level laser therapy. Embracing this innovative era, physiotherapy extends its healing touch to everyone in need.
Therapeutic and Diagnostic Ultrasound Services
Therapeutic ultrasound is a safe treatment that has been used by physiotherapists for many years. It provides heat to deep structures in the body, and it is thought that this heat helps improve that way that your body heals.
At Back To Health Wellness, we offer diagnostic ultrasound, an imaging method that uses sound waves to produce images of structures within your body. The images obtained, can provide valuable information for diagnosing certain conditions, and help us offer appropriate treatment for a variety of diseases and conditions.
Ultrasound Guided Steroid Injection For Pain Relief
Using a diagnostic ultrasound hand-held device, physiotherapists offer pain relieving injections such as corticosteroids. Corticosteroid injections (CSI) are used to treat a range of musculoskeletal pain conditions ranging from osteoarthritis to inflammatory diseases and a wide range of commonly occurring conditions such as tendinopathic disorders and nerve impingements.
Sports Taping
Taping is commonly used to support a muscle or improve stability of a joint. It is often a temporary measure. Athletes often make use of taping as a protective mechanism in the presence of an existing injury. The goal of taping is to restrict the movement of injured joints, and provide soft tissue compression to reduce swelling. If used appropriately, taping can be a effective way to aid recovery from injury by facilitating the body’s natural healing process.
Book a visit with our manual therapist Emma and discuss the benefits sports taping can have on your exercise / performance.
What is MSK Physiotherapy?
MSK (musculo-skeletal) physio’s assess and treat people who have any injury, disease or problem that relates to muscles, bones, joints and peripheral nerves. They may also provide advice to help you manage your condition, or refer you to other services as appropriate.
NHS Physiotherapy Self Referral
Some areas in the UK offer a self-referral service, which means you can make an appointment to see an NHS physiotherapist without having to see a doctor first. Self-referral is particularly suitable for people with relatively simple conditions such as joint pain, strains or other injuries.
The Difference Between Physiotherapy and Sports Physiotherapy
Sports and Exercise Physiotherapists are involved in the prevention and management of injuries resulting from sport and exercise participation at all ages and at all levels of ability. Their treatment plan includes massage, manual therapy, and exercise.
Although adept at assisting in sporting activity, general physiotherapists are trained in Neurology, Respiratory, and Cardiovascular system function, as they aim to help restore movement and function when someone is affected by injury, illness or disability.
Sports Therapy or Physiotherapy – Which is Better?
Sports Therapy is an aspect of healthcare that is specifically concerned with the prevention of injury and the rehabilitation of the patient back to optimum levels of functional, occupational and sports specific fitness, regardless of age and ability. The short answer to which is better, is neither. Both professions are trained and insured to treat musculoskeletal disorders back but there are some key differences in their training and approach.
The key difference is that physiotherapists have a broader knowledge base and medical background, which allows them to treat illnesses, diseases, neurological and respiratory issues.
Sports therapists generally have more exposure to sporting environments at an undergraduate level making them ideal for preventing sports injuries through specific strengthening programmes.
Our Physiotherapists and Sports Therapist treat the following:
- Sports Injuries including runners knee, iliotibial band syndrome, patella / achilles tendinopathy, tennis & golfers elbow, repetitive strain injury
- Pre & post operation rehabilitation
- Soft tissue injuries including muscle strains and contusions
- Ligament sprains
- Neck, headaches & migraine symptoms
- Spinal conditions including scoliosis, stress fractures
Here at Back To Health Wellness, we incorporate soft tissue massage and sports therapy to help our clients to alleviate their pain following injury, and to aid recovery. Let us help you. Click here to book with us.