A visit to the physiotherapist

Going to physio for the first time? Here’s what to expect.
May 14, 2009 | By: The Health Local Staff

You’ve probably heard that physiotherapists can help with everything from mobility issues and injury recovery to cardiac and respiratory care. But when you go to see a physiotherapist, what will he or she actually do?

According to the Canadian Physiotherapy Association, your physiotherapist can do a lot. Because they are trained with an in-depth knowledge of how the body works, they have the skills to assess your health, diagnose conditions and treat the symptoms of illness, injury and/or disability.

The truth is your physiotherapist has one main goal – to get you moving. The primary aim is to restore, maintain and maximize your strength, movement, function, all to help improve your overall wellbeing.

What happens when you visit a physiotherapist for a treatment? First, after taking a detailed health history and learning about your injury or condition, the physiotherapist will work to diagnose you and come up with a treatment plan.

That treatment plan can include a number of different things, including mobilization, manual therapy, techniques to help you reduce pain, acupuncture, corrective techniques to improve heart and lung function and cardiac conditioning and more.

Once that’s done, he or she will likely prescribe certain therapeutic exercises personalized just for you. You may do some of those exercises during your visit, and you may also be given some to do on your own at home.

But there’s even more to it than that. Your physiotherapist will also educate you about your body, helping you figure out what’s stopping you from moving well, teaching you how to restore your mobility and how to prevent future injury or harm.