What is physiotherapy?
Physiotherapy helps restore movement and function when someone is affected by injury, illness or disability.
Physiotherapists help people affected by injury, illness or disability through movement and exercise, manual therapy, education and advice.
They maintain health for people of all ages, helping patients to manage pain and prevent disease.
The profession helps to encourage development and facilitate recovery, enabling people to stay in work while helping them remain independent for as long as possible.
What physiotherapists do?
Physiotherapists demonstrate the effectiveness of physiotherapy in treating a wide range of conditions. Physiotherapy is a science-based profession and takes a ‘whole person’ approach to health and wellbeing, which includes the patient’s general lifestyle. At the core is the patient’s involvement in their own care, through education, awareness, empowerment and participation in their treatment. You can benefit from physiotherapy at any time in your life. Physiotherapy helps with back pain or sudden injury, managing long-term medical condition such as asthma, and in preparing for childbirth or a sporting event.
Physiotherapists achieve this by using a variety of methods including:
- Have the patient do certain exercises
- Massage muscles
- Use muscle stimulation devices
- Manipulate joints
- Teach certain lifestyle activities like walking, posture, etc.
- Stretching muscles
They take a holistic approach, addressing not only the physical aspects of your well-being, but also your emotional, psychological, and social well-being. They work at all stages of healthcare, including prevention, education, intervention, rehabilitation, and treatment. The goal of a physiotherapist is to improve your quality of life.
What Conditions Do Physiotherapists Treat?
A physiotherapist can treat a vast number of conditions and injuries. Some examples include:
- Orthopedic: Back pain, carpal tunnel syndrome, arthritis, low back pain, foot conditions, sciatica, knee conditions, joint problems, etc.
- Neurological: Alzheimer’s disease, multiple sclerosis, neuropathy (nerve damage), vertigo (feeling dizzy/off balanced), cerebral palsy, stroke, concussion, etc.
- Autoimmune: Fibromyalgia, Raynaud’s syndrome, Rheumatoid arthritis
- Guillain-Barre syndrome
- Chronic conditions: Asthma, diabetes, obesity, high blood pressure, etc.
- General wellness
Why physiotherapy?
Physiotherapy is a degree-based healthcare profession. Physios use their knowledge and skills to improve a range of conditions associated with different systems of the body, such as:
- Neurological (stroke, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's)
- Neuromusculoskeletal (back pain, whiplash associated disorder, sports injuries, arthritis)
- Cardiovascular (chronic heart disease, rehabilitation after heart attack)
- Respiratory (asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, cystic fibrosis).
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