What do we Physios do? 
I was thinking about this question lately and I wanted to have a clear simple answer about what is physiotherapy all about? The reason I asked this question was because I want to tell people what we do. I think a lot of people are unsure of what physiotherapy is all about. It is certainly not about getting the massage oils and some tape and sending you away (if you want a massage just for some relaxation to reduce stress and tension or deep tissue massage after an activity then that’s fine, we can deal with that too).
So when someone is in pain whether that is down to an injury (obvious mechanism) or non-injury (non-specific mechanism) they would most likely go to see their doctor or if a real bad injury had happened while playing sport or from an accident they would probably go to the A&E in the hospital. In the latter case, the hospital would probably carry out some scans to rule out fractures, dislocations, ligament and cartilage injuries (soft tissue injuries). After that the doctor or the consultant may decide you may need operating on or you may be ok and benefit from some physiotherapy without having an operation and make a referral. In the former case, you may have had a minor injury i.e. landing awkwardly on the final step in the house or work, low back pain while running , shoulder pain while reaching to the cupboard or playing cricket etc. For this you make an appointment with your GP and he/she thinks you may benefit from physiotherapy and makes a referral or you may go to see a private physiotherapist to get seen quickly. That is your choice.
So what is Physiotherapy?
As a physio I help people in pain or with a disability after an injury or surgery to move and function well. We are trained professionally to assess how a patient is moving and functioning and what could be contributing to their pain and dysfunction. Factors that are contributing to the pain could be physical factors or non-physical factors or both and we try and address that by providing treatment and education to reduce their pain, function better, getting them stronger by exercising, making them more resilient both physically and mentally. We do this first by carrying out a thorough assessment by first talking to a patient and getting to know them and their background history. Then we move onto a physical examination to help us guide treatment and to help us form a diagnosis of where the pain is coming from. One of our main treatments we provide is physical exercise and give good, clear advice and education to patients so eventually they are able to self-manage their pain and dysfunction and to get them more robust. If a patient has come straight to a physiotherapist then we can also make appropriate referrals to other health professionals if needed or is beyond our scope of practice.
This is what I think we physios do… Hope that helps.
