Physiotherapists are medical professionals considered experts in the human body and its respective movements. When a patient walks into a physiotherapists’ clinic, the physiotherapist now has the responsibility to check, assess, and give a diagnosis on the patient’s condition.
The overall purpose of the sessions is meant to address health conditions like sports injuries and musculoskeletal conditions. Given the scope that Melbourne Physio and others do, it’s sufficient to say that they do more than massaging the patient’s body. In fact, physiotherapists aren’t to be mistaken for massage therapists as both aren’t the same.
With that said, here’s a list of the four services physiotherapists provide.
1. Help Patients With Chronic Disease Management
Physiotherapists can help patients with the management of their chronic disease by providing safe options for physical activity so as not to alleviate their condition. Apart from physical activity, physiotherapists also help patients by giving them options to safely and effectively manage their own care. Physiotherapists form one of the members of a health team designated to address the chronic condition of a particular patient.
Chronic disease can include but isn’t limited to:
- Cardiovascular diseases. Exercise is a key player in helping reduce or manage particular risk factors like diabetes, high blood pressure, and being overweight;
- Diabetes. Proper exercise can help in managing diabetes by improving the body’s ability to move glucose out of the bloodstream to improve its sensitivity to insulin;
- Pulmonary disease. Exercise also reduces the risk of being admitted to the hospital and improves breathlessness.
2. Provide Insights To Patients About Injury Prevention Activities
Physiotherapists can help individuals prevent injuries by providing insights and advice on managing and rehabilitating an injury, disability, or illness. There are many ways physiotherapists can achieve this pursuit, starting with education, manual therapy, and exercise. This is a form of preventive therapy whereby you consult a physiotherapist before the risk of injuries even set in.
With that said, preventive physiotherapy consists of:
- Behavioral therapy
- Core and low back endurance exercises
- Education and information on back pain
- Specific calisthenics
- Patient-specific consultations
3. Give Lifestyle Modification Advice
Physiotherapists play a vital role in lifestyle modification. Given the extensive study and training a physiotherapist goes through, it’s not surprising that they hold an all-important role and position in improving your daily life beyond just physical activity and sports.
Here’s how physiotherapy can improve your overall lifestyle so you can continue with your usual activities of daily living:
- It may prevent surgery. While surgery is needed in many critical aspects of healthcare, there may be situations where physiotherapy will be called in as the better approach than surgery.
- It promotes holistic healing. This refers to the approach in healing illness and injury by considering its social, physical, and psychological impacts.
- It may help manage diseases. Getting diagnosed with a disease is one of the scariest things you’ll ever have to go through in your life. Fortunately, various treatment forms are now available. And physiotherapy is a good relief on top of your treatment to help foster better disease management and healing.
4. Assess One’s Occupational Health
Occupational health assessments are often given to employers, employees, and other health professionals. These are aimed at reducing the health and safety risks for groups of workers in high-risk occupations through injury prevention and management.
In line with occupational health assessments, the services can include:
- Remote Triage And Advice Services
This offers various workplaces or offices quick access to medical advice surrounding physical and musculoskeletal injuries and risks as early as possible. The aim is to reduce the costs businesses face due to high absences, inappropriate use of occupational health services, and reduced productivity.
- Onsite Physiotherapy Service
With this kind of service, physiotherapists visit the workplace and deliver special assessments and treatments of services right from the place of work. This is the recommended route to take for larger employers or those with a high number of employees. For instance, wellbeing services and ergonomic services may be provided.
Conclusion
Physiotherapists work in a specialized and specific form of medicine. For them to be certified and qualified in their field, they have to go through a long journey of finishing their undergraduate and graduate degrees. Physiotherapists provide excellent and highly specialized services in fields like pediatrics, sports, geriatric care, cardiology and respiratory care, and neurology. In fact, the list above isn’t all-encompassing.
If you’re suffering from any physical or musculoskeletal pain or injury, visiting a physiotherapist to provide you services like those above is a good choice. Consider the ideas mentioned here as you look for a physiotherapist suitable for you.