What is Physiotherapy?

So you’re training hard. Lifts are going up. PBs are being hit.

Then, bang, pain and injury hit.

What do you do?

Who would you want to help you treat it, if anyone at all?

How do you differentiate between physiotherapy, osteopathy, chiropractic treatment, sports rehabilitation, and sports therapy?

Hi, I’m Alex! I am a Physiotherapist and I have a master’s degree in Sports Rehabilitation. Therefore, I have some experience of two of these areas mentioned above.

Many patients I see don’t have a realistic understanding of what physiotherapy is or what it’s for. They simply come to me with pain and ask me what they need to get rid of their pains as well as to ‘diagnose’ their injury, often looking for a ‘quick fix’ solution such as a massage.

WHAT IS PHYSIOTHERAPY?

Simply put, physiotherapy involves asking many questions, efficient problem-solving, and completing various tests (usually objective or clear-cut) based on those answers to identify a problem.

From this point, a treatment plan can be made. This plan often involves an exercise regimen and homework to improve your pain or problems.

HISTORY

Historically, this has not necessarily been the case. You might think physiotherapy is an ancient art, but in reality it has only been present since the 19th century, although there is some debate about it’s use previous to this in ancient Greece.

Physiotherapy comes from the word ‘phusis,’ meaning nature, and ‘therapia,’ meaning healing. This seems to define conservative management. Staying away from medications, attempting to rehabilitate injuries without the need for surgery or injections.

AREAS OF PHYSIOTHERAPY

There is a very wide scope of physiotherapy. This includes respiratory issues, neurological pathologies, general medicine and (my specialty) muskuloskeletal.

This means that physiotherapy is used throughout multiple areas within the healthcare system and we are taught many techniques to help people breath, improve quality of life, for strength training and triage patients to the correct member of the multidisciplinary team.

Seeing an osteopath, a chiropractor, a sports therapist, a sport rehabilitator are all very similar and there is a lot of cross over. But the common factor is the asking of questions, completion of physical tests, giving a professional opinion based on findings and examination (I consider this the diagnosis) and providing a plan of how to manage the issue.

Usually this means providing you with ‘homework’ whether this is mobility work, strength and conditioning or even just slight lifestyle changes. With more serious issues we can refer on to obtain some kind of scan (MRI, x-ray, Ultrasound scan) or ask you to discuss the issue with an orthopaedic, sports medicine consultant or another member of the multidisciplinary team (e.g. psychologist, dietician).

Any of the practitioners can also provide manual therapy. From what I have seen and experienced, there seems to be a general bias; chiropractors/osteopaths generally have more of a bias towards manual therapy whereas physiotherapists have a bias towards strength and conditioning.

Despite this bias, homework or some kind of plan should be provided to manage your issues moving forward, whether this is strength and conditioning/managing training loads/increasing step count/offloading/obtaining a scan.

WHAT I PROVIDE

For me personally, I specialise in strength and conditioning, giving people plans to be able to get strong. With the aim of making you the strongest person you can be!

Giving a basis of a plan to build on and progress. Making the plan suit your needs.

This may be gym based or may be for at home depending on your motivations.

My belief is that strength training is for everyone and should be completed at least twice per week. Even if this is at home and will not only benefit your health, both mentally and physically, and help you reach your strength goals, whether they be athletic or not.

If you want any help with any injuries, please see the links below for LDN physio. Any questions you want me to answer moving forward feel free to message. Subscribe for email updates.

Have a lovely week!

And don’t forget: make lifts, have fun!