When we think of physiotherapists, most of us picture their patients to be people with sports-related injuries or people who are recovering from some sort of physical trauma, e.g., a car accident. While physiotherapists certainly do work with those people, the bulk of their clientele are people with no serious injuries or sports trauma but rather regular Australians with their own, more minor, aches and pains that they help treat. What these people are taking advantage of is the benefits that a physio can also provide for you and what we are talking about in this article.
What Is A Physio?
A physiotherapist is a tertiary educated health professional who specialise in non-invasive forms of pain relief and preventative treatment to ensure you can enjoy a healthy lifestyle. In addition to targeted massages that work on problem areas specific to each patient, physios also work with each and every patient to figure out how to plan an effective and healthy routine that maximises their chance of a pain-free life. This can include working on diet, exercise routines, acupuncture, needling and many more areas of your life.
But I Am Not Seriously Injured?
As aforementioned, physiotherapists do not only treat people who suffer from some injury or chronic disability (although they do that as well) much of their work revolves around preventative treatment and minor work on sore joints. Physios can also help people with conditions not generally associated with physiotherapy, like people suffering from cancer and women struggling with incontinence issues. Whatever your condition a physio can help improve your lifestyle and make you feel better quicker and for longer and they also may be able to uncover some issues you were not even aware of and get to work fixing them straight away.
Who Should I visit?
Trying to engage a physio can be a daunting task because of how many there are in the major population hubs across Australia. But this is also to your benefit because it means that there are many specialties that physios can focus on and if you need something specific you have someone who knows how to treat you better than anyone else. Start by isolating what you think needs to be fixed in your life and what you want your physio to be able to help you manage and start looking for a physio who works in that area. If you are stuck or want more general care, you should talk to your local GP to get recommendations for nearby physios.
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