Tools in the tool kit
Once the nature of the injury has been established, a physio will set about helping you recover from it.
There are several ways they might go about this. Below are a few examples of treatments performed by physiotherapists.
Manual Therapy
Massage or Soft Tissue Mobilisation - This can be delivered by a qualified physiotherapist but also self-administered once the physio has explained safe and effective technique.
Joint Mobilisation or Manipulation - These are trained techniques and best performed by a qualified practitioner for safety and effectiveness.
Load Management Advice
Most injuries involve unaccustomed load - advice around how to manage load around an injured structure helps healing and helps prevent injury of adjacent joints.
Exercise Therapy
Physiotherapists ensure your dysfunctional movement can be corrected - then you put the work in to correcting it! By integrating some exercises into your day to day routine, you can often make a marked improvement to the severity and disability of your symptoms.
As the saying goes, exercises only work if you do them!
Dry Needling
The use of fine gauge, acupuncture needles inserted intramuscularly to stimulate motor points.
The main difference between dry needling and acupuncture is the practitioner's rationale for inserting the needle. Dry Needling is performed by experienced physiotherapists with an understanding of the relevant anatomy into which they are putting the needles.
Electrotherapy
The use of electro-physical agents such as TENS (Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation) or Ultrasound therapy - Electrotherapy has limited evidence of effectiveness and is not offered at Joint Motion.
Education
If you are in pain, you want to know whats going on - understanding an issue can be one of the most important steps in fixing it.