If you have ever considered seeing a physiotherapist before but are unsure about what happens during your initial assessment, look no further. This article will help clarify all your questions and ease any anxieties about beginning your rehab journey.
What do physiotherapists do?
Physiotherapists are movement professionals who are specifically trained to help diagnose and manage musculoskeletal injuries. In addition to manual treatment, they create a pathway for you to manage your symptoms via exercises and are responsible for helping you achieve your goals.
When you come in for your first session, they are interested in forming a picture of who you are and why you have attended in the first place. The questions that they ask are purely to understand your situation and how the pain has been affecting you. It usually starts with a detailed history of how your injury occurred, medical conditions, fitness level, work duties, medications being taken, and understanding the pattern of your pain.
Understanding the history is one of the most important parts of the assessment as it sets the scene for how the injury occurred and helps the physiotherapist understand what is contributing to the dysfunction. They will also address the goals you would like to achieve, as this will also help the physiotherapist help mitigate expectations from the get-go.
After getting a detailed history, they will then proceed to do a physical assessment, where they will evaluate how your body performs during different movements. This may include observing your gait, posture, swelling, and any altered movement patterns. This is then followed by testing your strength, sensation, checking for your range of motion at that particular joint, and using objective measurements to compare your affected vs unaffected side. An example of this for a person attending with ankle pain may be a gait assessment, a series of functional tests including double and single leg heel raises, double and single leg hops, using VALD to look for any asymmetries and using special tests to rule in/out certain diagnoses.
Once the physical assessment is complete, the physiotherapist will have a better understanding of the issue and will discuss their findings with you. This will involve a basic explanation of anatomy and the reasons for the diagnosis that they have been given. A manual therapy approach may involve hands-on techniques such as soft tissue release, mobilisations of your joints, passive stretching of the muscles, and exercises. They may also, at times, use modalities such as shockwave therapy, dry needling, and taping to induce more healing in the muscle.
No two treatments are the same, which is why your physiotherapist will be tailoring your treatment to you first and foremost. They want you to feel comfortable so if there are certain requirements you want them to know, they will do everything to accommodate you. You will then be wrapping up your treatment with another discussion about a treatment plan and how to best target your diagnosis. This will be done with your short- and long-term goals in mind.
If I am a new patient, what should I be aware of?
Being a new patient can be daunting, but following these few steps may help ease some fears. First, start by filling out the initial consent form, bringing any documents that are relevant to show your physiotherapist (MRI, X-rays, GP referral), wear loose, comfortable clothing that can allow for easy access to the injured area, and ask lots of questions.
Conclusion
Your first physiotherapy appointment is just about getting to know you, your injury, and what you want to achieve. It is a chance for your physio to assess what’s going on, explain things clearly, and start a plan that’s tailored specifically to you. There’s no pressure and nothing to be nervous about. The goal is simply to help you understand your body better and get you moving towards hopefully more range of motion and less pain. By coming prepared and asking questions, you’ll get the most out of your visit and feel confident about the next steps in your recovery.
