What is physiotherapy?
Physiotherapy helps patients regain movement and function after an illness, accident, or disability. In addition, physiotherapy is a medical specialty that evaluates, diagnoses, treats and seeks to prevent illness and impairment.
Who are physiotherapists?
As World Congress of Physical Therapy(WCPT) says, “Physical therapists provide services that develop, maintain, and restore people’s maximum movement and functional ability. They can help people at any stage of life when movement and function are threatened by aging, injury, diseases, disorders, conditions or environmental factors.”
Experts in movement and function, physiotherapists collaborate with their patients to develop personalized treatment plans that address each patient’s requirements and expectations. By listening to patient’s wants and expectations, physiotherapists can also assist avoid additional damage.
What do they do?
Since physiotherapy is a degree-based profession, practitioners can utilize their expertise to evaluate, identify, and treat a variety of problems, including:
- Neuromusculoskeletal- Osteoarthritis, tennis elbow, subacromial impingement, and sports-related injuries such as ACL tears
- Neurological – Stroke, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, and spinal cord injuries
- Cardiovascular – Chronic heart disease, post-heart attack recovery
- Respiratory – Cystic fibrosis, asthma, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
Evidence-based on research
Best scientific evidence is combined with clinical knowledge and patient values to form evidence-based medicine. Physical therapists are evidence-based healthcare professionals, which means they always strive to offer the best patient care based on the latest research.
Why is physiotherapy useful?
As you may already be aware, a physiotherapist can help you get back on track to having pain-free movement, which is necessary to engage in your favorite physical activities, prevent many chronic conditions, and have fun. With the assistance of physiotherapists, you can successfully recover from a wide range of ailments.
Furthermore, there are situations in which physiotherapy can be equally helpful, even if surgery and medication are often seen to be the best course of treatment for some disorders.
Consider low back discomfort as an example. There is evidence that this problem is being treated excessively with imaging, prescription medications, and procedures, while early physical therapy can be a fairly affordable solution. The same is true whether discussing mild meniscal tears or knee osteoarthritis; physiotherapy can once again be the first-choice treatment. A non-traumatic rotator cuff injury is another issue. In terms of results, there is no distinction between surgical and physical treatments. Thus, why choose surgery?
However, because every person is different, physiotherapists collaborate with other medical specialists to provide you with the best care possible.
