Don't Give Up On Physiotherapy

Megan, Thiviyan and Byron

This past week, we saw a few new patients in our clinics who had almost given up on physiotherapy. They felt this way because the physiotherapy treatment that they had received, consisted of brief sessions of exercises or the use of machines like ultrasound, interferential currents and shock wave (ESWT).

There is no wonder why many people who have had such experiences with physiotherapy conclude that physiotherapy does not work.

We are grateful that those patients gave us the chance to show them that physiotherapy does indeed help!

This is what we do in our clinics. We start by doing a thorough assessment of a person's lifestyle and goals. Then we observe how their body is when they are static and when they are doing functional activities. We do not chase the pain. Treatment plans are drawn out based on how each patient presents him/herself at that moment and where a patient wants to get to in the near future. We mainly use our hands, not machines or modalities.

We had 3 newly graduated physiotherapists join our team 12 weeks ago. Megan, Thiviyan and Byron.

Megan saw the gentleman below last week. He complained of some neck and shoulder pain and discomfort possibly due to working from home last year. 

Left picture before treatment

He sits for long hours and does not exercise. After assessing him, Megan decided to treat his feet. Yes, you read correctly, she did not treat his neck, shoulders or lower back, not yet anyway. She was able to significantly change his pain and his posture in less than hour.

From the side view (picture above on right), his feet are not pointing outwards as much. His knees are not as hyperextended, he seems to have 'lost' his tummy since he is standing more upright. His neck is also not poking forward as much with respect to his body.

Left picture before treatment

From the back view, the space between his left arm and body and right arm and body is more equal. His right hip is not tilting down as much as before. Well done Megan!

Thiviyan recently received an email of commendation from one of his patients. She had gone to a surgeon before seeing him and he got her better quickly using the approach that we use in our clinics. 

Bravo 

Lastly, there is Byron . He saw a patient with an interesting foot condition that the doctor the patient saw missed. That will probably be another post.

We're really pleased with how the three of them are progressing. 

As experienced physios, we are grateful that we get to teach our young physios and we are learning from them too. They see the world through different lenses. When we consider all the different perspectives in the assessment and treatment of our patients, we become stronger as a team and more skilled at helping our patients. 

As we previously wrote, we do not aim to be the biggest physiotherapy clinic, we just want to be the best at helping our patients reach their goals.