10 Most Common Patient Questions
Why do I need so much treatment?
Acute injury: The nature of an acute injury like yours means that you could potentially do more damage to the same area or injure surrounding tissues by compensating for the injured area, thus taking longer to heal. If we minimise these unnecessary secondary problems you will have a better outcome and ultimately shorter and safer recovery.
Chronic Injury: Due to the chronic nature of your symptoms you have made many adaptations in your body to compensate for your injury. We need to address these compensations regularly to help break the bad patterns of movement that you have developed which continue to exacerbate your pain. You then need to be guided through learning new movement patterns which use the correct muscles so that you don’t end up in this situation again.
Why have I not been managed like this before by other physios?
Quite often you will see a therapist that will treat the initial pain but won’t follow up on finding the actual cause of the problem. You feel better to start but find a few months later that the same or a similar pain has returned. Our approach ensures that we find the source of your problem and we address all the factors contributing to your pain so that we minimise the likelihood of it returning.
Why do I need to be seen again in 48hrs?
Everyone responds a little differently to treatment and to really develop a plan personalised to you and get you the best result we need to see your body responds to the treatment provided.
Do I need to follow that plan?
At the end of the day, if you want to get the best result and get back to … then you need to follow the plan.
Isn’t that too much treatment?
Our treatment approach is not only aimed at decreasing your immediate pain, but also decreasing the likelihood of it returning. A lot of therapists offer a quick fix, but to genuinely help you resolve this problem so it doesn’t become a chronic, repetitive part of your life, we need to be able to treat and retrain your body over a period of time.
That’s too expensive!
It is a financial commitment however when you weigh it up against the cost of chronic pain (hip replacement, knee replacement, surgery any other options that may be applicable), then it puts it into perspective. You also have to take in to consideration the price you put on not being in pain. I can’t tell you what you can and can’t afford but I can tell you what you need to get back to……. then can talk about down the track.
Can we try this another way?
To get the best result, you need to follow the plan I have developed. I understand it’s a financial commitment, but it will be cheaper in the long run. If it’s really undoable financially then we can do ……. instead of ……… You won’t recover as quickly or to the same level but if you are aware of this and it is more manageable we can try that instead.
What if I miss a session?
It is preferable that you attend all sessions that we set out for you to achieve the best result for you. If it is unavoidable that you miss a session, you will need to make up the next available time to ensure your symptoms don’t deteriorate.
But I just want exercises and stretches to do this myself
You will be given plenty of exercises and stretches throughout our treatment. The problem with not being reassessed though is that you may be doing the exercises incorrectly and this will not help you achieve your goals of………… and may even cause you more injury. It is important that we can see how you are doing the exercises so that we can modify them as necessary and help you get the most out of the time you spend doing them.
I’ve had this before and didn’t get managed like this
The key here is that you say you have had this before. Our goal is that after you complete your treatment, you won’t have to say that again. Because we treat not only the symptoms but the underlying cause of your pain – if you complete the treatment plan, you should not have this problem again.