Physical Therapy Information

PHYSIOTHERAPY

If you choose to go to a physiotherapist, you will be asked some standard questions so that physiotherapist is aware of your medical history prior to giving you exercises. Providing your physiotherapist with accurate information regarding your medical history is important in order to avoid further injuries caused by the exercises.

1. What type of job do you do? - this is for the physiotherapist to understand how your injury may affect your work.

2. How did the accident occur? The nature of your pain, e.g. location and intensity, both now and in the past.

3. Your personal and family health history – this is to determine if pre-existing medical condition will affect your treatment or therapy

4. Any medications you are taking

5. Any treatments you have had, recently or in the past

6. Physical requirements of your job, lifestyle and leisure activities that may affect your condition or treatment Retrieved from http://www.manitobaphysio.com/what.html

In order for you to better understand your condition and approximate timeline for recovery, it is important that you, in turn, ask the physiotherapist some questions. Depending on your lifestyle or daily activities, exercise programs may or may not be modified you.

Questions to ask when you visit a physiotherapist

Your input during your course of treatment is important. Here are some questions that you may wish to ask.

1. Ask your physiotherapist to explain your condition.

2. Ask your physiotherapist to explain your treatment, including the associated risks and benefits. --Ask your physiotherapist if he or she is competent to care for your condition.

3. Ask your physiotherapist to estimate how long it will take to gain improvement and how much -improvement you can expect.

4. If you need them, ask for written instructions that you can take home with you.

5. Make sure you and your physiotherapist are working towards agreed goals of treatment for you. -For example, is your goal to be pain free? To be able to run a marathon?

Retrieved from http://www.collegept.org/college/default.aspx?xml=for_the_public/patients/questions/default.xml&bct=4.1.2

Other questions you can ask are

Do I require further treatment?

Does my task need to be modified to accommodate my physical limitations? Do I need to modify the way I do my tasks for a certain period of time?

Do my hours need to be modified?

For more information on what to expect from Physical Therapy, click on the link below: http://physicaltherapy.about.com/od/typesofphysicaltherapy/a/PTBasics.htm