FAQs

Physiotherapy is a regulated health profession – all the physiotherapists at ProMOTION Physiotherapy are Chartered Physiotherapists. Physiotherapists work with individuals of all ages to break down barriers to pain and physical function. As experts in their field, physiotherapists specialize in eliminating pain and physical limitations that arise from a wide variety of common injuries and conditions. These include:

• acute and chronic musculoskeletal injuries
• sports injuries
• osteoarthritis/wear & tear
• trapped nerves/impingements
• post-operative rehabilitation eg total replacement
• repetitive strain injuries
• postural dysfunction
• spinal conditions eg neck, mid-back, lower back, pelvis.
• chronic pain

At your first visit, a full assessment of your physical ailment will be undertaken. This will generally include:

• a detailed history of your health and injury.

• a physical examination.

• functional limitations – activities you are struggling with.

• gait assessment, if applicable.

• pain and movement patterns.

• muscle strength.

• joint range of motion.

• nerve tests.

At ProMOTION Physiotherapy we endeavour to save time in the initial assessment visit to provide you with some form of treatment, be it hands-on techniques, exercise/rehabilitation instruction or education on the “do’s and don’ts” for symptom management.

A typical physiotherapy treatment programme ranges from days to weeks in length or could be longer (often with less frequent visits), depending on the chronicity of the issue and the nature of the treatment programme.

Your physiotherapist will determine how often you should be seen for treatment and discuss this with you.

Treatment techniques which may be used include:

• manual therapy
• exercise demonstration and home program development
• acupuncture
• return to work/ sport/ activity planning
• gait analysis and facilitation for optimal movement patterns
• balance and co-ordination re-training
• electro-acupuncture and other electrical modalities
• education – why did this happen and reduce the chances of it happening again.

At ProMOTION Physiotherapy we make it a priority to ensure our patients understand the root cause of their symptoms or disability, and we are happy to answer whatever questions you may have. Education is critical to ensure our clients have the tools to avoid future injury, reduce chances of re-occurrence, and promote self-management over the long term.

Our physiotherapists will often use a variety of techniques in order to get the best results as timely as possible. Often we will use a combination of hands-on techniques with ideas of how to modify painful activities and exercise prescription. We endeavour to give you the right exercises – giving you the biggest bang for your buck, rather than loads of exercises leaving you with no time for anything else.

Our physiotherapists will be able to give you an idea of how many times you will need to be seen after your first visit. Unfortunately, we have yet to get delivery of our crystal ball but once we have diagnosed your issue we will be able to give you a timeline to recovery – quite often this is very quick but longer for more complex issues or more chronic conditions.

Your initial visit will last an hour. Subsequent sessions will be 30 minutes in duration unless an alternative length is arranged with your physiotherapist.

On your initial visit your physiotherapist will determine why you have come for physiotherapy and what you wish to gain from coming to ProMOTION Physiotherapy. Your progress will be measured from this point in terms of maybe pain, functional ability or return to all the activities you wish to do.

Our physiotherapists will guide you on things to do to help and things to avoid that might make recovery longer. You will be given a rehabilitation programme to help speed up your recovery.

Your physiotherapist will discuss this with you as part of your treatment planning.

At the start of every session, your physiotherapist will enquire as to your progress. As you improve your physiotherapist will adapt your programme to ensure your recovery continues at the quickest rate.

Your physiotherapist will explain any potential side effects of treatment/exercises if there are any. Some patients may experience a degree of soreness post-treatment, which is very normal. Our physiotherapists may ask you to move in ways that you may have found painful previously – this will help us with our assessment and will ultimately speed up your recovery. This ‘treatment soreness’ tends to only last a day or so and most patients do not experience it at all.

Our physiotherapists will explain what the natural progression of your condition should be. Sometimes a patient can get sorer – this can occur for many reasons – doing exercises too much, too vigorously, incorrectly or sometimes they may need some advice from their GP/ pharmacist regarding pain medication. Our physiotherapist will answer any questions/ concerns where necessary.

Physiotherapy, while helping you overcome any current musculoskeletal issues you present with, will look at implementing a programme, which looks at aiming to reduce the risks of re-occurrence or flare-ups.

At ProMOTION Physiotherapy during your sessions, our physiotherapists will discuss issues that might be contributing to your pain or inability to perform certain activities. Often, some clever problem-solving is required if an activity is a vital part of one’s job but this is one of our specialities as we understand the mechanics and anatomy of what is required to perform different tasks/ activities.

Depending on your diagnosis and treatment plan your physiotherapist might suggest undertaking some further exercise such as Pilates, cardio-vascular exercise, non-weight-bearing activities such as cycling/ swimming. Your physiotherapist will guide and advise you on the best additional exercise over and above a rehabilitation programme.

Yes we offer 1-2-1 Pilates for individuals or even 1-2-2 Pilates if you want to exercise with a friend or loved one!

During your assessment, your sports physiotherapist will discuss any limitations physically to your performance. There are often solutions to areas of stiffness/ tightness and pain that once addressed by your physiotherapist will ultimately lead to improved training and performance.

Our physiotherapists all partake in sports at various levels from triathlon to CrossFit, Pilates to football and running so they have a good handle on most athletic activities. However, we have also treated Ultimate Frisbee players, basketballers, orienteers, curlers, bowls players and everything in between. If we do not know the intricacies of a particular position in a particular sport then we ask the experts (usually the patient in front of us) and from there we can initiate a bespoke treatment and rehabilitation programme for the patient.

Our physiotherapists’ aim will be to return the athlete to their sport and put in place an ongoing programme designed to limit re-occurrence. This might entail proprioception and balance training, core stability training, plyometric and other high-level strength work.

Our physiotherapists will explain how often this work will need to be undertaken and often it can even become part of a warm-up routine or a circuit that you might undertake when taking a day off from, for example, running. 

Yes, feel free. Quite often it’s good to have another set of senses to tell the history accurately and to listen to the physiotherapist’s advice and understand the intricacies of the injury, diagnosis and plan for recovery.

We work with some insurance companies directly – WPA and CIGNA. Other insurance companies are now beginning to allow you to pay for physiotherapy onsite and then claim back your money through them afterwards. You would need to discuss this with your provider prior to your initial appointment.

Some patients like to wait to see how the injury will develop. We, on the other hand, like to see injuries asap so we can optimise recovery times. Quite often we can get people moving and doing the correct exercises very soon after injury rather than waiting, stiffening up and moving poorly.

You can refer yourself. You can call or use our online booking system to book a time/ date that suits you best.

We ask patients to pay per session after each appointment.

We ask patients to bring suitable attire in order for us the see the area being assessed – e.g. shorts for knees/ankles. The physiotherapist will give you time to get changed in the appointment and at the end of the session.