People usually seek physiotherapy because they are in pain. Whether that be due to a car accident, sporting injury or just woke up sore. While pain is a great motivator, once it has resolved we tend to change out focus or think that the problem has gone away.
You have not completed your treatment plan
At Vitalis Physiotherapy we find that when the pain has resolved people are only about a half to two-thirds of the way through their treatment plan. This plan is what we discussed at your initial assessment. We worked out your goals together and we showed you the steps that were required to get back to your goal with the smallest risk of re-injury.
This plan is what we work on to get you back to your goals as quick as we can. We are happy to adjust the goals or work within time-frames, however this increases the risk of re-injury or flare ups.
You’re not Strong Enough
By finishing your treatment half way through your injured area has not gained enough strength to tolerate all that you want to be able to do with it. What this means is that as you continue to load the area it does not have strength in certain muscles to continue with the strain. This will lead to overload, sensitisation and gradual or sudden return of pain.
Your Body Lacks Resilience
Around your injured area we have been gradually building up your body’s resilience to stretch and load. If you suddenly jump from a small load to a very heavy load you are asking your body to adapt quickly to the changes. While this may work, often it leads to a return of pain, if not today then soon.
The reason that your physiotherapist gradually increases your load is to give your body time to adjust to the load before increasing to the next load. This gives you the best and quickest return to the things that you love with minimised flare ups.
You stop doing your exercises
Those exercises have been selected specifically for you and have done their job to get you pain free. Unfortunately, just because your pain is gone does not mean you should stop doing your exercises. Basically, if you do not exercise a particular part of your body for 6 weeks the muscle atrophies beginning to decrease in strength and size. Now if you have changed some other habits that lead to your injury then this may not be a big issue, however if you have not changed anything then the pain will return.
A good physiotherapy treatment plan will help you to make your exercises part of your routine so that you continue them on a maintenance basis or 3-4times per weeks. This will help you to maintain your strength, endurance, resilience and flexibility.
You don’t make lifestyle changes
These changes don’t have to be big, however they can equal and large load on your injured area. Simply changing how you stand or sit can make a big difference to an injury.
Your physiotherapist hand-picked these changes to help unload your injury and they worked. Please keep doing them to assist in reducing the load on your previous injury. Remember that the one consistence risk factor for an injury is if you have previously had the same injury.
If you have every felt like your physiotherapy didn’t help, then you haven’t found the right physiotherapist. Here at Vitalis Physiotherapy we take the time in our initial session to fully understand where you are now and where you want to be. We include you in the design and implementation of your treatment plan. Call us today on 0410 559 856 to book you initial appointment.
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