You may heave hear about physiotherapy in the content of professional athletes using it to help them perform at a high level. You shouldn't feel intimidated by this though. Physiotherapy is far from only being for people with noticeable injuries or high-performing athletes.
Physical therapy can help to improve your health in innumerable ways, regardless of your age, physical fitness or condition.
Physiotherapy is focused on promoting a healthy and active lifestyle while treating numerous health issues. It can also be used to alleviate chronic pain, promote flexibility and strength and can even prepare your body to undergo invasive surgeries. Physicians will often prescribe physiotherapy early on as a conservative and non-invasive approach for treating an illness before resorting to other methods. Being recommended it by a doctor isn't a prerequisite for physiotherapy though!
Here are 5 signs you can look out for in your body that a visit to Manotick PhysioWorks and a consultation with one of our experienced physiotherapists might be a good idea:
1. You have been considering physiotherapy.
While it may seem a bit obvious at first, you wouldn't be considering speaking with a physical therapist unless you were feeling that something was wrong in your body.
If you think that a physiotherapist could help with whatever it is that is causing you trouble, chances are that it actually can! Physiotherapy can address all sorts of health issues beyond just injuries or pain and our Manotick team of physical therapists may have expertise in whatever it is that is causing your discomfort.
2. You are experiencing pain.
Are you suffering from pain or discomfort that won't dissipate? While we tend to expect the pain of an injury to subside over the course of time as we heal, the pain can sometimes remain and become chronic. This is especially common in injuries to your lower back and neck and can affect every part of your life, from sleep to work.
Physiotherapists can work with you to identify the root issue which is causing you pain and creating a physical therapy treatment plan to reduce or even eliminate your pain entirely.
3. You are struggling with balance.
While loss of balance may not be commonly thought of as caused by an injury, there is a good chance that a noticeable loss of balance has its root cause in an illness, injury or health condition that is affecting your vestibular system—also known as your inner ear.
Physiotherapists are able to help you recover your lost balance by undertaking a treatment called vestibular rehabilitation. Your physiotherapist will be able to help your body support your vestibular system as it recovers from whatever was stopping it from functioning properly.
4. You struggle with your daily tasks
If you struggle with usual daily tasks and are increasingly finding common movements to be harder to complete pretty suddenly, physiotherapy may be able to help you.
Before pain sets in, our bodies may try to compensate for "problems" it detects developing below the surface when trying to acheiev certain tasks (reaching up high to get a cup, for example). You may not notice it, but the way you complete the action may be slowly changing over time as your body adjusts, and this may lead to pain or injury.
Physiotherapists can help assess your body’s functional and joint-specific movements, to determine if the quality of your movements are optimal and safe. Solve the problem before your brain & body say "time out" and experience more serious pain or dysfunction.
5. You experience discomfort at your desk.
Our bodies are built to move. So, sitting at your desk all day without stretching or moving can put some serious strain on your neck, joints and back. While getting up and stretching every so often can be a good place to start, as can speaking with your HR manager about what resources are on-offer, physiotherapy may also be a viable option to help you prevent injury or pain and well as recover from health issues results from long days at the desk.
Physical therapy can also help combat desk discomfort. Our physiotherapists can walk you through good posture at your desk and provide advice about what a good home office desk setup should include.