Do parts of your body cause you pain, ache, feel stiff, or seem weak or unstable?
Do parts of your body cause you pins and needles, tingling, burning, or feel numb?
Do any of these complaints prevent your body from moving or working how it should?
Do any of these complaints disturb your sleep or make it difficult to relax?
Do any of these complaints or loss of movement in your body mean there are things in your life that you struggle to do or can’t do at present?
Do you feel your life would be more comfortable and enjoyable if somebody could help you with these complaints?
If you answered YES to any, or all, of these questions then the Seven Hills Physiotherapy team are here to help. We will take great interest in listening to YOUR problems so we can find out how YOU would like us to help YOU lead a more comfortable and enjoyable life.
You can expect our physiotherapists to take pride in fully understanding your reported problems and needs.
Only by fully understanding your problems and needs can physiotherapy get the best outcome for you. With this in mind our appointments are specifically designed to ensure we are able to collect as much relevant information as possible.
Your first visit is known as the initial assessment and will last about 45 minutes. It will consist of a consultation, physical examination and treatment. During this session the majority of time will be spent assessing your problems and needs with plenty of time for treatment towards the end of the session. Each future visit will be known as a follow-up and will typically last 30 minutes. During these sessions much more time and emphasis is placed on treatment with brief re-assessment to evaluate the success of the treatment.
Our physiotherapists are committed to working with the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) guidelines recommended by The World Health Organisation (WHO). You will notice our physiotherapists take great interest in your aches and pains and whether they affect your body's movement. In addition, we are interested in discovering whether these problems are affecting any of your daily activities or social aspects of your life. Only by working this way can the full extent of your reported problems be understood and resolved.
By clicking the green headings below you can read in detail about what to expect during the consultation, physical examination and treatment.
Consultation.....
You can expect the consultation to be more like a two way discussion than the traditional interview style. We will listen to your story in a non-judgemental manner. Questions will be used to confirm we have understood you correctly, as well as for collecting other information we feel will help improve your overall care. You will notice we take great interest in your problems and how they affect your life. We are interested in discovering how we can help reduce your discomfort and increase your movement and activity levels. Together, we will consider how you would like physiotherapy to help you and then agree goals so we have a clear idea of exactly what you want from physiotherapy. Following the subjective assessment your physiotherapist will have a good idea of what is causing your problems and will discuss the meaning of the information so far.
Physical examination.....
The direction of the physical examination is determined by the information collected in the consultation. Therefore, it will be based around your problems and agreed goals and will be unique to you. Depending on what was highlighted in the consultation your physiotherapist may need to assess several structures that they feel could be contributing to your problem. It is likely your physiotherapist will discover which particular structures may be causing your problem. These particular structures will then be assessed in much more depth using evidence based examination techniques.
By the end of this process your physiotherapist will use their knowledge to make sense of the information gathered in both the consultation and physical examination. It is at this stage your physiotherapist will be able to inform you of;
- your clinical diagnosis and what is causing your problems.
- whether physiotherapy can help you.
- your prognosis related to your goals (how close we’ll get to achieving your goal).
- the treatment options available.
- the number of treatments expected.
Treatment.....
Physiotherapists are equipped with a vast array of treatment techniques that can be applied to improving the health and movement of the structures of the neuromusculoskeletal systems. The treatment options available will be discussed with you. Common treatment techniques used are acupuncture, manual therapy (hands on treatments) to the joints and soft tissues (muscles etc.), various nerve treatments and exercise therapy. You will more than likely receive a home exercise programme. This will help your recovery and reduce the number of times you need to attend for treatment. The physiotherapists at Seven Hills Physiotherapy will only apply evidence based treatment techniques that are based on the findings of the physical examination. The intention of any treatment technique is to ease your symptoms and increase activity and participation to make your life more comfortable and enjoyable.
If you are looking to book an appointment with a physiotherapist who understands the extent of your complaints and takes pride in making your life more comfortable and enjoyable then please contact us
