Physiotherapy

Physiotherapists use a variety of techniques to help your muscles and joints work to their full potential. It can help repair damage by speeding up the healing process and reducing pain and stiffness.

They also have an important role in rehabilitation, for example, helping people who have had strokes to relearn basic movements and helping children to progress in their development.

Their advice can help prevent problems returning or even happening in the first place. With children we can help them reach their full potential in their motor skills.

Physiotherapists can also help people with a variety of chest conditions. They can help you to clear secretions from your chest, control your breathing and help you increase your level of fitness.

Physiotherapists use a variety of techniques to help your muscles and joints work to their full potential. For example, exercise can be adapted to improve mobility of individual joints and to strengthen muscles. This can help make activities like walking easier and is particularly beneficial for people with arthritis, osteoporosis or recovering from a hip fracture. Physiotherapy can also help reduce pain and stiffness resulting from these conditions.

Patients who have had strokes or have other disorders of the nervous system often lose movement of certain parts of their body. Through appropriate exercise and improving balance, physiotherapists can help the body re-learn basic movements, making people less dependent and enabling some to continue living independently in their own homes. This kind of support is also important for patients who may be weaker and less mobile following a hospital stay.

We all know prevention is better than cure, and it’s the simple things that can make the difference. Physiotherapists can advise on muscle strengthening exercises to avoid falls, good footwear and, when necessary, appropriate walking aids. Even good positioning with pillows can ease neck pain when sleeping. This kind of advice is important in helping you keep active and avoid problems.

Physiotherapy can help virtually any condition including those affecting your muscles, joints and nerves e.g.

painful conditions such as arthritis
back and neck pain
pregnancy and related symptoms
upper limb work-related problems eg repetitive strain injury
respiratory problems eg pre and post-operative, COPD, and other chronic conditions
sports injuries and fractures
falls and difficulty with balance or walking
strokes and other neurological problems
lymphoedema
all forms of rehabilitation eg cardiac, pulmonary, mobility
child development