If you experience an injury or develop pain, seeing a physiotherapist early can help you address and manage your symptoms. Physiotherapists are movement experts who improve the quality of life through hands-on care, patient education, and prescribed movement. A physiotherapist can help you:
· Get better safely and without fear of causing further injury
· Stay physically active and avoid the cost and potential risks of surgery and prescription opioids
· Recover as soon as possible
· Avoid other problems caused by changes your body makes to avoid pain
· Achieve your goals
Acute Versus Chronic Pain
Acute Pain: Typically, the first two to three weeks after an injury is called the acute phase. During this phase, it is easier to diagnose and treat pain.
Chronic Pain: Pain lasting longer than three months is considered chronic. Identifying the cause of chronic pain is more complicated, and treating chronic pain takes longer.
People who get physiotherapy early after the onset of low back pain have much better results than those who wait. They have less disability, less pain, and less need for medication. So seeing a physiotherapist early, in the acute phase of pain or injury often leads to the best results. Here are five benefits of seeing a Physiotherapist early if you experience pain.
1. Get better safely without fear of causing further injury
Pain may cause you to avoid activity for fear of causing more damage. After a thorough evaluation, your physiotherapist will design a personalized plan of care based on your needs and goals to improve and manage your pain. They will safely improve movement, function, and quality of life.
2. Stay physically active to avoid the coat and potential risk of surgery and drugs.
When an injury or pain occurs our body enters protection mode. Often people in pain avoid moving altogether but avoiding all activity can delay recovery and lead to new problems. To recover from most causes of pain, it’s important to keep moving. An active lifestyle that is appropriate for your condition can help you manage symptoms and decrease or eliminate pain. Your therapist can help you to understand your pain, set realistic expectations for recovery, and prescribe specific exercises or stretches for your condition, needs, and goals. A Physiotherapy program may help you avoid or delay surgery and can help you properly prepare for surgery if required.
3. Recover as soon as possible
Those who seek care within two weeks of an injury or onset of pain may require less care. In addition to treating your pain, your therapist will help you better understand your symptoms and provide strategies to manage your pain and recovery as soon as your condition allows.
4. Avoid other problems caused by chronic pain
When pain lingers we may develop new movement patterns to avoid it. As a result, you may develop additional issues that require more time and effort to treat and reverse. Problems that may develop are stiffness, loss of strength and endurance, and increased sensitivity to and frequency of pain. A physiotherapist can prevent acute pain from becoming chronic.
5. Achieve your goals
Movement is crucial to your health, quality of life, and independence. For some people, pain makes movement a challenge. Your therapist can discuss your goals and work with you to develop a program to achieve them so you can get back to your desired activities or sports as soon as possible. Physiotherapists are movement experts and they improve the quality of life through hands-on care, education, and prescribed movement.
Different physiotherapists offer different modalities for managing pain. Some treatments that may be offered are:
· Dry needling (like acupuncture)
· Cupping
· Trigger point release
· Decompression therapy
· Polychromatic light therapy
· Ultrasound
· Laser
· Joint mobilization
· Electrical stimulation
· TENS
· Suction massage
· Soft tissue mobilization
So don’t suffer unnecessarily or delay, see a physiotherapist today!