What to Do if Physio Isn’t Working

Never consider that it’s you doing something wrong when physiotherapy isn’t working to correct an injury or musculoskeletal ailment. You’re not the one who completed at least six years of formal education, passed a federal examination, and took a provincial clinical exam prior to registering with the College of Physical Therapists of British Columbia (CPTBC). The onus falls on that person, the one who is supposed to be guiding your journey to recovery and enhanced physical performance. With that weight lifted off your rotator cuffs we can now answer your query about what to do if physio isn t working thus far. There are really one two steps that you need to take. Please keep reading.

The Only 2-Steps to Take if Physiotherapy Isn’t Working to Correct Your Injury (So Far)

Step 1: Be Honest with Your Physiotherapist

Communication between a client/patient and a physiotherapist is extremely important. However, many people are afraid to speak up if after a few sessions they find that they (yourself included) are not getting what they thought they would from physiotherapy. It’s even harder to do so if your physiotherapist is a great person that you really enjoy visiting with during each session. You’re not doing yourself, nor the therapist, any favors by not speaking up. If you do, together you may find that a slight adjustment to methods or the workload may be all that is required to start seeing progress. That being said, if your sessions frequently consist of being placed on a machine while the therapist walks away to attend to others, that’s a strong sign that the therapist is not a very good one. Sorry to say it, but this is a very common scenario with some Vancouver area clinics. Either way, at the beginning of your very next session, be upfront and honest with your physiotherapist. If you’re not satisfied with their response to this important step, cancel all future appointments and proceed to Step 2.

Step 2: Switch to a FULL SERVICE Clinic Near You

If you’ve arrived at Step 2, then either the clinic that you’ve been going to isn’t staffed with people (or at least your therapist) who are effective at their jobs OR the clinic is not adequately staffed to cover the services that are required to help with your injury recovery and performance enhancement (as applicable).

A full service – truly full service – physiotherapy clinic will be staffed with specialists who will come together to assess your musculoskeletal concerns, and come up with a multidisciplinary strategy to help you reach or exceed your goals. Often, traditional physiotherapy services are not enough. Manual therapy, laser therapy, electrotherapy + modalities, and the like may need to be supplemented with alternative treatments such as IMS dry needling and TCM based acupuncture, and quite often chiropractic work. Further, given the comorbid nature of mental/behavioral disorders and physical ailments, you may even benefit from on-premises access to a clinical counselor. All of this and more is found within the walls of our Burnaby BC clinic. Can the same be said of the Greater Vancouver BC clinic that you’ve been visiting thus far? Take the final step towards better musculoskeletal health by booking your appointment with our full service clinic today.