It’s funny. If you bring up to someone in casual conversation that you’re off to your dental or family doctor appointment they think nothing of it, and the dialogue returns to what you binged watched on Netflix last weekend. But bring up the fact that you’re on the way to a physiotherapist, and they furrow their brow and ask, “what happened?”
Somewhere along the line when they doled out the logical sequence of which health and wellness practitioners households should make a part of their semi-annual visits, physiotherapists were left out. Now a conspiracy theorist may state that’s because we’re not backed by the pharmaceutical industry, but we’re not going to go down that road (ahem).
However, it is baffling that for all of the access to information about the body that people have today, that it takes an injury to get someone to start seeing a physiotherapist. Well today, we hope to nip that in the bud.
4 Reasons Why You and Your Household Should Schedule Regular Visits with a Physiotherapist
1. Prevention is the Best Medicine
This is without a doubt your biggest call to action. By scheduling a regular visit with a physiotherapy clinic (even if it’s just semi-annually) you will take a gigantic step towards injury prevention. A physical therapist will put you through a range of motions and ask the right lifestyle questions, ones that may identify latent problems and potential for future injury.
Almost everyone that we have seen walk through our doors because of an injury found themselves there because they were using their body the wrong way to perform an activity, be it for work, play, or both. The culprit is often inadequate form, inefficient warmup and cool down, or a compete absence of the latter all together. We’re not just talking about people who perform manual labor or participate in a weekly indoor hockey league. It applies to everyone from all walks of life, from the way an office worker sits at their cubicle to the manner of which a mother walks the block while carrying her baby.
A reputable physiotherapist will immerse themselves in the activities of your life and identify potential for impediment to your physical health, and subsequently provide you with an alternative course of action that will help keep you injury free.
Be proactive, not reactive, and schedule that first “regular” visit today.
2. Physical Therapy May Abate the Need for Pills
Far too many people suffer from chronic pain in silence. If there was no specific trauma (i.e. a torn muscle) they’ll chalk it up to a “bum knee” or “bad back” (etc.) and seek assistance from the shelf of their local pharmacy. The pain comes and goes and they get by with acetaminophen or ibuprofen, perfectly content to continue in that pattern as long as the pain doesn’t become too debilitating. But is that any way to live, to truly live?
Certainly not.
Look, pharmaceuticals have their place in rehabilitation and recovery, but they can become a crutch. Wouldn’t you rather find out that by integrating physical therapy into your normal routine you could very well eradicate the persistent pain you’ve lived with for so long, without the drugs? Only a physiotherapist can prescribe what you need to put a halt to numerous physical ailments, including ones you may not have been aware of. Keep reading.
3. Physio Can Solve Conditions You Didn’t Know it Could
People know they can go to a physiotherapist for a sore back, tennis elbow, rotator cuff pain and other common ailments connected to the wear and tear of tendons, ligaments, and muscle tissue. Therefore, when such ailments are absent, they don’t consider a visit to a physiotherapy clinic.
If you’re among them, you’re missing out.
For instance, you may be suffering from vertigo or dizziness. You probably had no idea that the treatment for this, vestibular rehabilitation, is an exercise-based program designed by a specialized physical therapist to improve balance and reduce dizziness-related problems.
What about persistent headaches? Avoid a daily diet of pain killers (as per item #2 above) by visiting a chiropractor, who can provide highly effective therapy for your headaches. A full service physiotherapy clinic such as ours has a specialized chiropractor on staff to treat and underlying condition that may be causing your headaches.
The above two examples are just the tip of the iceberg. You’ll be surprised to find out what else physical therapy can treat. Yet another reason to schedule a visit with a clinic near you.
4. It Can Cost You More to Not See One
Armed with the information above, it’s pretty clear that scheduling a regular visit with a physiotherapist makes sense for everyone in your household. So what’s holding you back? Likely cost, or should we say the perception of cost.
Given the role of physiotherapy in injury prevention (item #1 above) you can now do the math on how making an appointment a part of your regime can save you money in the long run.
For one, by being stronger and healthier, you will be less likely to miss work due to injury or chronic pain. You are also likely to be more productive, which will benefit you professionally and financially. Think we’re exaggerating here? We wish we were, but studies show that chronic pain is costing Canadians billions of dollars a year.
Then there is the cost of injury treatment and therapy. The thought process is pretty simple. You can either make a regular visit to a physio clinic in the same manner that you would a dentist or family doctor. Or opt not to do so, and significantly increase your risk of injury and/or development of chronic pain, and have to schedule weeks if not months of visits to treat your otherwise avoidable condition.
It doesn’t take an accountant to see that by making physiotherapy a part of your life can save you a small fortune in the longterm. Check with your health care provider to find out if physiotherapy is covered by your plan. Chances are good that you may only have to pay a small percentage of an already reasonable expense. And really, what expense is not reasonable, when it comes to your health and wellness?
If you live in the Greater Vancouver area, we welcome you to contact our clinic in Burnaby BC today to learn more about what we will do for you and everyone in your household.