What can physio treat?
Wondering what physio is and what a physio can treat? In short, think soft tissue, muscles, pain, movement-related problems, and anything that will help you thrive as a human. But let’s talk more.
What is physiotherapy?
Before delving into what physio can treat, you might be wondering what physio is.
According to the College of Physiotherapists of Ontario, physiotherapy is “treatment to restore, maintain, and make the most of a patient’s mobility, function and wellbeing” through different focuses: “physical rehabilitation, injury prevention, and health and fitness”. Physiotherapy uses different techniques: physical techniques such as manual therapy (mobilizations, manipulations, soft tissue etc.), needling (dry needling, acupuncture, IMS), education and exercise.
Physio can treat many individuals in different situations – whatever your goals we are here to work with you.
You will be thoroughly assessed by a physiotherapist and the treatment modalities selected will depend on your situation and your goals.
What does a physiotherapist treat?
Below are some common examples of what physio can treat categorized by rehab (after injury) and prehab (before injury and to prevent injury, further injury or reinjury). Injuries can start as acute injuries though can become chronic depending on the nature of the injury and rehab process.
Rehab:
Acute or chronic injuries: strains, sprains, overuse injuries, fractures, tendon injuries (tendinopathies), muscle imbalances
post-surgical: i.e. after joint (hip/knee) replacement, ACL, meniscus or other ligament or fracture repairs
pain:
back
low-back and referral pain such as sciatica
upper back/shoulders
disc-related conditions such as degenerative disc disease
spondylitis, spondylosis, spondylolisthesis
Neck pain (including whiplash) and headaches, TMJ (jaw pain)
Shoulder impingement, pain, frozen shoulder
Golfers and tennis elbow
Carpal tunnel
Joint dislocations and subluxations
Foot and ankle pain such as achilles tendinopathy, plantar fasciitis
Hip pain such as iliotibial band syndrome
Knee pain such as patellofemoral syndrome
Chronic (management of symptoms, increasing function and quality of life)
joint problems: osteoarthritis, osteoporosis
autoimmune conditions: rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, fibromyalgia, ankylosing spondylitis
cancer rehab (side effects such as fatigue, deconditioning, neuropathies etc.)
chronic diseases: diabetes, heart disease, respiratory diseases
postural: i.e. scoliosis
general fatigue, weakness and deconditioning
balance and falls risk
pelvic health: incontinence, pelvic pain, pelvic floor issues
Prehabilitation:
strength and conditioning, sport-specific and general health
posture, alignment
pelvic health: pre-natal/post-natal
Where to get started with physiotherapy in Toronto
If you are looking to get started with physiotherapy treatment, please feel free to book in with one of our physiotherapists at Resilience Physiotherapy!
Our clinic is located in the Toronto Annex area and we specialize in physiotherapy treatment for orthopedic injuries and conditions such as frozen shoulder and rotator cuff tears and low back pain and injury.
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Written by Jessica Chiang, Registered Physiotherapist