90/10 Is Physio Right For Me?

I know this is working backwards, but I see far too many individuals that have had physio for previous injuries and left with little awareness of what they did, how they did it, what their physio can do for them and (typically) what their exercise program included. But this last one isn’t always the physio’s fault.

Dare I say that some of these points extend outside the field of Physio, into the world of medicine, and maybe even into life as an entirety. There is a common barrier of asking; “Can you clarify that”, “So how did I do it” or the simplest of them all…..”Why?”. Deep down we love being challenged, it keeps us on our feet, but also it helps in so many ways. You can take my word for it, there are far too many research papers out there proving the benefits of patient education. The more you as an individual understand about your injury and how you are going to get it better the easier and faster the process is.

 “I know it’s the first time I’ve seen you, but how long until it’s better”

 That’s a cracking question, and it’s the conversation that follows that often answers the question in my head, “how motivated do I think this person is going to be”. In typical fashion, I’ll tangent to come back to the answer.

 A physio degree takes anywhere from 2-5 years. We learn from textbooks; faking injuries so our classmates can assess us; then fingers crossed some insightful placement experience. There is a saying, you learn to drive when you pass your test. The same is largely true for Physio. Nobody is a textbook! I could go into more depth here, but it feels like it could be a whole other blog, so I’ll press pause. Simply, it’s complicated, but using all the information we’ve gathered, we make an educated guess. Yes, a guess. 

 “So how many Physio sessions do you think it’ll take”

 Another tricky question to give an accurate answer. But a fitting place for the title of the blog, 90/10! Physio is a two way street, similar in some ways to pain relief. It provides you with a window of opportunity. If you decide to aimlessly gaze out the window and not make the most of it, it will ultimately close and you will likely arrive back where you started. This cycle means a longer rehab process and probably more physio sessions. If however, you take the opportunity in full stride, follow the advice (hopefully) provided, you are much more likely to see progress and get better quicker. After all, those that do best, do their homework!