So you’ve booked your first appointment with Freedom Sports Medicine and are wondering what you should expect. Have no fear, your appointment will be very simple and entirely geared towards making you happier and healthier. Even still, if you haven’t attended a physio in Bayswater before, you might have some questions about just what you should be prepared for, so below is some more information on what to expect.
What should I wear?
Try to wear clothes that will allow easy access to any injuries you may have and their surrounding body parts. This is so your physio will easily be able to observe your movement and assess the injury. If wearing tight clothes makes you uncomfortable, you can always bring them with you and change when you arrive. Shorts or leggings and a sleeveless shirt would be ideal.
What questions will they ask?
To learn more about you and why you have decided to visit our clinic, your physiotherapist will ask a range of questions about any specific injuries you may have or any other bodily concerns. Your answers to these questions will help them to establish what you are looking to fix and help them prepare a management plan.
These questions will include things such as:
- Why did you decide to book an appointment with the clinic?
- How long have you been injured?
- Do you know what might have caused the injury to begin with?
- Are there particular movements or activities that make it worse?
- What movements or activities do you usually participate in? Such as sports or leisure activities.
- What do you hope to gain from this appointment?
- What are your long-term goals for your bodily health?
How will they assess my injury?
One of the most important parts of your initial appointment is when it comes time to access your movement. This is how your physiotherapist will determine what part of your body is hurt, and which joins or tissue may be involved in the injury.
This is why it is recommended to wear clothing that leaves access to the injured area, so your physio can easily manipulate that part of your body and correctly assess what the significance of your injury may be. You must also be aware that many of the movements we use might cause some pain in the injured area, this is because we need to determine exactly where the injury is centred, and we will always be certain not to push you beyond your limits. Your physio’s main goal is always to help, not harm, so please tell them if the pain becomes too much.
How will they help me recover?
At Freedom Sports Medicine, we like to use both exercise therapy and hands-on treatment to help with your recovery. This means that we will both give you some exercises to perform to strengthen the injured area and give you hands-on help by way of massage and mobilisation techniques that both help increase your body’s movement.
There will often be some pain associated with your massages, especially since the area of injury will already be quite sure. However, our goal is always for you to be as comfortable and relaxed as possible, so your physiotherapist will often check in to make sure you are okay with the treatment.
As mentioned before, there will also be an exercise component to your recovery, which unfortunately means a little bit of homework for you. We will provide you with some simple movements to complete at home in between your sessions to ensure that you continue on the path of healing. We also want you to learn more about your body, what movements you can do to prevent injury and how to improve yourself.
Any exercises we ask you to complete will be simple, such as taking a short walk, performing some stretchers or improving your posture. It’s also a good idea to pay attention to the flare-up of any symptoms so you can advise your physio in Bayswater when you return for your next appointment.
What comes next?
When it’s coming up to the end of your appointment, your physiotherapist will discuss at what frequency you should continue meeting with me to help you reach recovery as soon as possible. We will also discuss what exercise we need you to perform at home to facilitate your recovery and if there is anything else we need you to do in between sessions.
Every person has a different road to recovery, so your treatment plan will be designed to meet your specific needs. At this point, your physiotherapist will also give you a referral for additional services such as an x-ray or ultrasound if required.
Hopefully, this has sufficiently prepared you for your first appointment with a sports physio near me and you are now ready to get started on the road to recovery with Freedom Sports Medicine.
