So if you have succumbed to the click bait title, bear with me…I’m not trying to do us out of a job!

How many times did you listen to a teacher tell you “I can’t do it for you” when it was coming close to exam time? And how many times did you roll your eyes?!

You see coming to physiotherapy is a little bit like that.

If your relying on someone to “rub it out” to sort that hamstring tear then I’ll let you into a little secret…don’t!

If you’re depending on someone to “click your spine back into place” to address your back pain, don’t. (PS clicking things back into place is a whole other blog, but suffice to say if something is out of place then it is dislocated. And you probably need to be in A&E sucking on some gas and air. But I digress…)

If you think that turning up to a physio session for 40 minutes once a week is going to regain full movement in your knee after an ACL reconstruction…don’t.

If you think that watching your physio show you some exercises is going to strengthen your sprained ankle…well you can see where I’m going with this.

So as the name suggests, physiotherapy involves the use of physical therapy. This is the mainstay of what we do: addressing pain and injury through movement and exercise. Yes, there are many adjuncts that we can use such as joint mobilisation, manipulation, massage, taping but they are simply that. Adjuncts. Aides. Accompaniments.

At the core of physiotherapy session is your involvement in your own care. It is our job to educate you as to what has gone wrong, why it has happened and what YOU need to do. But we can’t do the hard work for you.

The human body is a pretty impressive piece of machinery. It has evolved and developed over a few million years and for most musculoskeletal conditions, it has a fairly efficient healing process. Every body heals at different rates and many factors influence this…work, stress, kids, sleep, nutrition, age, previous injury, other conditions and medications.

A lot people come to physio wanting the quick fix. Someone to rub it out, click it in. We get it – when you’re in pain you want relief. But no man, woman or machine can speed up your healing process. Nor can they do your strength work, stretches, modify your training loads, get enough sleep, eat a balanced diet, drink enough water…etc. etc. We can’t fast track you back onto a pitch/track/bike/garden (insert activity of choice here…) (PS that’s not to say we haven’t tried, failed and learned from our mistakes).

What we can do is promote and foster the optimal healing environment. We are facilitators. We can give you all the tools – the most up to date, evidenced based, personalised strength programme, the mobility work, the advice re painkillers, the positions of ease. We can test your muscle strength, mobilise your joint, tape your ankle but we can’t do the hard work for you.

We would not be so arrogant as to think that 40 minutes of physio a week is going to cut it when it comes to recovering from surgery or undoing the hours stuck behind the wheel of a car. And neither should you. It’s what you do day and daily that counts. We’re not in the business of selling sickness or injury and we make no apologises for it. So yes, whilst our treatments plinths are very comfy, please don’t think that is where the magic happens.

If you come to physiotherapy, expect some physical therapy!