Did you know that in Australia, physios are first line practitioners?
If you are worried about an injury, your movement or function – physio should be your first port of call.
I’m going to explain to you why you should call your physio before you call your GP in certain situations.
As physios, we are trained to diagnose musculoskeletal conditions. That means that we have the skills and knowledge to assess your muscles, joints, spine, ligaments, nerves, movement and function and are able to give you a most likely diagnosis (that is tell you what is wrong), a prognosis (tell you whether you can improve, and how long it may take) and what you will need to do to sort your issue.
In effect, muscles, bones and nerves are our specialty.
This places us in the best position to get you the help you need very quickly.
We can also refer you for x-rays or MRIs if we feel this is required as part of your assessment. We will refer you to your GP or a specialist if we feel this is necessary for the best outcome.
You don’t need a referral to come see a physio (unless you have a workers’ compensation, motor vehicle accident claim, DVA). So this means that we can see you quicker – you don’t have to wait to get an appointment with a doctor before seeing one of us. Most of the time you don’t need to have a scan of any kind before seeing a physio. We can deduce the issue with a range of questions and movement assessments.
Even in cases where we feel you do need the input of other specialists or your GP, we can start working on your issue whilst we are awaiting any appointments or scans. A lot of the time injuries can be treated conservatively with physio treatments and exercises and make a full recovery. This is the best outcome for your body holistically. In certain situations where further invasive treatments are required, having started with physio – you will have completed pre-habilitation. This will make your body stronger and mean you get a better outcome long term.
So if you have an injury, a movement or function problem – book an appointment to see one of our physios. We will be able to assess you and get you started on your path to better movement, function and better health.
