In pain? 7 reasons you must consider online physiotherapy treatment!
Online physiotherapy and treatment over the internet is a weird concept for anyone to wrap their heads around. One of the most common questions asked is ‘how does online physiotherapy treatment work?’.
It’s true that traditionally when we think of physiotherapy, we think of massage and joint manipulation. So how does online physiotherapy work?
Physiotherapy has changed over the last decade as we have adapted our techniques, based on the evidence available.
Physiotherapy used to be dominated by techniques like massage and manipulation as they give short term benefit. The problem is, these techniques rarely result in lasting change. So then, what does?
The one thing that comes up time and time again as being an effective treatment for pain, is exercise and load management/injury advice.
Guess what?
You don’t need to be present with somebody to prescribe appropriate exercises and give sound advice! This is how online physiotherapy assessment and treatment is feasible.
The ever-expanding technological advances is making videoconferencing easy and flexible.
So why should you choose online physiotherapy?
Reason #1 – Online treatment is personal!
I know it sounds strange, but let me elaborate:
The face-time videoconferencing sessions are very similar to face-to-face without the touch component. Your therapist still hears your story, they understand your exact problem, they want to help YOU.
What really sets online apart is that after the initial video-conference, you have access to your therapist whenever, thanks to in-app messaging.
Instead of waiting for one appointment a week, you can literally ask a question, as you think of them. Heck, you can even ask them how their day has been!
We have all had the experience of going to a physiotherapist, and you walk out with hand-written drawings on paper like we live in the dark ages! The problem here is we never know if we’re doing the exercises correctly.
With online physio, you can video an exercise and shoot it through, to check if you’re doing it right.
Online physiotherapy treatment means you don’t have to worry about doing exercises the right way again. It takes away the problem that will prevent your recovery.
Reason #2 – It’s more affordable
Who doesn’t want more affordable physiotherapy!
At Click Physiotherapy we don’t do cheap, we do quality at affordable prices. The reason we can pull this off, is because there are minimal overhead costs.
Think about it, we don’t have a building to pay rent, or lots of equipment to buy. That means we can cut down on the cost of physiotherapy, without compromising our standard of care.
Our starting consultation is only $49.99 for a session. This will give you an online video consultation with one of our therapists. Then after you will be given appropriate advice, any educational material you need and an initial home exercise program to start.
Should you want to continue then our plans are as cheap as $39.99 a week!
Take out you morning coffee everyday and you could afford the service just on that. (If that’s too much of a stretch maybe save the money another way – I know I can’t go without my coffee..)
Reason #3 – Take a physiotherapist in your pocket!
Have you ever needed a physiotherapist when you had an injury whilst skiing in Japan?
Well now you can take us with you!
The benefit of online physiotherapy is that if you have internet connection, you have connection with your physiotherapist. Now distance doesn’t have to be a limitation to you receiving the quality care that you deserve.
If you’re anything like me, you want to keep a good physiotherapist when you find one. With online physiotherapy you will always have this luxury, even should you decide to move.
This also works for those who have busy schedules. Our hours fit well outside the normal schedule, to accommodate for those who work the 9-5.
Maybe you just want to get treated on you lunch break? Well this also is an option – just remember you may have to show the body part being treated so maybe get a private space.
Mums with young children that don’t get the luxury of leaving the home now don’t need to. With online physiotherapy all you need is a mobile phone to get treatment by a physiotherapist.
Reason #4: Assurance of high-quality trained physiotherapists
Did you know that physiotherapists’ can specialise just like doctors? You go to a knee surgeon because you know they’ve put in the extra training to focus their knowledge.
In Australia our physiotherapists graduate with a bachelors degree. They then have the opportunity to go back and do a masters degree furthering their skills in a specific area.
There are different masters degrees, but one that is essential for treatment via telehealth is your masters in musculoskeletal physiotherapy.
This ensures that those who graduate have an extra year to solely focus on muscle, joint and nerve injuries.
At Click Physiotherapy, we only hire physiotherapists who are masters trained – meaning they have extra university training in treating musculo-skeletal injuries.
More than this, our area of expertise is knees and tendons. We will see other conditions, but we have chosen to focus our skills even more on these two areas.
Common injuries that we will treat include:
- Tendinopathies of the ankle, knee, hip, shoulder and elbow
- Meniscal injuries
- ACL pre and post operation
- Osteoarthritis of the knee
- Patello-femoral pain injuries and patella dislocations
If you have any of these injuries, rest assured that these are out bread and butter. We know how to get you better because our training is focused in these areas.
Reason #5: Online treatment will keep you accountable
One of my all-time favorite perks for online physiotherapy treatment is that we can track your adherence to the exercise program.
The app we use, called physiapp, is comprehensive and allows us to send your exercises in picture and video format.
This app also prompts you to set a time of day to send a reminder for you to perform your exercises. After each exercise, it asks you to log how many sets and reps you have completed.
This data is sent back to us at Click Physiotherapy so that we can see how you are going with hitting your exercise goals.
This is a valuable feature as I believe our job doesn’t end when the video-conference is over. Our job is to coach you through performing these exercises, because they are the key to your recovery.
If there are a few days missed, your physiotherapist may send a friendly reminder, or ask if you are struggling with the exercises. This opens a dialogue for conversation so we can better serve your needs.
We understand that exercises are hard, especially when you aren’t used to performing them regularly. We want to give you every opportunity to exceed in your rehabilitation.
Reason #6: You will have more access to information
The internet is full of quality information and you only need to know where to look.
During the video consultation, our video platform allows the screen that your physiotherapist is using to be displayed on your phone screen.
This means we can highlight in real-time, any relevant information that might help you to understand your condition.
This might include watching a you tube video together, or scrolling through specific pictures on our website to help you understand the muscles we need to strengthen or stretch.
We have some great information on all different aspects of training. One I have found particularly useful, is advice on loading an injury correctly.
Reason #7: With online physiotherapy treatments, you take us to your training ground.
I hear some of you saying, isn’t this the same as reason #3?
Yes, the title is similar but let me explain the important difference here:
Injuries either occur because of something set up incorrectly in an office and over time this creates damage. The other reason for injuries is in an acute setting.
Either way, you can take us with you into that environment.
Let’s take the overuse example of incorrect set-up at work. Instead of trying to elaborately describe your office set up to the physio you see in person, you could just jump online at work and we will see the problem immediately.
It gives power to be able to demonstrate your office set-up. There is an advantage in being able to see you work at your computer station. We can then offer advice on the spot which will be much more targeted.
If we take the acute injury example:
Often you will have a gym where you may do your rehabilitation after something like an ACL injury. All gyms are similar, but there are differences.
You can take your phone into that gym and we can create exercise programs around your exact set up!
The bottom line:
Online physiotherapy can provide many benefits that you simply won’t get with traditional physiotherapy.
I don’t think it’s for everyone, if you’re the type of person who needs a massage with every treatment, maybe massage therapy might be down your ally?
If you want to take control of your pain, then jump online and book your assessment with Click Physiotherapy. CLICK HERE