What’s the Best Physiotherapist Near Me? 8 Tips to Help You Find the Best Practice
A physiotherapist can help with a long range of medical issues. Here’s what to look for when you Google “best physiotherapist near me”
There are about 65 million Americans that suffer from back pain. Chronic back pain impacts about 8% of the population in the country.
There are a number of providers that you can go to for back pain and other issues. A physiotherapist is your best chance to get to the root of the issue and resolve it for good.
Before you go searching on Google for the “best physiotherapist near me,” you need to know what you should look for.
These tips will help you get started. Read on to learn more about what a physiotherapist does and how you can find the best one for your situation.
What Does a Physiotherapist Do?
A physiotherapist studies how your body moves. This is important because many health practitioners specialize in one area of the body.
Your chiropractor knows the spine and how the nervous system attaches to the spine. Your personal trainer understands muscular anatomy.
A physiotherapist understands that issues within the body aren’t isolated to where the pain is. There is something in medicine called referred pain, where your injury is actually in one area, but you feel pain in another.
They’re able to make connections between your back pain and other issues with your body. For example, if you have a job that forces you to sit for hours at a time, that can be the cause of low back problems.
What happens is that by sitting for hours at a time, your glute muscles get weak, and your hip flexors get tight. The shortening of the hip flexors can pull down your pelvis. This is called an anterior pelvic tilt.
That can put pressure on your low back, especially if you’re overweight. The physiotherapist would work with you to open your hips and make your glues stronger. They may also work on hamstring flexibility as well.
What’s the difference between a physiotherapist and a physical therapist? For all intents and purposes, physical therapy and physiotherapy are the same.
In the U.S., they’re called physical therapists. In Canada, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, and Australia, they’re called physiotherapists.
There are professionals in the industry that would argue there is a difference between the two. They say that physiotherapists work on manual therapy techniques, while physical therapists give specific exercises.
This doesn’t really align with either profession. It’s really up to the individual therapist to find a treatment method for patients.
How to Find the Best Physiotherapist Near Me
How can you make sure that you find a good physiotherapist? It starts by understanding your own needs. You want to be clear as to what your issues are. If you’re having shoulder pain, you want to document when it started, where you feel the pain, and how intense it is.
This will help you communicate that with prospective physiotherapists. You can then set the right expectations with the physio.
1. Get Referrals
Your first step is to get referrals for physios in your area. You may want to check with your doctor to see if they have physiotherapists in their network that they can recommend.
Of course, insurance will play a role in finding a good physiotherapist. You’ll want to get a few names of physios and make sure that your insurance will cover most of the bill.
2. Physiotherapist Specialties
Physiotherapists often specialize in working with different populations or with different issues. For example, this physiotherapist can work with anyone from elite athletes to grandparents with mobility issues.
You may find some that work only with young athletes and others that work with the elderly. Still, some will specialize in auto accidents or workplace injuries.
3. Licensed and Certified
Physiotherapists have to go through a challenging licensing process. Most physiotherapists have a DPT or doctorate in physical therapy.
Physiotherapists and physical therapists are certified in the states where they practice. Each state has different requirements, but most require that they pass the National Physical Therapy Exam.
You can check with your state’s board to see if your physiotherapist is licensed.
4. Create a Treatment Plan
When you first talk with a physiotherapist, they’ll do an assessment of your pain and check how you move. They’ll look for areas that are contributing to your pain.
The physio will then recommend a treatment plan. You need to be clear if there are exercises that you need to do outside of your regular appointments.
5. Ask Who Performs the Work
You may come across a physiotherapist clinic, where there are several physios and physiotherapist assistants who do the work.
Be sure to ask who will perform the work. It may be a physiotherapist for the first sessions, then you work with an assistant. You may work with the same physiotherapist.
6. Read Online Reviews
Once you start looking at physiotherapists online, you’ll want to read the reviews. The reviews will give you insights as to how you can expect to be treated.
Some reviews might mention specific practitioners by name. You want to request to work with these practitioners with positive reviews.
7. Customer Service
The service level of the physiotherapist needs to be top-notch. They should be available to answer questions.
This is important if you’re doing exercises at home. You’ll need this support as you learn to move your body in a new way.
8. Personal Comfort Level
Anytime you work with a medical professional, you need to be comfortable with them. You need to be able to share any issues or concerns, so your treatment plan works.
You have to assess if you’d be comfortable working with more than one practitioner. You may just want to work with an individual physio, and that’s fine.
Tips to Find the Best Physiotherapist for Your Needs
A physiotherapist can help you heal from injuries and resolve chronic physical pain. They will work with you on a treatment plan that will treat the core of the problem.
Before you start your search for the “best physiotherapist near me,” you want to make sure you know what you want from your physiotherapist. You also want to ask about certifications, their treatment plan, and then assess your own comfort level with the physiotherapist.
Ready for more lifestyle tips? Check out the Lifestyle section of this site for more great information.
