First Consultation
- We will listen to what brings you to The Milton Physiotherapist.
- We will listen to your description of your pain, the mechanism of your pain and your past history.
- We will physically examine you, performing relevant tests to gather information about your problem.
- We will determine whether the problem is a physiotherapy-related issue. If not, we will refer you to the appropriate practitioner.
- We will explain the provisional diagnoses and how we came to our conclusions.
- We will discuss those conclusions and collaborate to agree on goals of physiotherapy.
- We will explain our treatment plan and start treatment.
- We will prescribe exercises specific to your injury and the agreed goals.
Subsequent Consultation(s)
- We will review the outcome of the first consultation.
- We will repeat, progress or modify the treatment based on that outcome.
- We will reset our goals if necessary.
- We will discharge you from our care with any further instructions if your problem has resolved.
- If your problem is unresolved we will discuss your options and either continue treatment or, if we feel it necessary, we may refer you back to your doctor for further investigations.
Make the most of your physio session
At The Milton Physiotherapist we not only accept questions we actively encourage them. Education and building knowledge is a key to getting the best long-term results. The more you understand your body the more relevant information you can supply for us and the more effective our partnership. So don’t be afraid to ask!
At the initial assessment we might interrupt your story and direct the interview elsewhere. We don’t mean to disrespect your view but at times we have to gather specific information to form a diagnosis. Generally during the interview we will ask if there is anything we haven’t covered, so you will have the time to offer anything you feel is relevant.
We are well aware that some of us struggle to enjoy exercise and find it hard to motivate themselves to rehabilitate their injury. Physiotherapy is a partnership – don’t be afraid to offer suggestions of activities you enjoy to enable us to prescribe exercises you are more likely to do. Take the exercises seriously – they are the ‘medication’ of physiotherapy.
Bring in your mobile phone or tablet. Taking photos or recording exercises can be a very effective way to ensure that you understand the techniques we teach you. An exercise performed well makes a world of difference.
Realistic goal-setting is extremely important. Short-term goals keep you on track and give you something to celebrate. Medium to long term goals remind you of the ultimate aim we have agreed on. Setting goals is a two-way process – we set them together. Sometimes we agree to disagree but we are always happy to be proved wrong!