4 Points To Getting The Most Out Of Your Therapy Sessions

This time of year I always seem to get an increase in enquires for my Therapy Sessions, finding out more about what we offer and also for booking in.

I'm writing this article based on the questions I get asked most during these enquires and I'll also include some tips of how you can make your sessions more beneficial to you.

The article will not only be written from the side of a Therapist but also the side of a client, based on my experiences visiting therapists for previous sports injuries I have had.

To make things easier I'm going to use an example of a client I have recently been seeing, who was suffering from lower back pain. He is 32 years old, has an office job and plays weekly five a side.

1. The Pain Isn't Always The Problem - This follows on from the last article I did "The Problem With Just Treating The Pain". More often than not I find the pain is coming from a completely different area to where the pain is felt, so don't go straight to the pain. Don't get me wrong, I will use some methods to relive pain currently experienced such as soft tissue work, trigger points, Kinesiology taping. In the above case I used Kinesiology taping to reduce the current symptoms. Our session showed the pelvis was in a rotation, causing the adductors (inner thigh) to be in a short position. So our treatment consisted of releasing the adductors, carrying out MET's (Muscle Energy Techniques) for the pelvis and strengthening the abductors. We could have simply just rubbed where the pain was and whilst this may have offered temporary release, but I'm pretty sure I would of seen this gentlemen back in my studio within a few weeks with the same pain. 
2. Taking action ourselves - Let me take you back a few years ago when I was looking for some therapy for what I thought was "Shin Splints". I found a physiotherapist who was excellent, but I remember getting "homework exercises". Initially I started these exercises and then as many of us can relate with, they started to not be performed consistently. In my next session, my physio did some tests and it become obvious the exercises I hadn't done the exercises. So after the session I made sure I completed them correctly. In the following sessions the results improved dramatically and I got the results I wanted a lot quicker. These days in my studio I see clients achieve far greater results in much quicker time when completing their homework exercises (usually it also means they need less sessions). Without completing "homework exercises" it is likely our results we want to achieve will be less effective. 
3. How Many Sessions Will I Need - This will be determined by a number of factors such as how you respond to treatment, the underlying issues causing the pain, completing the homework exercises etc. Going back to when I was receiving physiotherapy treatment, I remember thinking that I would go in, be "fixed" and out after the first session. But it was quite a naive thought to think that an injury I had been carrying for over 3 months, would be sorted and never come back in the space of 40 minutes! But remember this doesn't mean you should have session after session after session. John Gibbons says in his book "If, however, after three or five physical therapy sessions, the patients symptoms are not reducing, then you the therapist will need to alter your thought process". 
4. The future - So what happens after we have achieved the results we want? Well I went and got a qualified as therapist, so I'm not sure how many of you will be taking that route! It all depends on our lifestyle factors of how we move forwards. Some of clients return for regular screens and treatment to increase the chances of prevention of previous pain returning, some attend regular massage treatment, some attend my Pilates classes and some carry on with exercises given to them which they can carry out themselves. It really is whatever option is most effective for you.

I'm hoping the points made in this article will help you along your journey whichever route you decide to take. 

We are running free 30 minute Therapy sessions throughout November, where you can come to our studio to have a consultation to see if the services we run can help you in your journey. Please get in touch if this is something you may be interested in.

Thanks for reading

Reference
Gibbons, J. 2016. Functional anatomy of the Pelvis and the Sacroiliac joint, p93

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