Physiotherapy

Physiotherapy is a healthcare profession concerned with human function and movement and maximising potential. People often turn to a physiotherapist when an injury, illness or disability begins to affect their normal daily activities.
The physiotherapist’s primary aim is therefore to help restore movement and function to as near normal as possible, as quickly as possible, so that people can get on with their lives.

A more formal definition of physiotherapy comes from the 2002 CSP Curriculum Framework :-

• It [Physiotherapy] uses physical approaches to promote, maintain and restore physical, psychological and social well-being, taking account of variations in health status.

• Physiotherapy is science-based, committed to extending, applying, evaluating and reviewing the evidence that underpins and informs its practice and delivery.

• The exercise of clinical judgement and informed interpretation is at its core.

Physiotherapy operates across a diverse array of healthcare settings such as intensive care, occupational health, recovery from strokes, women’s health, care for the elderly to name but a few.

A physiotherapist will apply their reflective knowledge, diagnostic skills, manual treatment techniques and rehabilitation programmes, to help improve a patient’s symptoms, whilst also addressing the underlying causes. In so doing, they look at all the body’s various systems - neuromusculor (brain and nervous system), musculoskeletal (soft tissues, joints and bones), cardiovascular and respiratory systems. Therefore, physiotherapists need to have an extensive and detailed understanding of the body’s systems, structures and physiology.