FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

In most cases, if your musculoskeletal injury or pain has not improved within approximately one week, you can benefit from physical therapy treatments. To further help you in your decision, we have created a quick 7-point checklist:

If you answered YES to 2 or more of the above 7 points, then you should seek the help of a physiotherapist. The reason behind this is that the above 7 points are aspects of injuries that are commonly treated in physical therapy and have been shown through research to result in quicker, fuller, and superior outcomes.

Recovering from an injury is often a stressful and concerning process for patients to go through. Without knowing what structure is damaged, or what movements/postures are actually harmful for the injury, or what exercises/corrections can help speed up the healing, you may encounter several complications that ultimately impede on your recovery.

Fortunately, these missteps can be largely avoided by consulting a physiotherapist, who will educate you regarding your injury and guide you on the proper steps to recovery. Through a combination of manual corrective therapy to optimise your body’s functioning, and active movement education, research has shown that recovery will be faster, fuller, and with the added benefit of requiring less medication

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It is essential to see your physical therapist as soon as possible after your injury. A recent study published in the New England Journal of Medicine (Bayer et al., 2017) demonstrated that a group of recreational athletes that consulted a Physiotherapist 2 days following a muscular injury ended up recovering and returning to their sport 3 weeks faster than the group who consulted their Physio 9 days post-injury (62 days vs. 83 days). This observed difference supports the importance of early treatment and how it can improve a quick recovery.

Take home message? If you think you injured yourself, don’t wait and come consult our Physios!

(https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMc1708134?af=R&rss=currentIssue#t=article)

Your medical profile and baseline information is crucial for your physical therapist to capture your general health, so it is recommended to show up 20 minutes early to your appointment to fill out these forms. Alternatively, these can be filled up online at your convenience. Your physical therapist will then begin the initial assessment and will typically evaluate the following:

• Your medical history regarding how you injured yourself
• Your subjective problems/complaints (pain intensity, what movements hurt etc…)
• The impact on your daily activities and your rehabilitation goals
• Assess your joint-specific and general movement patterns
• Postural assessment
• Palpation and evaluation of your joint mobility and muscle tensions
• Muscle flexibility, balance, and strength testing
• Neurological screening
• Special Tests to confirm/rule out additional problems

The evaluation portion of the first visit should take approximately 30-45 minutes. This process is essential to determine the true source of your injury and best determine all necessary steps for a full recovery.

Following this, there is normally sufficient time to begin treatment, which will typically include:

• Education on the condition
• Advice on what to do and what to avoid
• Development of treatment plan
• Exercises specific to your injury
• And if time permits, manual corrective therapy.

With this, you will leave the first visit knowledgeable about your injury, how to best handle it, and with the first steps towards your recovery.

The initial assessment will last 60 minutes including the evaluation and initial treatment.

The follow up visits will last 30 minutes or 60 minutes, depending on the treatment session option chosen.

Please wear loose comfortable shorts for any lower body problems (including low back).

Tank top for any upper body injuries (preferably with the upper back exposed). Loose T-shirt for men. Please tie up your hair if it’s for neck/upper back issues. Please bring your running shoes if you have a lower body injury.

A doctor’s referral is not necessary to receive treatments at Integral Performance Physio. However, if you have consulted a doctor prior to commencing physiotherapy, please bring the doctor’s prescription as well as other related documents (X-Rays, MRIs, previous exercise programs etc…)

Depending on your degree of injury, individual rate of healing, and your recovery goal, your physical therapist will develop a detailed rehabilitation program with the estimated number and frequency of treatments. Your physical therapist will constantly re-evaluate your progress and modify the number and frequency of visit accordingly.

Depending on chronicity of your injury, some people will feel the beneficial effect of the treatment right away, whereas others might feel post-treatment soreness and fatigue before getting better. This effect will last approximately 24h-48h and is completely normal. If you are unsure, you can communicate with your treating therapist through the OhMD app or by calling us.

Since each individual body and condition is different, there is no one formula that fits all. With Integral Performance Physio, we pride ourselves in delivering individualized program that tailor to you and help you get better as quickly as possible.

Depending on your stage of injury and type of condition, your treating therapist will determine the best combination of hands-on, exercise, educational guidance, or modalities you will need.

Direct Access private physiotherapy in Quebec is not covered by the RAMQ. However, many extended health company insurance plans do provide coverage for physical therapy, usually ranging from 50% coverage to 100% coverage. Please check with your insurance company for more information.

We are also pleased to announce that IPP functions with Telus Health E-claims. That means depending on your insurance plan; we may be able to directly submit the claim on your behalf, so you only pay the difference in cost. This is just like at the pharmacy or your dentist!

Physical therapy can help with many dysfunctions including muscle weakness or tension, joint stiffness, or loss of movement control, which are often factors that impede on your functioning due to your injury. For that reason, in most cases of musculoskeletal injury, even if a surgery was recommended to you, physical therapy can still be very beneficial. In fact, some studies show that with physiotherapy alone, one can even avoid surgery and achieve an equal or even greater functional recovery than with the surgery route.

For more information: Surgery Vs. Non surgical treatment of Lumbar Spinal Stenosis
Physical therapy Vs. Surgery for Torn Meniscus

Our recommendation? Come see us for a complete evaluation and then our Physio will be able to let you know if physical therapy or surgery is necessary.