Traditionally, physiotherapy has cost a lot of money. Finding a reputable physiotherapist, waiting until they have some availability come up, and then finally booking your sessions and forking out a sizeable sum to do so, all add to the stress and effort of rehabilitation. Now, though, there’s a preferable alternative.
Online physiotherapists and physio sites can point you in the right direction when it comes to orthopaedic products, physio exercises and other tips and tricks, so that you can save yourself money, and get yourself back to normal more quickly. With that in mind, we wanted to look at some of the top benefits in utilising online physiotherapists.
What is Physiotherapy?
First, though, it’s worth establishing just what we mean by ‘physio’. Physiotherapy refers to helping people – who have been injured or whose movement has been affected in some other such way – with their movement and mobility, as well as strengthening muscles and encouraging flexibility. Many people associate physiotherapy solely with professional athletes, however people in everyday life can benefit massively from physio treatment, too. The more common physiotherapy treatments include:
Kinesio Taping. Something commonly seen on a sports field, this (usually colourful) tape is used to help recover from muscular aches and pains, and can especially help those looking to get back into exercise after a lengthy stay on the proverbial sidelines.
Range of Motion (ROM) Exercises. Limited range of motion affects many people after they’ve sustained an injury. If you’ve had a knee injury, for instance, then you might find you struggle to flex and bend your leg in the way you could pre-injury. ROM exercises are regularly carried out to help reintroduce (and eventually reach) the level of movement you previously had.
Soft Tissue Mobilisation. The hands of a trained physiotherapist can work wonders, and massage techniques are often applied to sore and stiff muscles to help speed up recovery from injury.
Whilst some techniques require in-person physio, there are a huge number of treatments and regimes that can be sought out through online means.
Get Advice Quickly
One of the most frustrating things about waiting for in-person physio treatment is often that, when you finally get around to seeing the specialist, they guide you to do something you probably could’ve found out yourself with a quick search online. Whilst some more severe issues might require in-person consultations, many aches and pains can be easily worked on and remedied through the kind of informative advice that can so easily these days be found online.
In today’s hectic, fast-paced world, we understand that many people simply don’t have the time to ‘wait around’ until they can get treatment for their problem, be that a muscular issue, a problem with their joints, or anything else. In utilising online physiotherapy, by contrast, you can start living life on your own terms again, and get your rehabilitation well under way in only a matter of minutes. What’s more, that advice won’t cost you the world, either!
Recover from the Comfort of your Home
Rehabilitation is both a painful and stressful time. There’s the impatience to get better, twinned with the discomfort it causes to go travel any kind of distance away from your home. What if the hospital is an hour’s drive away, or you need to get on several different buses to get to the nearest physiotherapist’s clinic? That kind of travel and mobility simply isn’t practical for many people who require physio, and as such, an online alternative is infinitely more preferable.
Sceptics will point to the lack of bespoke advice and information you receive in choosing online physio, but in reality, that couldn’t be further from the truth. Especially these days, when many online physiotherapists are offering advice via video consultation, you can get just as good treatment and help online, as you can in-person.
Get the Equipment you Need, When you Need it
Many online physiotherapists will often also double up as vendors of orthopaedic equipment and items; after all, there’s nothing worse than being told “here’s what you need to do, and here’s the equipment you need to do it” but then realising they don’t actually have the equipment that’s needed. Buying your equipment online is a quick, easy and often more cost-effective way of getting what’s needed for your exercises.
Orthopaedics and physiotherapy is an area where a fair amount of equipment is often needed; resistance bands, for instance, are ideal for re-strengthening weakened muscles. If you’ve been bed-ridden for any length of time, then muscular imbalance is not uncommon, and you need to carry out concerted work on redeveloping any muscle mass that’s been lost, so as not to lead to future injuries.
Physio Which Works Around You
Another potential issue with in-person physiotherapy when compared with online alternatives – asides from the cost – is that it’s quite restrictive in a practical sense. Now that societies over the world are opening up once more, and that the worst of the pandemic is – for most, at least – in the past, people are starting to lead busier lives once more. Families are going on holidays, professionals are going to business conferences and schools are back in full-swing.
Consistently fitting visits to the local physio around all of that? Well, it’s easier said than done, that’s for sure! Online physiotherapy, by comparison, offers you far greater flexibility, and means that wherever you are in the world, and whatever you’re doing, you’ll be able to continue with your physio work. Fisiokit offers exactly that kind of help, as well as a wide range of orthopaedic products to help you get back to where you want to be.