The vital role of mobile physiotherapy after an accident: A guide for personal injury recovery
An accident, whether on the road or at the workplace, can be a life-altering event, often leaving victims with physical injuries and emotional distress. In the aftermath of an accident, seeking prompt and comprehensive medical care is crucial for a successful recovery. One essential component of post-accident rehabilitation is physiotherapy. In appropriate cases, the CTP insurer or WorkCover will be quick to approve payment on behalf of someone injured in an accident for appropriate treatment by a physiotherapist.
We recently sat down with Sarah Higgs from Sarah’s Physio To Go to discuss the pivotal role that physiotherapy plays in personal injury recovery and why it is indispensable as part of a full and effective rehabilitation process.
Understanding Physiotherapy
TPIL: Sarah, thank you for joining us today to shed light on the crucial role of physiotherapy in personal injury recovery. Let’s start with a broad question – what exactly is physiotherapy, and how does it contribute to post-accident rehabilitation?
Sarah: Physiotherapy is a healthcare discipline that focuses on restoring and maintaining physical function, mobility, and strength. As part of our treatment our physiotherapists employ a range of techniques, hand on therapy, massage, exercises, and modalities to alleviate pain, improve flexibility, enhance overall physical well-being, return you to the things you love and return to work after an injury. After an accident, physiotherapy plays a crucial role in addressing injuries, educating people, promoting healing, and helping individuals regain their pre-accident level of functioning and confidence and avoid re injury.
Immediate Benefits of Physiotherapy
TPIL: Can you share some immediate benefits of physiotherapy, particularly in managing pain and restoring mobility after an accident?
Sarah: Certainly. Accidents often lead to acute pain and discomfort. Physiotherapy offers targeted exercises, manual therapy, and specialised techniques to manage pain, provide relief and facilitate a smoother and faster recovery process. Moreover, physiotherapists work closely with patients to design personalised rehabilitation programs aimed at restoring mobility, flexibility, and functional independence. These can be tailored to your sport or functional movements you do at work that you need to return to or even things around the home that you need to return to.
TPIL: In your experience, how does physiotherapy help prevent long-term complications resulting from injuries sustained in accidents?
Sarah: Without regular and effective intervention, some injuries may lead to long-term complications. Physiotherapy addresses the root causes of injuries, promoting optimal healing and preventing the development of chronic conditions and lingering pain. It plays a proactive role in mitigating potential long-term complications. The earlier you jump on the physiotherapy journey after an injury the better, early intervention is always best for long term success.
Coping with a Permanent Disability after Trauma
TPIL: Coping with a permanent disability after trauma can be challenging. How does physiotherapy contribute to the long-term wellbeing of individuals dealing with permanent disabilities?
Sarah: Physiotherapists are experienced in working with clients dealing with permanent disabilities, providing ongoing support, and helping them and their families adapt to their new circumstances. By tailoring treatment plans to address specific challenges and goals, our aim is to improve quality of life and promote overall physical and mental well-being and to empower people. Our clients are in the driver’s seat, we are the passengers. It Also helps a lot that we supply our services in people’s surroundings and in their own homes, they are comfortable and everything we do can translate over to their real life and daily tasks in their surroundings.
WorkCover Claims and Utilising Physiotherapy Intervention
TPIL: Many injured people are unsure on how to go about finding a physio in the Workcover space or what that journey looks like for them, and many have had bad experiences following an accident/ injury at work and struggle to get back to work – Can you expand on this and how your team can help?
Sarah: Absolutely! Our team at Sarah’s Physio To Go provide great quality service with fantastic outcomes for people with a fast recovery time and return to work. We provide services at your home which accelerates the recovery process to ensure long-term success and its very convenient when someone is in too much pain and cant drive due to injury. Its really important to have a physio team in your corner!
The Importance of Choosing the Right Physiotherapist
TPIL: Many injured people turn to their physiotherapist as their first point of contact following an accident – often even before they have consulted their General Practitioner or local hospital. Can you elaborate on the importance of choosing the right physiotherapist in ensuring a successful recovery?
Sarah: Absolutely. A skilled physiotherapist takes the time to understand each patient’s unique circumstances and take the time to listen. They can craft personalised treatment plans that address individual goals and challenges and accelerates the recovery process to ensure long-term success.
Secondly, clear communication between the patient and the physiotherapist is vital. A good physiotherapist listens attentively, explains the treatment plan thoroughly and the reasonings behind it with good education, and provides ongoing guidance and support throughout the recovery journey from start to finish.
Additionally, you can certainly source out and book an appointment with a physiotherapist without a GP referral, you can skip this step and save that time and just book in directly through us. Very convenient.
TPIL: Is it important that a physiotherapist have access to other allied health professionals and modalities?
Sarah: Physiotherapy will often form just one part of an overall rehabilitation plan. A physiotherapist will often have connections with other allied health professionals and others relating to the field that can assist such as massage therapists, exercise physiologists and occupational therapists who can complement the recovery journey. This collaborative approach provides a more holistic treatment which provides a much more sustainable recovery process in the long run.
About our guest
Sarah Higgs, Founder, Director and Lead Physiotherapist of Sarah’s Physio To Go, and her team of Allied Health Professionals work hard to help their clients deal with a wide range of injuries and mobility issues resulting from accidents all in the convenience of your surroundings.
Sarah’s Physio To Go provides a number of mobile allied health services including physiotherapy, hydrotherapy, dry needling and acupuncture, massage therapy, and exercise physiology and occupational therapy.
Sarah’s Physio To Go provides mobile consultations and treatments sessions at your preferred location, whether that be at your home, workplace, school, gym or telehealth prioritising your safety, privacy, comfort and convenience.
