Physiotherapists don’t only work with athletes. While there are Physiotherapists who specialize in sports medicine or orthopaedics, there are many more who specialize in a wide variety of conditions. In this blog, we’ll go over six types of Physiotherapists and the treatments they specialize in:
1. Paediatric Physiotherapist
Paediatric Physiotherapists help children and youth, from birth to early adulthood, to achieve optimal physical development, although the typical age range seen is infants to 5 years of age.
Types of conditions seen include:
- Torticollis and/or plagiocephaly
- Cerebral palsy
- Spina bifida
- Down syndrome
- Those who have developmental delays in their physical function
Their treatment is directed toward:
- Improving gross motor function and posture
- Optimizing strength, gait, flexibility, and balance so that children can move through their environment easily and effectively
- Helping children meet developmental motor milestones
- Creating a fitness plan for injury prevention
Paediatric Physiotherapists treat children using many different techniques, like manual therapy (soft tissue release, joint mobilizations, muscle energy techniques, traction, and passive stretching), hands-on facilitation, education, referrals to other specialists, and/or home exercise programs.
2. Sport Physiotherapist / Sports Injury Physiotherapist
A Sports Physiotherapist is dedicated to helping athletes perform at their best. They also help athletes accelerate in their recovery from an injury.
A Sports Physiotherapist assesses the strength, flexibility, mobility and movement patterns of their athletes. They may also assess the performance of an athlete’s entire kinetic chain when performing their rehabilitation. A Kinetic chain is a group of muscles and joints that work together to perform a particular movement. For example, the entire lower kinetic chain, including the hip, knee, ankle and foot, is involved when you kick a soccer ball. If you are experiencing pain with this movement, they will assess the function of all of the parts of the kinetic chain to determine a diagnosis, problem list, and an effective strategy to rehabilitate the area.
Sports Physiotherapists can help athletes in many ways, including:
- Increasing your physical strength and muscular structure
- Improving joint and muscle flexibility
- Improving the performance of sports
- Helping your body relax and recharge post-exercise.
- Accelerating recovery after a sports event, injury, or workout
- Reducing your likelihood of injury recurrence by working on prevention
3. Concussion Physiotherapist
Most don’t think of a Physiotherapist when it comes to concussions. Physiotherapists play a major role in the rehabilitation of concussion injuries. They can contribute to concussion rehab in the following ways:
- Reducing headache and neck pain
- Improving balance and stop dizziness
- Providing exercises to improve cognitive function
- Guiding the return to work, activity, or sport
Concussion treatment can involve:
- Manual therapy to reduce pain and improve neck function
- Neck exercises to improve strength and mobility
- Coordination exercises
- Balance training
- Vestibular exercises
4. Pelvic Floor Physiotherapist
Pelvic Floor Physiotherapists are trained to assess and treat pelvic floor concerns in women, men, and children.
NOTE: There is no internal exam or internal treatment done on children.
Your pelvic floor is a group of muscles that help control your bowel and bladder function. With events such as pregnancy, menopause, enlarged prostate, etc., the pelvic floor muscles can become weak, tight and sometimes painful. When this happens, it can cause sexual pain, inability to completely empty your bladder or bowels, incontinence (loss of bowel or bladder function), nocturia (peeing overnight), enuresis (bedwetting), and pelvic organ prolapse, among other symptoms.
If you experience any of the above symptoms, Pelvic Floor Physios can help with:
- Releasing the pelvic floor muscle tension
- Reducing bladder and bowel issues
- Improving sexual function
- Preparing women for childbirth and helping with post-partum recovery
Additionally, research shows us that pelvic floor dysfunction can be associated with back pain. So if you are experiencing low back pain along with changes in your bowel, bladder and/or sexual function, consider scheduling an appointment with a Pelvic Floor Physiotherapist who can help you with your back injury and your pelvic health concerns.
5. Neurological Rehabilitation Physiotherapists
Neuro Physiotherapy is a specialized field of Physiotherapy that helps patients suffering from neurological conditions.
Some common conditions treated are:
- Traumatic brain Injury/head injury
- Spinal cord injury
- Stroke
- Multiple sclerosis (MS)
- Parkinson’s Disease
- Bell’s palsy
A Neuro Physiotherapist helps with these conditions using neuroplasticity. After sustaining a neurological injury, your nerve function becomes diminished. With diminished nerve function, your body is unable to complete specific movements and activities. Neuroplasticity occurs when the brain rewires itself to learn and relearn tasks and abilities. This takes a lot of practice!
A Neuro Physiotherapist will recommend certain exercises that cause the brain to form new neural connections that are required to perform these movements and activities.
6. Orthopaedic Physiotherapists
Orthopaedic Physiotherapists focus on injuries to tendons, ligaments, bones, and muscles.
They can successfully treat:
- Frozen shoulder
- Bursitis
- Joint pain in the hips, knees, elbows, and ankles
- Lower back pain
- Plantar fasciitis
- Arthritis
- Spinal stenosis
- Degenerative Disc Disease.
- Carpal tunnel syndrome
- Sacroiliac Joint (SIJ) Dysfunction
Orthopaedic Physiotherapists use a variety of methods to treat patients, including:
- Exercise
- Education on your condition and how to manage it, as well as prevent it from happening again
- Activity modification to help you return to activity
- Joint mobilization
- Soft tissue massage and passive stretches
- Heat, ice, laser, ultrasound, and/or electrotherapy modalities
- Muscle stimulation
- Acupuncture
Contact Fit4Life today for top Physiotherapists and electrotherapeutic modalities in Winnipeg!