Pain Management: Physiotherapy

Sometimes pain treatment can be accomplished through physiotherapy. Physiotherapy (physio) involves the treatment, healing, and prevention of injuries or disabilities. Physiotherapy helps to relieve pain, promote healing and restore function and movement.

Physiotherapy is practiced by a professionally trained physiotherapist under the referral of a doctor. A physiotherapist is a specialist skilled and educated specifically in proper rehabilitation.

How is physiotherapy used to treat pain?

A physiotherapist may focus on decreasing pain with either passive or active therapy.

Examples of passive physiotherapy include:

• heat/ice packs
• transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) units
• ultrasound

Examples of active physiotherapy include:

• stretching
• strengthening exercises
• pain relief exercises
• low-impact aerobic conditioning

Points to consider

An important aspect to keep in mind about physiotherapy is that each individual is different and may respond differently to therapy. People have different types of bodies, different patterns of movement, different alignments and different habits. Physiotherapists and their trained staff can monitor each individual and attempt to correct improper habits, alignments and movement patterns.