This blog post will explain what to expect from initial consultation with the physiotherapy team here at Denton Physio Technology. This may be different to any previous physiotherapy assessments because its conducted on an online video call. The COVID-19 pandemic has forced us to work, think and adapt in unprecedented ways so, we set up a fully virtual service to allow patients can benefit from training, working and connecting with a physio anytime, any place.
Train and chat with your physio anytime, any place
Once you have booked an appointment to see one of our specialist you will receive confirmation of your initial consultation. The email will explain a simple step by step process fo you to follow to ensure you are able to join the call successfully. If you haven't done so already we ask you to fill in a short online assessment form, which gives our physio a brief understanding of what your injury is, how long you have been experiencing it and some personal details. Follow the commencing steps to join the call as demonstrated in the video below and you'll be briefly placed in a virtual waiting room ready for one of our physiotherapists to admit you for the session.
The first part of your initial consultation will be a detailed discussion around the history of your presenting condition. Our physiotherapists will take time to explore aspects such as how long the issue has been going on, severity of symptoms, what aggravates/eases the problem, behaviour of symptoms etc. It is also important to understand the demands of your daily life such as work and hobbies so that we can set appropriate goals. For example, the shoulder rehabilitation of a construction worker will be completely different to that of a teacher, so understanding this is key to your treatment. Also, in this part of your consultation, we will gather all past medical history including any major surgeries/illnesses, to ensure that you are safe to proceed with any treatment interventions that we prescribe.
Connect with your physio, from your home
Once all the above information has been collected, a full remote physical examination will begin. For this, we ask patients to be in loose clothing so that when you are required to perform certain movements, you are able to without any restrictions. Loose clothing also allows us to examine an injury site if applicable. For example, for our post-operative patients it is important for us to see that any wounds are healing as best as possible, to provide reassurance as part of your treatment. The aim of this part of the assessment is to provide a diagnosis based on findings (if not already received from elsewhere) so that the appropriate treatment can begin. Joint range of movement, strength and special tests to assess certain structures are just a few examples of what your physical examination will look like.
The consultation will finish with a summary of findings with a clear plan moving forward in terms of management of your presenting condition. This may include prescription of some of our re.flex motion sensors, which will allow us to monitor your progress daily to maintain high adherence and communicate regularly between consultations. We take pride in educating our patients about their condition so that you can not only recover from the injury but prevent re-injury in the future.
Andreas Robinson
Physiotherapist