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Physiotherapy promotes, restores, and maintains overall physical function and well-being. It assists in the recovery from acute illness, injury or surgery and helps with the management of chronic health conditions. As a physiotherapist, I am uniquely educated in the orthopaedic, neurological, and cardiorespiratory systems. With this knowledge, I look beyond my patients’ symptoms and analyze the factors that are contributing to their symptoms in the first place. I take a detailed history from my patients before I perform a thorough assessment and physical examination. It is this integrative approach that enables me to put together a comprehensive program that is personalized for my patients’ unique rehabilitation journey.
Mobile orthopaedic physiotherapy can address pain, inflammation, loss of range of motion and strength that is a result of an acute injury or the aggravation of a chronic condition. Comprehensive assessment is crucial to identifying the appropriate treatment components needed to help a patient get back to the life they want to live!
Acupuncture and dry needling both use sterile, disposable needles to provide very effective therapeutic benefit to the body. Acupuncture and dry needling can both be easily integrated into a physiotherapy treatment program to provide symptom relief.
Physiotherapy can help individuals who have been infected by COVID-19 that have lingering or newly developing symptoms that far exceed the expected recovery period for the virus.
Mobile neurological physiotherapy helps individuals manage muscle tone, regain strength and independence performing functional tasks in their home environment. There are a variety of exercises and hands-on techniques that can facilitate neurological improvement.
Mobile orthopaedic physiotherapy can address pain, inflammation, loss of range of motion and strength that is a result of an acute injury or the aggravation of a chronic condition. Comprehensive assessment is crucial to identifying the appropriate treatment components needed to help a patient get back to the life they want to life!
There are many techniques that can be integrated into an orthopaedic treatment. Some of these include:
As patients age, physiotherapy intervention is vitally important to help them maintain their independence with daily tasks. Instruction in functional movement and transfer training to get in and out of your bed, chair, bathtub/shower, car can be helpful. Assistance in improving gait mechanics and using gait aids safely is crucial. If necessary, a fall prevention assessment of a patient’s home environment can be performed to determine any changes that might need to be made to ensure safe mobility in the home and ability to do functional daily tasks independently.
Acupuncture and dry needling both use sterile, disposable needles to provide very effective therapeutic benefit to the body. Acupuncture and dry needling can both be easily integrated into a physiotherapy treatment program to provide symptom relief.
I take an anatomical based approach to acupuncture that combines Traditional Chinese Medicine Principles with modern knowledge of human anatomy and physiology. This helps guide my assessment, diagnosis and treatment. Selection of specific acupuncture points and how they interact with the body and each other form the basis for acupuncture intervention. Acupuncture can be used for both acute and chronic conditions. It has beneficial effect to the body by helping to reduce pain, decrease inflammation and regulate the autonomic nervous system. The needles do not introduce any medications or substances to the body. The needles being placed in the body produce primarily an endorphin reaction that helps the body block pain pathways which helps to provide pain relief, general relaxation and support of the body’s biochemical regulation. Some patients will also respond favorably to having the acupuncture needles that are placed in their body stimulated with electrical stimulation to boost the effectiveness of their treatment.
Dry needling works differently than acupuncture in the sense that the needles are placed into trigger points, areas of restricted fascia or scar tissue. Dry needling is beneficial for those who experience chronic muscular pain that may include trigger points (a very irritated spot within a taut band of muscle that may or may not elicit a pattern of referral to a distal area of the body), pain that has lingered longer than expected healing times and those that experience decreased joint mobility. Needles are placed into the body to elicit a release of a trigger point or to generally help mobilize restricted muscle, fascial or scar tissue.
The World Health Organization defines Long COVID/Post COVID-19 Condition as:
“Post COVID-19 condition occurs in individuals with a history of probable or confirmed SARS CoV-2 infection, usually 3 moths from the onset of COVID-19 with symptoms and that last for at least 2 months and cannot be explained by an alternative diagnosis. Common symptoms include fatigue, shortness of breath, cognitive dysfunction but also others and generally have an impact on everyday functioning. Symptoms may be new onset following initial recovery from an acute COVID-19 episode or persist from the initial illness. Symptoms may also fluctuate or relapse over time.”
Whether your initial infection was mild or required medical intervention or hospitalization, persistent symptoms can interfere with your participation of activities of daily living, employment or enjoyment of life.
Physiotherapists are uniquely positioned to help those with Long COVID, as we have a diverse education and competency in assessing and treating the respiratory, cardiac, musculoskeletal and neurological impairments arising from Long COVID. Our treatment approach seamlessly integrates intervention to multiple body systems based on the patient’s symptoms and needs. Kristy Blain Physiotherapy can assist patients in the following ways:
Mobile neurological physiotherapy helps individuals manage muscle tone, regain strength and independence performing functional tasks in their home environment. There are a variety of exercises and hands-on techniques that can facilitate neurological improvement. I incorporate NDT (Neurodevelopmental Treatment) principles into my assessment and treatment of individuals with movement impairments arising from stroke, traumatic brain injury and cerebral palsey. NDT is a hands-on therapeutic approach that incorporates motor control and motor planning principles to help patients improve their overall function.
Assessment of how an individual performs functional tasks (like moving from sit to stand and back again, walking, standing, sitting) and any limitations they may have guides the treatment process. Analysis of which body systems and structures might be influencing how the patient performs the task helps form the basis for selecting the appropriate treatment interventions. The patient is at the center of treatment planning as their goals and overall motivation is crucial to the success of the physiotherapy program. The steps of examination, evaluation and treatment intervention build on the personal strengths of the patient while taking into consideration limitations that might be affecting their function. It is never too late to elicit potential improvement and change in the body!