If you’re self-conscious about the one or ten times you’ve opened up to your physiotherapist and apologized profusely, please keep in mind that:
- You are not the only one (this happens daily)
- We are here to listen
- Your venting helps us help you better
- Your mental health matters just as much as your physical health to help with pain management
- We are ALWAYS happy to help
The typical experience of public health care is that you expect to wait for a prolonged period of time, see them for 5 minutes, and quickly address your most pressing complaints. This does not allow for any emotional connection to be made between the practitioner and the patient, as the visit is based solely on a single problem or complaint rather than issues that might be contributing.
In the physiotherapy world, however, we strive to ensure that this is not the case. We have prolonged face-to-face time with each and every patient, where we can discuss the issues, identify the problems, and carry out a treatment plan from day one. Immediately people feel closer to their physiotherapists than they do many other healthcare professionals. If that is not enough of a reason why… read on!
When you go see a physiotherapist, it’s generally because you have pain. It may have been caused by an injury or a chronic issue, or other reasons not listed. This instantly opens you up to be more vulnerable as this is when we are most sensitive (Babatunde, MacDermid and MacIntyre, 2017). The moment you confide in someone about your pain or your issues, you feel a connection. This is a crucial bond that forms the building blocks of physiotherapy treatments. We need to understand your pain and how it affects you mentally and physically.
As we continue to see you for consecutive treatments we see you not only at your best, but also at your worst. When your pain reaches a 10/10 when you feel you cannot go on- you reach to us to help. Also, when the pain starts to get this bad, it impacts your activities of daily livings, your emotions, and your wellbeing. As physiotherapists, we not only act in the physical manner, but also assist with mental problems- hence physioTHERAPY (within our scope, we’re here to listen and give the best advice we are able to, and don’t worry, if we think actual therapy will be more beneficial, or a great adjunct we will be sure to refer on!).
You can help us to help you by disclosing how your week has been, how much stress you are under, how work has been, how your home life is, how healthy you’ve been eating, and even how your dog and best friend are. Stress is a major contributor to pain sensitivity so if we can address this issue, we can also help you better manage your pain( Jones, Edwards, and Gifford, 2002)!
So next time you apologize 10000 times to your physiotherapist after confiding in them remember: you are not alone, and you are only helping YOURSELF by doing so!
References:
Babatunde, F., MacDermid, J. and MacIntyre, N., 2017. Correction to: Characteristics of therapeutic alliance in musculoskeletal physiotherapy and occupational therapy practice: a scoping review of the literature. BMC health services research, 17(1), p.820.
Jones, M., Edwards, I. and Gifford, L., 2002. Conceptual models for implementing biopsychosocial theory in clinical practice. Manual therapy, 7(1), pp.2-9.
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