What To Expect in a Physiotherapy Session With Us
Your Physiotherapy Session With Us In Saskatoon
Here is exactly what you can expect:
Before You Come to Our Saskatoon Facility:
We like to keep things paperless and prefer to spend your FULL appointment with you, rather than filling out paperwork. As such, before you come to see us for physiotherapy at our Saskatoon facility you will be emailed an intake form that can be filled out on your computer or mobile device before you come in! By sending the intake form to you in advance you can then fill it out whenever is most convenient for you while reserving more time to spend with your physiotherapist during your appointment. No need to leave extra time to come in early to fill out paperwork!
When You Arrive
When you arrive you can simply pull up to our front door and your physiotherapist will come wave you in and greet you at the door. Our doors are always locked between appointments as we are often filming private videos for other clients or cleaning, sanitizing, and getting things ready for you!
Relaxed (Not Rushed) Physiotherapy Appointments
It is very important to us that you do not feel like your physiotherapy appointments are rushed. You can expect a relaxed pace for all of your appointments with adequate time to get to know you, hear any updates that you have for us, or answer any questions that you have!
Understanding Your Physiotherapy Goals
Your first physiotherapy appointment will be a physiotherapy assessment, which will begin with a conversation about what brought you in for physiotherapy and how we can best help you. You can expect your physiotherapist to ask questions about and seek to understand your ailments, history, goals, and how we can help you meet those goals.
Comprehensive PhysiotherapyAssessment
With your consent, your physiotherapy session will proceed with an assessment to establish your physical baseline and do some investigating. If you come in with pain in one specific joint (like your knee) you may notice your physiotherapist assessing other areas or neighbouring joints (like your hip or ankle).
The reason for this is that things can be missed if we exclusively asses the one area that has pain. Someone may have knee pain because their hip cannot do its job and thus the knee is paying the tab for the hip. In instances like this, if we only assess or treat the knee we can miss the root cause!
For this reason, you will often find your physiotherapist performing a comprehensive assessment that includes both a “zoomed-in” approach (assessing the knee) and a “zoomed-out” approach (assessing related areas).
If you consent (optional), we will take also photos and videos throughout the physiotherapy assessment that will be securely - and exclusively - saved to your chart. These will offer us a baseline to compare back to over time. Your physiotherapist may show you what they see in the photos to offer you a chance to see what your physiotherapist sees. We may also take measurements and perform orthopedic tests during your physiotherapy assessment.
Creating A Plan WITH You
After the assessment, you can expect a discussion about the assessment findings and the best course of action as it relates to your goals. We will discuss any recommended physiotherapy interventions and/or exercises along with what these entail, how they will help you, and any risks/rewards of going this route. Together, you and your physiotherapist will decide how to move forward.
Physiotherapy Intervention
The intervention is often in the form of movement, mobility work, targeted exercises, and so on. Manual (hands-on) interventions are used as needed and only when indicated. If there is a way to get the same outcome actively by yourself at home - we will show you how to promote independence and minimize the frequency that you need to come in to see us for physiotherapy appointments. If we expect a change by the end of the session we may revisit certain tests from the assessment to see if (or how much) change occurred.
Knowledge Acquisition
We reserve time in our physiotherapy sessions to help you understand exactly “what” we found in the assessment, “why” we chose each exercise/intervention for you, and exactly “how” these things will help you. It is our job to ensure that when you leave our office you feel confident in your understanding of what you are doing, why you are doing it, and how doing these things will serve you and your goals.
Personalized Programs + Videos
We have found ways to minimize or eliminate the stress of having to remember what your physiotherapist said during your appointment or how to do the exercises that they showed you at home. To help relieve that stress and set you up for success, you will receive a physiotherapy program from us (via email) shortly after your appointment.
Your physiotherapist reserves time after all of your appointments to create (or edit) your own personalized program. They will also film videos walking you through every exercise, embed these videos in your program, and put together any other resources that may be helpful for you. This ensures that you have detailed instructions and visuals/videos accessible to you on demand at home (or wherever you are) to walk you through how to do every exercise that you did with your physiotherapist during your appointment.
You will also find specific instructions for sets/reps/frequency along with an (optional) tracking sheet to help with habit formation. At the end of the day you will spend more time at home than you will at our office, so it is important that we set you up for success at home.
Extra Resources
Your physiotherapist will also send you a package of resources with information that previous physiotherapy clients have found helpful. This information includes topics like the most common physiotherapy mistakes, how long to hold a stretch when stretching, how to keep your joints healthy over time, and so on. This information will all be included in the “Extra Resources” section of your physiotherapy program.
Communication + Support Between Sessions
At the end of your physiotherapy appointment, your physiotherapist will explain when they recommend that you come back in to see them. Your physiotherapist will also discuss how the two of you can best communicate between appointments should you have any questions or need any support!
One Hour Follow Up Sessions
We cover a lot in our physiotherapy sessions! This includes re-assessing you with each visit to monitor change and see how your body is adapting to your exercises, determining the next/best course of action for you, performing any interventions or practicing any new exercises and educating you on exactly what they do, and more! Follow-ups are one hour in length to ensure we have adequate time together to get through everything and hear any updates that you have to share with us. Exceptions are made and shorter appointments are available for those who need them!
Reserve your physiotherapy appointment at our Saskatoon office!