My name is Kaitlin and I am a Senior Physiotherapist at FHS. I provide 80 minute initial appointments and 50 minute subsequent appointments. The standard for our profession, as you may know is 60 minute initial appointments and 30 minute follow up appointments. The purpose of this blog is to address why longer treatment sessions are important to me, as well as allow you to understand what style of Physiotherapist might be best for you!
Many clients are understandably reluctant to longer treatment sessions due to the limitations of their benefit coverage or other financial concerns. Ironically though, shorter treatment times often increase how much treatment you end up requiring, especially if you have been in pain for 3 months or more.
“Pain only tells you there is a problem somewhere in the body, it doesn’t necessarily tell you where the problem is” – Dr. Perry Nickelston
You are a dynamic ecosystem with a lot of interconnected and moving parts, and pain is simply a request for change somewhere in this system. We need to physically and emotionally explore the various systems in the body to identify the underlying factors contributing to the pain you are experiencing. This takes time, as there tend to be multiple factors that contribute to the pain, especially when it’s been persistent (more than 3 months), and often it’s more widespread than just the area you are feeling it in. This will directly impact the approach we take to making you feel better.
During treatment sessions, it’s important to give your body the time it needs to respond to the techniques I use to communicate with both your mind and body. In a traditional 30-minute session, we are only just starting to work through the underlying factors and noticing how your body is responding, when the session is concluding.
The likelihood of getting better greatly increases when we allow your body the time it needs to completely respond, and then build and tailor the treatment based on the information we learn from your body. Unlike a shorter session where we are often forced to treat based on previous experience and educated guesses, these longer sessions allow us the opportunity to work with the body systems to facilitate balance between them. And once they are in balance, they tend to stay that way!
“Given the right conditions, the human body has everything it needs to heal itself” – Dr. Perry Nickelston.
Longer treatment sessions ensure we have the time to tailor the approach to your mind and body. When we take this approach, we are often able to achieve more substantial, meaningful, and long-lasting change. By helping the systems of the body find balance, we are providing your body with more optimal conditions to heal, move, and thrive.
Your body will continue to respond after our session together, and we want to allow it the time it needs to appreciate and enjoy this new sense of balance. Thus, I tend to give your body this time and book follow-up appointments at a lower frequency, which also contributes to less overall treatment time! You will be supported during this time with movements, exercise, and/or education to maintain the gains we make during our sessions so you can become independent in your recovery as soon as possible!
If you have tried Physiotherapy in the past and didn’t get the results you were hoping for, or have had pain longer than 3 months and would like a more thorough dive into your health to explore deeper, I believe I would be a great fit for you! I work best with clients who are ready to commit to their health. You have to be ready to put some time and work in to help yourself feel better. My goal is to empower you to not need me!
I am here to help guide your mind and body towards health and happiness! You deserve to feel incredible and enjoy life! Book an appointment with me if you are ready to try a different approach to feeling like your best self!
Book Senior Physiotherapist: https://for-healthssake.janeapp.com/#/discipline/13/treatment/82