Lately we have seen lots of promotions on social media with companies including our own advertising to help you with your injuries, aches and pains.
Physiotherapists; Osteopaths; Chiropractors; Sports Therapists; Massage Therapists; and more all say that they can make you better.
Therefore choosing where to go, and who to see can be a difficult and daunting decision.
This months blog aims to clear up any of the confusion surrounding what exactly physiotherapy is, and will hopefully assist you in making the best decision for your needs.
Physiotherapy or Physical Therapy as it is sometimes called is a profession where degree level qualified health professions use scientific evidence based practice to help people suffering with injury, illness or disability get better.
Physiotherapists do this by using a combination of education, advice, exercise therapy, and manual therapy techniques.
Physiotherapy can help to improve or maintain the health for people of all ages, helping patients to recover from pain and guide them back to performing optimally.
When choosing to see a Physiotherapist firstly make sure that they have a degree in Physiotherapy and (if based in the UK) be registered with the Health Care Professions Council.
The HCPC is an independent, UK-wide health regulator of specific health and social care professions, including physiotherapy. Their job is to protect the public by regulating health and care professionals.
Interestingly the titles of Physiotherapist and Physical Therapist are protected in the UK, and it is actually against the law to call yourself by one of these names and not be a member of the HCPC.
The bottom line is if the clinician you are seeing isn’t registered with the HCPC then they are not a physiotherapist.
A chartered physiotherapist is a qualified member of their professional body, the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy (CSP).
Through this membership they have committed themselves to providing high quality services and protecting the quality of physical treatments.
*more information can be found from the CSP.
At ESP Physio all of our physiotherapy staff are both HCPC and CSP registered.
As well as having degree’s in physiotherapy some of our staff also have degree’s in Sports Science and Strength and Conditioning.
On top of this high level of education we believe that it is very important for our staff to have regular support, and we encourage all our physio’s to be in regular contact with one another sharing their education and experience.
Ultimately this combination builds a strong pool of knowledge and skill across the department, and this filters down through everyone including our administrative staff who are then also informed.
At ESP we also believe that sharing our expertise and helping the next generation of physiotherapists is crucial.
Therefore, we take Physiotherapy students from both Queen Margaret University, and Glasgow Caledonian University. We are also in the process of becoming affiliated with Napier University, and taking students from there new Physiotherapy program.
The process of being an educator ensures that our staff keep up to date with all the recent research and the fundamentals of musculoskeletal physiotherapy.
At ESP you can be sure that you are in safe hands.
If you would like to speak to one of our team then call us on 01324 227 370 or you can book yourself in for a physiotherapy appointment with us here
