What is Physiotherapy?
Physiotherapy is a healthcare profession that works with people to improve their health, well being and quality of life. We recognise that physical, psychological, social and environmental factors can limit movement, function and pain and therefore use our knowledge and skills to identify these limiting factors and help address these issues.
Our values means that practice is person-centered, ethical and effective. With the evidence-base underpinning physiotherapy constantly evolving as the profession develops new knowledge and understanding through critical reflection, evaluation and research, we can offer an ever increasing evidence based led treatments.
Physiotherapy is an autonomous profession meaning that we can accept referrals from an individual themselves (self-referral) or from other people involved in their care. Physiotherapists are also Chartered meaning we have registered and completed the high standards of professional practice as set by the HCPC and agree to uphold the CSP’s Codes of values and behaviours and keeping up to date with the latest evidence around effective practice.
Manual Therapy
Manual therapy is a hands on Physiotherapy treatment modality involving gentle mobilisation of joints and soft tissue. It helps facilitate relaxation of muscles and the reduction in joint stiffness and pain. This can be applied to any joint in the body not only the spine. The type of technique used will be determined by the assessment and will be fully explained prior to its application.
Pain Education
Pain research has progressed greatly with in Physiotherapy in the last 10 years or so and it has been proven that if people understand pain causes and what contributes to it persisting beyond normal healing times, that they can take control of the situation and make confident decisions that can decrease pain and increase activity.
People in pain can begin to avoid normal movements and activities, become scared of pain leading to a general lack of fitness. This can lead to poor sleep, confidence, weaker muscles and people retiring from previously enjoyable social activities. We can help educate you as to the cause of the problem and in a graded way re introduce normal movement and activities set around your goals.
Every journey starts with a small step
Strength and Conditioning
Strength and conditioning is important when trying to improve any weakness and/or control issues following injury or in an attempt to prevent injuries in the first place. A large review of the research in 2012 found that strength and conditioning reduced sport injuries to less than a third and saw a decrease in overuse injury rates of 50%. This does not necessarily mean weight training in the gym or under supervision. Following assessment including movement analysis a progressive independent programme tailored to your ability and goals can help you achieve this. It has also been shown to improve running performance by 5%.
Running Gait Analysis
If you have an injury attributed to running it is important that the way in which you run is assessed so that any contributing factors are identified and corrected. This along with taking a full history including training programme and assessing specific strength tests and limb control will give the full picture as how we can best rehabilitate your injury. At Spine and Sport Physio slow motion running gait analysis is available to better understand what may be contributing to your injury and get you back running sooner.
Home Visits
Home visits within 15 miles radius of Carmarthen can be arranged for those who are unable to attend our clinic. This service is suited for those who need help with general mobility issues or rehabilitation post surgery.
Acupuncture
Acupuncture involves the insertion of very fine stainless steel needles into the skin and has been used in China for over 2,000 years. It has since become a commonly used therapy in Western Medicine since the 1970's. Acupuncture can compliment traditional physiotherapy treatments such as exercise and manual therapy as it aids the reduction of pain by stimulating the brain and spinal cord to produce pain-relieving chemicals, namely endorphns, melatonin and serotonin. It is therefore is a good option if conventional treatments have failed.
It is also worth noting that Acupuncture is a very safe procedure when carried out by fully qualified professionals and all needles are sterile and are only for single use.
Acupuncture needles are extremely fine so having acupuncture does not feel the same as having an injection but when the needles are inserted, you may feel a temporary, sharp pricking sensation.
While most people find Acupuncture a pleasant and relaxing experience some very mild side effects maybe experienced by some including fatigue, light headedness, bruising, localised bleeding or soreness or redness or mottling of the skin around the needle sites. If you continue to feel tired after a treatment, it is recommended that you do not drive or operate machinery.We will be more than happy to discuss any concerns prior to treatment.
