If you had told me a month ago whilst I was basking in the glow of a fabulous celebration with some friends for my 40th birthday, and bursting with excitement at the prospect of getting married at Easter, that in a month’s time there would be no wedding and no physio practice (both of which I have worked extremely hard for in different ways!) and that I’d be locked down in my house due to the Coronavirus pandemic doing online physio consultations I would have laughed in your face. Literally. I am a hands on physio. Never mind the devastation the life stuff has caused! How on earth can I treat patients without touching them? But if the last two weeks has taught me anything, it’s how quickly we can adapt if we have to, and how our mindset can change too.

We’ve been doing our online consultations for a week now and the feedback from patients has been great. It might not be the same as having hands on therapy which gives you the temporary pain relief and mobility to do your exercises, but the video consultations allow us to give you exercises for what equipment you have in the home, allow us to see your new desk set up, review your current exercises, progress them, add new ones in for the crazy online exercise programmes everyone has been doing at home and to put your mind at ease about whatever you are experiencing.

Exercise's using whatever you have in the home!

We are medical professionals after all, with loads of experience, bucketloads of clinical reasoning, and the ability to diagnose conditions, know what urgently needs to be seen by a doctor and what will go away quietly of it’s own accord.

In the last week I have used our new online platform, RehabGuru which is super cool, I’ve had a couple of Zoom Consultations, a Skype, a few FaceTimes, a Facebook Messenger video chat, a Whatsapp Video call and even a House Party with a teenage patient. It’s been really fun seeing people in their PJs, their onesies, their gym gear or their ‘work at home gear’ and we’ve all cheered each other up. I’ve treated a patient who I’ve not seen in years who lives in Scotland now, and an old school friend who I’ve not seen for at least 20 years who lives in London who had missed her physio appointment down there as the clinic she’s been going to is shut due to Covid19. Although I’m feeling frustrated by the lack of physical contact, the connection between us and the patients is still very much there. We are all getting lovely messages from patients who have told us how much better they feel both physically and mentally after their treatment and when we see the patients for follow up appointments the changes in the patients are visible.

A lot of people are worried about forgetting their exercises after their session, but after each consultation you are emailed pictures/ videos (some made by your therapist!) that give you a step by step guide to your homework exercises. It really couldn’t be simpler.

For those complete technophobes (or for the people in your life who are!) there is always the phone, and a printed sheet of exercises posted to your home.

Our Facebook, Instagram and Twitter accounts have never been more active with great tips on how to get through the physical challenges that Covid19 has brought to us and lots of fun stuff too!

Please don’t suffer through this lockdown. Please give us a call or hop online, book in for a consultation and you won’t be sorry you did. Insurance companies are still paying for sessions if you have private health care but prices start at £10 so you’re not breaking the bank either.

Great tips available on our social media.

We look forward to seeing you virtually soon!

Kate x