Doctor Approach Focus: When you go to a doctor with an injury they will tell you what the issue is, how long the recovery and prescribed medication for the specific injury.
Why a doctor is beneficial ✅:
- They will tell you what the problem is
- Give the appropriate medication to help suppress the pain
- Tell you to rest initially which is great for resolving short-term pain
Downsides of the Doctor Rehab Approach ❌:
- Resting for too long will increase joint stiffness resulting in more long term pain
- Medication will reduce the pain but will not fix the root cause of the problem
- The doctor approach does not go through the rehabilitation process of how to fix an injury
- Follow Ups typically don’t occur until a few months have passed by there is no way to tell if the patient is progressing daily or weekly
Physio Approach (And Why It Is Better):
A physiotherapist focuses on movement, function, recovery and prescribing exercise. The progression throughout a week or month is the most important aspect of physio approach. The areas that are the downside for the doctor approach are the positive in the physio approach.
A physio will find the root cause of the problem and find out why the problem exists whether it’s a reduced range of motion or muscle compensation. They will use this problem and progress from there. Because of this, the physio approach is better than the doctor approach for rehab. At MyLife, this is what we specialize in.
Ways that show progression include:
- An increase in ROM
- Reduction in pain
- An improvement in performing daily tasks