Physiotherapy
Physiotherapy
Physiotherapists are movement specialists! We are the first people you should see if your mobility is limited due to injury, arthritis, deconditioning, or disease.
Physiotherapy or physical therapy is a health profession concerned with the assessment, diagnosis and treatment of disease and disability through physical means.
Physiotherapists act as primary care providers (you can access physiotherapy without a doctor’s referral). As primary care providers at Ultimate Care Physiotherapy and Massage Clinic, we are trained to assess if your problem is musculoskeletal (MSK) and if so, develop a rehabilitation plan. If it is determined your problem is NOT MSK, we will refer you to the appropriate care provider. We strive to work in partnership with other medical professionals.
Initially a physiotherapist will conduct an assessment for the patient’s medical history and then go into an objective examination. This is done to rule out serious problems, establish functional limitations, refine the diagnosis, guide therapy and establish a baseline to monitor progress. Guided by the findings the physical therapist will develop a treatment plan which may include exercise, manual techniques, soft tissue massage, electro-physical agents, and most importantly; patient education, all of which are reviewed and refined as needed. The physiotherapist and client work together to establish and reach goals of treatment.
To book a Physiotherapy or Physical Therapy appointment in Calgary, please contact Ultimate Care Physiotherapy and Massage Clinic, appointments always available.
We provide Physiotherapy services to four types of clients:
- Private (pay from their pocket and those who get reimbursed through extended health benefits)
- MVC (motor vehicle collision)
- Extended health benefit plan insurance (we do direct billing to all insurances)
- WCB (Workers Compensation Board)
Injury Assessment
At Ultimate Care Physiotherapy and Massage Clinic, our Physiotherapist will start by assess your reduced mobility or stiffness in the joints, then once this problem is identified, he will mobilize and/or manipulate these joints to restore their normal mobility and ultimate function.
Establish muscle balance
Then our Physiotherapist will correct any muscle imbalances in these sequences:
- For weak muscles, appropriate exercises are prescribed to strengthen them to maximum possible levels.
- For tight muscles, our Physiotherapist will design and prescribe stretching exercise to lengthen your muscles to the original length.
Nerve treatment
Our Ultimate Care Physiotherapist will assess the mobility of the key nerves that connect from your spinal cord to your muscles. Once he has identified where the nerve is being impinged, specific techniques will be applied to mobilize and flossing the nerve and restore its normal mobility and ultimate function.
Muscle stimulation techniques
This therapy includes different modalities that can be used to reduce muscle atrophy after injury through the inflammatory phase of the healing process. It’s often applied to any muscles such as the muscles parallel to the spine, knee and rotator cuff muscles. This currently reboots the nerve if it has been pinched or inhibited then it makes the nerve signals the muscle to contract more efficiently.
Physiotherapists have direct access, which means no doctor referral is needed to see the physiotherapist. As a primary care provider, our physiotherapists are well trained and qualified to assess, treat orthopedic, sports injuries and mechanical injuries and recognize when medical attention is needed.
Physiotherapy treatment may include:
- Injury specific rehabilitation and strengthening programs
- Sports taping, splinting and bracing.
- Mechanical diagnosis and therapy (MDT).
- Safe and timely return to sport planning and coordination with the coaches.
- Manual therapy/ Manipulation and mobilization.
- Electrotherapy (TENS, US, Laser, EMS, SWT)
- Acupuncture/ Dry needles (IMS)
- Soft tissue techniques, Advanced Soft Tissue Technique (ASTR)
Why Ultimate Care Physiotherapy and Massage Clinic:
- Immediate access to assessment and treatment of injuries/conditions
To book a Sports Physiotherapy or Physical Therapy appointment in Calgary, please contact Ultimate Care Physiotherapy and Massage Clinic appointments always available
CALGARY MOTOR VEHICLE ACCIDENT TREATMENT MVA
Alberta government introduced new legislation to deal with minor injuries suffered in motor vehicle accidents (MVA) In October 2004. Under the new legislation, if you are injured in an accident and suffer a minor injury (whiplash, neck or back strain, shoulders, hips, contusion, TMJ issues, dizziness, etc) your treatments will be covered by your automobile insurance regardless of who was at fault.
It is necessary to be assessed by a primary health care provider (physiotherapist, general practitioner or chiropractor) within 10 days of your date of accident, so you can get started on your recovery straight away, and to ensure your claim is processed correctly. These treatments will be billed directly to your insurer without of pocket cost to you for up to 90 days following the accident.
For more serious injuries, claims will go through your section B coverage or your extended health benefits.
WAD or Whiplash Associated Disorder is the most common injury following a motor vehicle accident (MVA). Accessing treatment early for soft tissue injuries is the key to ensure timely recovery and return to pre accident levels of comfort, function and participation.
Following injury, physiotherapy helps you to regain your movement, teach pain management techniques to control your symptoms, alleviate pain and anxiety and help you return to your normal level of activities.
To book a motor vehicle injury treatment appointment in Calgary, please contact Ultimate Care Physiotherapy appointments always available including weekends appointment.
What to expect on your first motor vehicle injury treatment visit You will have some forms to fill out. To best serve you and to save time, please print and complete these forms prior to your appointment at Ultimate care Physiotherapy and Massage Clinic.
- AB1 and AB2 forms are the forms needed to open your claim with your auto insurance company. We will submit these documents for you
- MVA Intake Form is needed for our records
- Roland Morris Questionnaire (RMQ) for back pain or Neck Disability Index (NDI) for neck is a form required to compare intake data to discharge data and helps the physiotherapist determine the level of improvement.
MVA Insurance Check List
Following this paperwork, the physiotherapist will do an in-depth assessment of all your injuries, determine a treatment plan and set goals for recovery. You will also receive treatment on your first visit for your injuries and the therapist will give you some advice on symptom management for home. Treatment may consist of postural correction, range of movement or stretching exercises, modalities (heat, ice, TENS, US, Laser, Tapping, IMS) or manual therapy.
- Based on your symptoms and the examination, you have grade 1 or 2 whiplash. This means most likely that you have a strain/sprain of muscles and ligaments and that you do not have a fracture, injury to nerves, or other serious damage that we can detect.
- The symptoms you are experiencing are normal and common for your type of injury. Most people recover from this injury within 6 weeks, and you should have no long-term problems. Only a few people have chronic pain and trouble working or enjoying their usual lifestyle after the injury. There are things you can do to help reduce the chance of this from happening. And there are other things you may do that will increase the chance of chronic pain to happen. If you focus on what you can do to recover, you will do well.
- It is important to maintain normal activities or modified activities as much as possible. At first, these activities might be painful, but evidence suggests that resuming normal activities will help improve your recovery. There is no evidence that normal activities, even though they may hurt, will cause any long-term harm.
- Start with stretching exercise and attend good posture maintenance early. Whiplash patients/clients who exercise daily even though these exercises may hurt initially do better than those who rest and hope that pain will go away on its own.
- Avoid using a collar unless its prescribed for you by your physician. While collars may offer temporary relief. Using a collar prolongs your recovery time as it makes your muscles get weaker.
- Avoid relying solely on non-exercise (passive) therapies. In general, whiplash patients/ clients who use these types of passive therapies instead of exercise, or people who have an expectation that others will cure them, do not do well. The best approach with the best chance of recovery is to exercise daily.
- Do not rely on medications to eliminate pain. There is no evidence that medications speed recovery from whiplash injury. Medications may help in the short term to ease the pain and allow people to keep active and exercise regularly. Over the counter medications are known to be the safest and should be used first. Other painkillers and medications cause many side effects including sedation, dizziness, dry mouth, poor concentration, and poor memory, ringing in the ears, visual disturbance, and headache.
- Although, it may be difficult to avoid paying close attention and continually worrying about the symptoms will, in fact, make the symptoms more severe. The same is true for talking with friends and family members about the amount of pain. The best approach is to try to relax, carry on with normal activities, exercise appropriately and understand that it might take some time, but the pain will go away.
- Aches and pains, headaches and many other symptoms are common in life, especially if life becomes stressed. Don’t necessarily assume that problems noticed months later are caused by the injury. It is natural for people to pay closer attention to their bodies after an injury. The best distraction from pain and the natural tendency to pay more attention to symptoms is to continue normal everyday activities, despite the pain. Try to keep a regular schedule and keep stress levels down.