A thorough assessment enables us to give you a clear treatment plan including timings on when you will be able to achieve your goals. If we think you need scans or other investigations we have a network of consultants and other specialists we can refer to to make your treatment journey smooth and efficient.
Your initial assessment will normally start with some time talking about your pain or issue. We will discuss what you have found so far that does and doesn’t help, as well as taking a short social and medical history, and most importantly establishing some goals. This interview really helps us to get a sense of what you want, as well as narrowing down what we want to look at during the physical exam.
The physical, or objective, exam can involve a whole range of things depending on the issue. In most cases it is advisable to wear lose comfortable clothing that you can move in. We also may ask you to remove certain pieces of clothing to allow us to see the affected area, if your pain is located at the knee, ankle or hip it can be a good idea to bring some shorts. We we normally begin with looking at your posture and ask you to perform some movements, before moving onto using diagnostic tests and then palpating the area. If at anytime you wish to have someone else in the room please let us know.
We pride ourselves on performing thorough assessments so that we can be confident in our diagnosis and treatment plan to help you achieve your goals. If you have any questions at any stage please ask away!