A Physio's Role in Our Current Health System

If you tried to make a doctor’s appointment the past few months, then you would know that it can take 1-2 weeks before you can get an appointment with your preferred

GP. This will add up to 2 weeks of being uncomfortable, in pain and moving with

dysfunctions. This can decrease your quality of life and cause serious demotivation.

As we all know, the health system is under immense amount of pressure now. This

includes the GP’s, hospitals, and specialists. The waiting time for health care is longer, causing even more pressure on an already pressurized health system.

Waiting can be the most frustrating thing when you are in pain. Your fight or flight

nervous system will fire up. This will lead to an increase of Cortisol (stress hormone)

production. Not only will the increase in pain result in increased stress, but this will

also delay healing.

You can save time and money by making an appointment with your physiotherapist

first. If your current health problem is injury related, do not waste 2 weeks by waiting

for a GP appointment. You don’t need a referral to see your physiotherapist.

Pain and dysfunction are extremely disabling. If this pain is due to an ongoing

injury, rather ask your physiotherapist for help. They can work on alleviating your

pain and decreasing your dysfunction. A Physiotherapist can register a new ACC

claim for a new injury, refer for X-rays and ultrasound scans if needed and we can

discuss your current injury related health problem and refer you to your GP if we

feel that it is necessary.

It is also evident that sports specialists and orthopaedic surgeons are playing

catch up at the moment. This results in shorter appointments and longer waiting

times to get an appointment with the specialist. This is one of the reasons why

Recharge Physio allows for 1-hour initial appointments.

Here are 5 more reasons:

 We have time to listen thoroughly to you to get to the root cause of

your pain and dysfunction

 We have enough time to assess you fully and holistically

 It allows time to do hands-on physiotherapy and physiotherapy

styled rehabilitation

 Some injuries are more complex and require more time

 We treat the system as a whole and not just the injury.

The bottom line…

Don’t wait 2 weeks for a GP appointment and get frustrated due to pain and

dysfunction. Rather make an appointment with your physiotherapist and be pain free

sooner.

If you or a family member struggle with an ongoing injury, get in touch today and

allow us to help you feel better and get motivated.

“If a doctor saves lives, then a Physiotherapist makes it worth living…”

- Elzanne Myburgh from Recharge Physio