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
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