PHYSIOTHERAPY VS EXERCISE PHYSIOLOGY

Exercise physiologists and physiotherapists treat patients with different conditions. Exercise physiology is a newer field of study than physiotherapy and tends to handle patients with an ongoing condition, as opposed to someone who has been suddenly struck by injury or illness. There is less diagnosis time required when employing the help of an exercise physiologist, less time spent waiting for test results and more time working physically to improve your condition. A physiotherapist will guide you through exercises and provide physical direction to you, an exercise physiologist will create an exercise plan for you, leave you to perform the physical work and then make ongoing adjustments to your exercise plan according to your progress.

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In the instance that you’re recovering from an injury, or have a prior injury you don’t want to exacerbate and you want to exercise but don’t want to strain anything further, an exercise physiologist is the best bet for treating your condition. While physiotherapists have better acumen at diagnosing conditions, an exercise physiologist is more experienced at handling acute pain and other chronic conditions, and will work out solutions to these conditions that provide long-term relief. Physiotherapists’ practice takes a hands-on approach, whereas an exercise physiologist will complete a series of exercises alongside you over the course of your treatment.

It’s worth noting that exercise physiologists are more aligned with nutritionists than physiotherapists in terms of their capacity to help people with weight loss strategies.

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Motivational psychology is an important part of any exercise physiologist’s training and their skills in this area are used by exercise physiologists to persuade patients to maintain regular exercise and dieting habits following a consultation. Goals are an important part in any recovery journey, and an exercise physiologist will provide insight into how to maintain a positive outlook and take practical steps towards achieving your goals one step at a time.

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Considering the length of any treatment plan designed to improve a patient’s condition, it should be known that exercise physiologists tend to provide longer-term treatment options than physiotherapists who simply diagnose, instruct and rehabilitate. The nature of patients’ health at an exercise physiology clinic tends to skew towards the chronic-condition side of the spectrum, which requires more time spent exercising in order to recover. Whereas a physiotherapist will rehabilitate short-term injuries, an exercise physiologist will rehabilitate long-term injuries. A physiotherapist will make the initial diagnosis following injury, then an exercise physiologist will introduce gentle exercises to regain maximum range of movement including soft muscle tissue stretches and restoration of joint mobility and strength.

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Exercise physiologists are also extremely capable at providing educational instruction about lifestyle changes to patients. Cancer, diabetes, respiratory, mental health, and cardiac patients can all benefit from instruction regarding their diet, exercise regimen and other elements of their physical health from an exercise physiologist. Sports players and patients injured by equipment or in other accidents, however, will in most cases see a physiotherapist to gain instruction on soft tissue mobilisation and sometimes self-massage techniques. After consulting a physiotherapist, an exercise physiologist will need to be consulted to gain prognosis on rehabilitation. A specifically-tailored and prescribed exercise program will be designed to meet a patient’s health and wellness needs, and ongoing consultations will be made with the exercise physiologist and other healthcare providers to adjust this program in-line with how the patient is progressing with their condition.

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Overall, exercise physiologists will be of more benefit to patients who suffer from existing injuries or conditions. Exercise physiologists have the tools to educate patients how to look after themselves for the long-term: how to stretch, how to perform self-massage and how to care for themselves for the foreseeable future. In addition, exercise physiologists also possess stronger motivational skills and are great at convincing patients to maintain their exercise regimen for as long as it takes to get healthy. Diagnosis is probably best left to practising physiotherapists for now, but if it’s ongoing care, instruction and motivation that you’re after, it’s assuredly worth investigating your local exercise physiologist to see what they can do for you.