What To Expect
When you come to Body Works for your first appointment, we will ask you to fill out a new patient form before your Initial Physiotherapy Assessment begins. In Advance of your visit, please fill out an Intake form which will be emailed to the email address you provided.
Otherwise, if you wish to fill out a form when you first arrive, we ask that you come 10 minutes before your appointment time to have the reception staff help you complete the form before your session begins.
Your Assessment
At the beginning of your first appointment, we will talk with you about your history, including your injured area or other problem areas. We will ask questions about how your injury occurred, as well as what your current symptoms are and what makes your symptoms feel better and worse.
We’ll ask about previous injuries, other current or past medical conditions, as well as your daily activities such as work, sports and hobbies in order to determine factors contributing to your problem. We’ll also review any special tests, such as x-rays reports, CT scan reports, or MRI reports, that you’ve had done to see how they may be related to your current symptoms.
We will then complete a physical assessment of your body, including looking at your posture, joints and muscles, as well as a biomechanical exam to determine your patterns of movement and problem areas. Along with your history, this will help us determine the cause of your pain and dysfunction and how to treat it most effectively and efficiently.
We will discuss our findings with you, educate you about the prognosis of your injury. We will set up a treatment plan, in conjunction with your needs and wishes, that will work for you to help resolve your problem.
If time allows during this first appointment, we will aim to begin some treatment and potentially start you on a home exercise to get you started on your rehabilitation.
Appointment Durations
Initial Physiotherapy Assessments are 60 minutes or 30 minutes in duration.
We recommend a 60 minute first appointment to allow us time to review all of your information with you and complete a detailed Whole Body Assessment so that we are able to fully determine all components of your injury and what is required to start you on the path to recovery. However, we also provide 30 minute Initial Physiotherapy Assessments. These shorter Initial Physiotherapy Assessment sessions are reserved generally for simple or more acute injuries or upon request. However, if you choose a shorter Initial Physiotherapy Assessment session it may require two shorter sessions to be able to fully complete your assessment and have the time to cover the same information as one longer initial session. Please schedule a follow-up visit after your initial assessment in the event one is needed to continue your assessment and treatment.
To Schedule your Initial Physiotherapy Assessment, please contact us or book online.
What to Bring With You
In order to be prepared for your initial physiotherapy assessment, please bring along:
- Any test results, including x-ray, CT Scan or MRI reports, or any specialist reports that you have.
- A workbook and pen to make notes about your treatment and exercises.
- Please wear or bring along shorts. However, if you forget them, we have some you can borrow.
- Women, please wear a regular bra or a bra that does not cover your spine.
- Please bring along footwear that may contribute to your symptoms and/or orthotics that you are currently using for support.