We treat a lot of patients who’ve never had physiotherapy before, and many ask us if the treatment will hurt. As we often deal with individuals who have experienced some kind of injury or trauma, there can be residual pain from this, but the aim of physiotherapy is always to help restore movement and reduce the pain and impact of surgery or accidents.

Physiotherapists employ manual therapy techniques to mobilise joints and soft tissues in order to relieve pain and improve movement in the affected area. This can cause a degree of discomfort, especially in initial sessions, and can be worse if the area being worked on is out of shape or has experienced trauma. This discomfort should become less intense as your body adapts and adjusts to the treatment.

If you’re experiencing pain after a physiotherapy session, it’s important to communicate this to your physiotherapist. If you’re in extreme pain as a result of treatment, it could be symptomatic of another issue. Also, if you’re worried about pain before commencing physiotherapy, talk to the person treating you about your concerns. Your physiotherapist will be able to tell you what they plan on doing during the sessions, and the likely effects their methods of treatment will have on your body; this should help you feel prepared. Physiotherapists also able to help you feel relaxed during treatment, which helps to minimise discomfort.

At The Physiotherapy Partners, we take great care to not cause unnecessary pain or discomfort to our patients. If you want to discuss this in further detail, we’d be happy to see you at our Birmingham, Kidderminster, or Halesowen practices.

If you’ve got a question for our team, just email it to us at ask@thephysiotherapypartners.co.uk.