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Q. What is a physiotherapist?
A. Physiotherapists are highly qualified, university-trained health professionals who work in partnership with their patients to effectively treat physical injuries and ailments.
Q. Do you accept compulsory third party claims?
A. Yes. We make Compulsory Third Party (CTP) Insurance claims simple for our clients. After our initial assessment, we submit a treatment plan to your insurer. Once approved, we handle your payments with your third party insurer.
Q. What happens during an appointment?
A. Your first appointment is where we conduct a comprehensive assessment and develop a clear understanding of your health. We also assess your injury and movement capabilities.
Your physio will need to look at your injury, so wear comfortable clothing and bring any relevant medical assessments to your first appointment. Once we have all the necessary information, your physio will tailor a specific treatment plan to get you started on
Q. How do I prepare for an appointment?
A. During your initial consultation, your therapist will ask for details about the pain you’re experiencing; how it started and what makes it worse? We recommend making a list of these details in advance.
Q. How long do treatments take?
A. Our initial consultations are 60 minutes, while subsequent ones are 30 minutes. We recommend patients have 4-5 sessions within the first 2-3 weeks. This higher frequency of treatment allows us to better gauge treatment response and accumulate momentum for long-term relief.
Q. Can I claim with my health fund?
A. Yes. Private health insurance rebates can be claimed directly through the HICAPS terminal available in our clinic. Another option is through your insurer’s online system.
Q. Will WorkCover pay for my remedial massage sessions?
A. Unfortunately, WorkCover only funds Physiotherapy. If you have suffered an injury at work and require guidance, please contact us to discuss your possible treatment plan.
Q. Do you accept Medicare plans?
A. Yes, we accept Medicare Chronic Disease Management (CDM) Plans, though these will require a valid GP Management Plan or Team Care Arrangement from your Doctor.
Our standard rates are payable at the time of your appointment. Your eligible debit card processes your rebate.
Q. Do you accept WorkCover cases?
A. Yes. We accept WorkCover or Worker’s Compensation claims. We require that you provide a valid, up-to-date copy of your WorkCover medical certificate. The medical certificate must clearly state that you need physiotherapy as a treatment.
Our standard rates are payable at the time of your appointment. You can claim your rebate through WorkCover by submitting your invoice through the WorkCover app.
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Q. What type of treatment techniques do Physiotherapists at barefoot use?
A. Barefoot Physiotherapists are trained in all standard Physiotherapy techniques (joint mobilisation, muscle releases, muscle activation, education and advice) as well as higher levels of training in nerve releases, Western Acupuncture and Dry Needling and specific muscle rehabilitation.
Q. How long will it take to get results?
A. It’s often possible to notice results in the first session. For most people, our treatment compared to standard Physio or other types of treatment, results in total recovery time being shorter. This means fewer total visits and lower overall cost. Once these results occur, we outline a time-frame for recovery, indicating how many treatment sessions you need, and how rapidly you are likely to recover fully.
Q. Why are you sometimes not treating the bit that hurts?
A. The analogy we use here is the ‘sore bit’ is like the ‘warning light’ on the dash board of your car. Treating the ‘sore bit’ doesn’t always work in the long run any better than just covering up the warning light all together. We aim to ‘get under the hood’ and demonstrate to you that treating all the contributing factors together improves your movement and your body function. The ‘warning light’ such as pain tends to switch off when the ‘engine’ is running well.
Q. What is the primary underlying cause?
A. This is the structure in your body that, when treated, achieves dramatic results for you. When the underlying cause is identified your recovery is accelerated and a plan can be put in place to meet your good result. Over the first few sessions we will be searching for areas in your body which may be contributing to your problem. It is important to be thorough at this stage, as it saves a lot of time in the long run and makes for a more efficient recovery.
Q. What exercise and activities can I do?
A. Looking after the Primary Cause of your condition (see above) is the best way to speed your recovery and prevent the problem from returning. We may ask you to modify some activities for a short time. In some cases we need to recommend a short period of no or very limited activity if your nerves are irritated. We utilise individualised muscle retraining exercises to teach you how to take care of yourself. In most cases we recommend you do as much activity as possible while doing your best to look after your Primary Underlying Cause – we will show you how to do this correctly. We aim to demonstrate how exercise improves your movement and your condition. This will usually be your ‘homework’.
Q. Why is improvement of 85% so important?
A. At 85% improvement, your condition is usually more stable and less aggravated by day-to-day activities. Therefore, this is the level of improvement we like to see as soon as possible. We may ask you to return to see us quite quickly for the first few sessions. When you have improved to 85%, it is usually ok to introduce more demanding activities and see us less often.
Q. Why do Barefoot Physiotherapists use a checklist?
A. Our processes are world class and have been developed to ensure you receive a high standard of care every single time you come to Barefoot. We use a checklist to hold ourselves accountable. Our checklists are formulated using a great deal of time and training and are continually evolving for best client management.
Q. Are there any side effects?
A. There are three potential ‘side effects’ from treatment that you can experience:
- You may feel local tenderness (bruisy feeling) at the point that has been treated. Your physio will always check if you’re okay with the amount of pressure and decrease if needed.
- Occasionally clients have a short term (usually a couple of minutes) feeling of dizziness or nausea when a point in their body that has been tight for a long time is released. Again your physio will monitor if this happens and only work as strongly as you feel comfortable.
- Some people report feeling a bit ‘washed out’ or tired following a session.These are all normal and TEMPORARY responses when the true underlying cause of a condition is found and treated.
The other more important effect, is that your body will start to feel more comfortable and able to do things that you want it to.
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