Published 01 Sept 2026
Whether you're dealing with a niggling injury, persistent pain, or simply wondering if physiotherapy is right for you, knowing where to start can be challenging.
To help, GMHBA physiotherapist Jack Heggen answers some of the most common questions about physiotherapy, including when to see a physio, what to expect during an appointment, how recovery works, and the role physiotherapy can play in managing pain, injury, and overall health.
This guide is designed to help you feel informed, confident, and supported in taking the next step towards better movement and wellbeing.
What is a physiotherapist and when should you see one?
Physiotherapists are qualified clinicians who are registered with the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA). They can assess and help manage pain, injuries, and a wide range of health conditions.
Physiotherapy is a broad field, and different physiotherapists often have different areas of expertise. While some work as generalists managing a wide range of conditions, others may specialise in areas such as vestibular disorders, sports injury rehabilitation or pelvic floor and continence therapy. If you're seeking physiotherapy care, it's worth investigating which local providers are best suited to your specific concern.
In a private practice setting, physiotherapists can:
- Assess joint pain, soft tissue injuries, and nerve-related symptoms to determine the cause and recommend appropriate management.
- Help you safely return to sport or work following muscle strains, ligament sprains, ruptures, fractures, and concussions.
- Assess and manage certain types of dizziness.
- Assess and support the management of lymphoedema.
- Develop strength and balance to reduce the risk of falls and fall-related injuries.
- Support people with concerns relating to bone mineral density, continence, blood pressure, and blood glucose control through tailored exercise programs.
- Provide hands-on treatment to help reduce pain and sensitivity.
How and where does a physiotherapist treat patients?
Physiotherapists work across a variety of settings, including hospitals, public outpatient clinics, private practices, sporting clubs, and aged care facilities. Their approach may differ depending on the environment, but broadly speaking, they:
- Work with patients to understand their pain, injury, or health condition.
- Develop management plans to address the issue. This might include:
- Modifications to normal activity
- The use of braces or walking aids
- Exercise rehabilitation
- Pain management strategies such as the use of heat, cold, taping, or compression
- Manual therapy such as massage and mobilisation
- Criteria to return to activity safely
- Recommendations for further investigations or other medical or specialist interventions.
- Deliver interventions to improve health, pain or function, such as:
- Providing advice on how best to self-manage
- Supervising exercise to ensure correct completion
- Applying tape to support or offload injured and irritated tissues
- Applying treatments such as manual therapy to improve pain and function.
What happens during physiotherapy appointments?
Initial appointment
An initial private practice physiotherapy appointment typically includes:
- Taking a detailed history to understand your concern, when it began, how it affects you, and any relevant contributing factors.
- A physical assessment that may examine function, range of motion, strength, balance, coordination, and provocative tests to identify affected structures or systems.
- Developing an initial management plan, which may include hot or cold therapy, bracing, taping, activity modification, pacing strategies, or exercise rehabilitation.
- Delivering an intervention such as massage, taping, or supervised exercise to address pain and commence rehabilitation.
Subsequent appointments
Follow-up appointments generally involve:
- Reviewing changes since the previous appointment.
- Evaluating your response to treatment.
- Assessing your progress with independent management strategies such as rehabilitation exercises, self-massage, or self-taping.
- Adjusting the treatment plan based on findings.
- Applying the same or a different intervention, depending on your progress.
Final appointment
The final appointment for a specific condition typically includes:
- Reassessing the issue that led to the initial appointment.
- Developing or reinforcing a plan to reduce the risk of recurrence and outlining actions to take should symptoms return.
Do I need a referral for physiotherapy?
No. Physiotherapists in Australia are First Contact Practitioners (FCP), meaning you do not need a GP referral to access physiotherapy services.
However, a referral may help reduce out-of-pocket costs if you're eligible for a Chronic Condition Management Plan (CCMP). CCMPs provide access to five subsidised allied health appointments, which may include physiotherapy, podiatry, or dietetics. Eligibility generally requires a condition that has lasted, or is expected to last, longer than six months. When accessing physiotherapy through a GP-referred CCMP, your physiotherapist must provide written reports to your GP after the first and final appointments to support coordinated multidisciplinary care.
Can a physiotherapist help with back pain?
Yes. Physiotherapists are trained to assess and manage a wide variety of musculoskeletal conditions, including pain affecting the lower back, mid-back, upper back, and neck.
As AHPRA-registered health professionals, physiotherapists are required to provide patient-centred care informed by the best available evidence. Depending on the individual, assessment and management of back pain may include:
- Screening for serious pathology, for example fractures or inflammatory conditions
- Assessing possible involvement of the spinal cord or other nervous system structures
- Observing posture and movement patterns
- Palpating the back and surrounding structures
- Assessing how the back responds to various forms of stress and strain
- Using manual therapy to help reduce pain and sensitivity
- Applying taping to support irritated structures
- Prescribing exercise rehabilitation to improve pain, function, and tissue quality
- Using modalities such as cupping or dry needling where clinically appropriate.
How long does physiotherapy take to work, and how many physiotherapy sessions will I need?
The length of treatment depends on the needs of the individual. Someone experiencing an acute episode of neck pain may only require one or two appointments. On the other hand, a person recovering from a ruptured Achilles tendon may need physiotherapy support for 12 months or longer to achieve full healing and return to function.
Your physiotherapist should be able to provide an approximate timeline and recommended treatment frequency within the first few appointments. However, rehabilitation plans are responsive to progress and recovery. People who consistently complete their exercises and meet rehabilitation goals may require less ongoing support than those experiencing setbacks or difficulties implementing recommendations.
Physiotherapists aim to educate and empower their patients. If you have questions that may assist your recovery or independence, don't hesitate to ask.
What exercises should I do at home?
For many injuries and conditions, movement, stretching, and strengthening exercises can support recovery, reduce pain, and improve function. For example:
- Following an acute muscle strain, introducing light loading through gentle muscle contractions can facilitate faster recovery and return to sport
- After a knee replacement, stretching exercises are important for restoring joint movement and function
- Gentle range-of-motion exercises can help reduce pain and restore movement in someone experiencing an acute wry neck
A physiotherapist can determine which exercises are most beneficial for your situation and prescribe an appropriate dosage and progression.
What questions should I ask my physiotherapist?
To get the most value from your appointment, consider asking your physiotherapist:
- What do you think the problem is?
- How long do these issues typically take to resolve?
- Are there any activities, movements, or positions I should avoid?
- Are there any exercises or activities you would recommend?
- Are there any braces or taping techniques that may provide additional support?
- If I'm not improving with the recommended management, what are the next steps regarding investigations or treatment?
In some situations, the cause of pain may not be immediately clear. For example, during a severe episode of acute back pain, it can be difficult to pinpoint the exact source based on assessment alone. However, if your physiotherapist has ruled out signs of a serious underlying condition, immediate imaging such as an X-ray or MRI is often unnecessary and may add extra cost and stress without changing the recommended treatment approach.
Understanding your condition and how it can be managed effectively is at the heart of good physiotherapy. If you ever feel uncertain about your diagnosis or treatment plan, you should feel comfortable discussing these questions with your physiotherapist.
How to support recovery from a sports injury
Many people are familiar with the acronym RICE (Rest, Ice, Compression, and Elevation) for managing soft tissue injuries. More recently, this approach has been expanded into the PEACE & LOVE framework, which incorporates current understanding of soft tissue healing and rehabilitation.
During the first few days after injury (PEACE)
- Protect the injured area. This may involve avoiding aggravating activities or using braces, slings, or crutches when appropriate
- Elevate the injured area to help manage swelling and reduce pain
- Avoid anti-inflammatory treatments, as some evidence suggests early use of anti-inflammatory medications or excessive cryotherapy may delay tissue healing
- Compress the injured area to assist with swelling and pain management
- Seek Education about the injury, expected healing timelines, and when imaging or passive treatments may be beneficial
After the first few days (LOVE)
- Load the injured area gradually to support a safe return to activity
- Maintain Optimism, as positive expectations can influence rehabilitation outcomes
- Use Vascularisation through pain-free cardiovascular exercise to maintain fitness and function
- Perform Exercise to address weakness, range-of-motion limitations, proprioception, and coordination deficits
When returning to sport after an injury, it's important to confirm through appropriate testing that the affected tissue has regained sufficient function and that reasonable steps have been taken to reduce the risk of re-injury. Working with a physiotherapist can help support a safe return to sport while reducing the likelihood of recurrence or ongoing performance limitations.
Need to see a physio?
Book an appointment today. And if you're not a GMHBA member, no worries. We're here for everyone and are currently welcoming new patients. GMHBA Physiotherapy is available across four locations in Geelong.
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