First Visit – FAQ

You can bring anyone you want with you to the appointment. Should you wish a chaperone to accompany you during assessment or treatment, please inform the receptionist when booking your appointment.

Ideally you would wear loose fitting clothes enabling the clinician to be able to see the area where you have the problem. For instance, for women with a shoulder, neck or back complaint a vest top with thin shoulder straps is ideal. If you have a knee or ankle complaint then it is a good idea to bring shorts with you. If you are a runner please bring your trainers with you.

Upon arrival at the clinic the reception team will greet you, confirm your details and ask you to take a seat in our air-conditioned waiting room. If you are under the care of a specialist then please bring any relevant letters or scan results with you. The initial consultation involves 2 parts. Firstly, the therapist will ask you some questions and listen carefully to your response to learn about your symptoms, their behavior and impact on your lifestyle. This is known as the subjective examination and is an opportunity for you to discuss how the problem is affecting you.

They will then ask for your consent to complete an objective assessment of the area, this will likely involve them asking you to carry out several movements, look at the affected area and completing a number of clinical tests to help them accurately diagnose the problem.

Once a diagnosis is reached the therapist will discuss the findings, what they mean, and the best way to help. At this point the therapist will be able to discuss how many treatments they recommend. It is our preference to begin a course of hands-on treatment at the first visit, although the amount of treatment time will depend on the complexity of the problem and level of assessment required.

The initial consultation will normally last between 30 and 45minutes depending on the service that you have booked, and the complexity of your injury.