
Physiotherapy Services
West Cape Physio provides high quality, evidence based physiotherapy to residents of Albany and the wider Great Southern region.
Using their expert skills the team at West Cape Physio look forward to assisting you in understanding your problem, working with you to achieve your goals and returning you to quality of life you are looking for.
The key focus of West Cape Physio is incorporating you, the patient, into the decision-making process so that you understand and have control over your injury management.
Pain Management
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Pain is a completely normal part of our lives. It is our ‘alarm’ system that alerts us when a threat or danger is near. Pain can be quite distressing at times. Whether the pain be from muscles, tendons, bones, joints, discs, or nerves it can overwhelm us.
Physiotherapists can assist in the management of all sorts of pain problems. Managing pain consists of a multitude of processes including thorough examination and diagnosis, education, manual therapy, and exercise.
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Understanding your own pain experience is incredibly important in helping to reduce the fear around pain, create a positive mindset and improve your coping mechanisms that are currently in place. We can provide education about where your pain is coming from, what it means for you and what you can do to best manage it whilst living the life you want.
Occasionally when the pain is coming from sensitive muscles or joints manual therapy/hands on therapy can be used to restore function. These improvements are normally short-term effects and will always be used in conjunction with other treatment approaches.
Exercise is incredibly valuable when treating pain disorders. From reducing tissue sensitivity to changes to the chemicals within the brain, exercise can help. Exercise incorporates a lot of different things, physiotherapists will assist in guiding you to the right form, dose and intensity that is required for your specific injury. Sometimes this can be done independently at home and sometimes under supervision in the clinic.
There are lots of other aspects that contribute to your experience of pain. From your beliefs and attitudes, lifestyle factors such as diet (are you a smoker?), do you have a family history of certain things, are you physically active? Is stress a big part of your life? These are all things that will be considered when you attend an appointment.
The management of persistent pain conditions is something that needs thorough and in depth understanding, this is something our Physio’s as West Cape Physio can offer.
Post Surgical Management
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Following surgery it can be important to have guidance in how and when to start moving again. Our physiotherapists offer expert advice on post surgical management for a wide range of problems.
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Joint replacement surgery (eg. hip, knee and shoulder)
Joint reconstruction surgery (eg, knee, shoulder, elbow etc.)
Spinal surgery
Surgical repair of fractures
Foot and ankle surgery
Dizziness / Balance Rehabilitation
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There can be many causes of dizziness. Physiotherapists can assess, diagnose and manage a wide variety of different causes of balance issues. If you have balance/dizziness complaints we can offer advice and exercises that address the problem.
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Age related changes
Benign paroxysmal vertigo (BPPV)
Vestibular neuritis
Acoustic neuroma
Cervicogenic dizziness
Clinical Pilates
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Clinical pilates combines the expert physiotherapy skills with pilates exercises to create individually tailored programs that suit your needs. Pilates is a great form of exercise that allows improvements in flexibility, strength and function in a nice, controlled environment.
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Pilates is ideal for people who aren’t sure how to get themselves into the gym, are looking for something new even up to elite athletes, pilates is suitable for everyone.
Dry Needling
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Dry needling involves inserting very thin needles into myofascial trigger points in a muscle. The needles stimulates a response in the muscle reducing the sensitivity and improving the movement. It can be a great way to reduce pain, inflammation, and muscle spasm.
Dry needling often forms a component of the treatment from a physio and is used in conjunction with other treatment techniques.