Physiotherapy Instrument Mobilisation (PIM) is an innovative concept that involves mobilising your spinal and peripheral joints via a mechanical spring loaded instrument according to physiotherapy principles.

PIM is a safe measurable and extremely effective joint mobilisation technique provided by specially-trained physiotherapists. With only a hand full of PIM-trained physiotherapists in Europe, it is a unique joint treatment approach to ease your pain quickly and loosen any joint stiffness.

Due to the small number of PIM-trained therapists available if you are particularly interested in the PIM treatment approach please ask who uses the PIM Treatment Approach when booking your appointment at Nowphysio

PIM assessment utilises physiotherapy palpation skills, neural tension testing and neuro testing to apply mobilising and manipulative techniques along clearly defined treatment planes with greater reliability, specificity and safety than other manual techniques.

PIM provides excellent outcomes for the TMJ, headaches, vertigo, neck and back pain, elbow and shoulder pain and foot pain.

If you haven't tried a PIM treatment approach and you are still suffering pain, we recommend that you seek the advice of a PIM-trained physiotherapist to see if they can assist you.

Acupuncture and Dry Needling are useful modalities to provide pain relief and assist injury rehabilitation.

By inserting very fine, sterile single-use needles at specific points along the meridians and into trigger points (a "hyperirritable spot in a skeletal muscle") your acupuncturist can relieve tension, stress, and pain.

Acupuncture is now officially recognised as an effective treatment for pain.

The main reason behind its success appears to be related to chronic pain patterns. The establishment of chronic pain patterns occurs within a few months of an injury.

Once established, these pain patterns are difficult to reverse by other conservative treatment techniques. Acupuncture is often very useful in breaking this pain cycle.

Soft tissue massage therapy involves direct physical action on the soft tissues of the body.

The target structures include your muscles, tendons, ligaments, or other connective tissue such as fascia. The best known example of a soft tissue technique is massage. Soft tissue techniques include a whole range of massage depths, pressures and durations.

High quality therapists are trained in a range of massage styles.

Electrotherapy and local modalities are used to assist pain reduction and the natural healing response via an increase in energy (electrical, sound, light, magnetic, temperature).

Electrotherapy and local modalities have short-term benefits that can assist with the earlier introduction of other longer lasting techniques such as exercise prescription.

While many patients will feel the immediate benefits from electrotherapy, it is wise to think of these passive modalities similarly to pain relieving or anti-inflammatory medications.

That is,electrotherapy and local modalities are methods of pain relief or inflammation reduction that provides short-term relief and stimulation, which allows you to continue moving and functioning as comfortably as possible until the cause is fixed!

Electrotherapy Modalities used at Nowphysio include:

• Ultrasound
• Interferential
• Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (TENS)
• Electro-Acupuncture

Did you know that your physiotherapist is an expert in the prescription of exercise appropriate to you and your injury or fitness level.

As a part of their physiotherapy training, your physiotherapist not only is educated in injury diagnosis but also in exercise physiology or the science of exercise. This enables your physiotherapist to not only assess and diagnose your injury but also to prescribe injury, fitness or age-appropriate exercises targeted to you at that point in time.

It is important that your exercises should not be painful. While some trainers believe that the more painful the better, this is not the best for your body or injury.

In fact, research does inform us that pain inhibits muscles from performing to their optimum. This argues the case that painful exercise is actually counter-productive.

You'll find that your physiotherapist will thoroughly examine you and prescribe a series of exercises suitable for you in quantities that will not injure you further. Please seek an exercise expert when you are planning your rehabilitation.

Without some simple exercises, we know that certain muscles can become weak. When these supporting muscles are weak, your injured structures are inadequately supported and predispose you to lingering symptoms or further injury. You can also over-activate adjacent muscles that may lead to further injury.

The exercises Nowphysio Physiotherapists prescribe will usually be relatively simple, and do not require any special weights equipment, and can be performed safely at home.

Good posture involves training your body to stand, walk, sit and lie in positions where the least strain is placed on your body.

Proper posture:

• Helps decrease the abnormal wearing of joint surfaces that could result in arthritis
• Decreases the stress on the ligaments holding the joints of the spine together
• Prevents the spine from becoming fixed in abnormal positions
• Prevents fatigue because muscles are being used more efficiently, allowing the body to use less energy
• Prevents strain or overuse problems

At NowPhysio we offer a full postural screening service which includes Physio measured and digitally captured postural analysis.