NHS physio

[Badleg85]

Good morning

I'm just curious about NHS physio and whether my experience is fairly normal. I've suffered with bad sciatica down one leg and some lower back pain. I tried exercises I found online but without much improvement spoke to GP who referred me for physio.

Physio did some tests to look at muscle function etc then gave me exercises to do, said it may be a bulging disc or muscle weakness, said come back after 6 weeks of the exercises. I didn't find the exercises much help. When I went back she barely touched me, did a couple more tests then gave more exercises. Went back again after 8 weeks and the same thing happened.

I was suffering so badly and seeing this my dad offered to buy me two private physio sessions. This physio did similar tests to thr NHS then gave a sort of massage to free up tense muscles and relax my back. This made such a difference. I'm gutted I can't afford to keep paying for this

Is it standard that NHS physio just give exercises without any massage/manipulation from them? I'm suffering again and want to go back because I feel like I need help but also feel it's kind of pointless

You did better than me. I fractured my ankle and my physio was a phone call and some exercises via video link.

I paid for private physio (fortunately I can do this) and I'm great now - but I shouldn't need to.

What the tories have done to the nhs is shocking.

It’s all they have time to do, NHS can’t provide long appointments and massages. It’s a shame.

Can you save up for an occasional private physio?

Yep, NHS physio is woeful. 10 minute sessions. I paid private for my shoulder and I had full movement after 6 sessions.

I’ve seen NHS physio for osteoarthritis and was just given exercises that didn’t really help. Cortisone jab did! However, when I went for a frozen shoulder the physio would massage my neck when I could tolerate it and that was amazing! I was also seeing a private physio who would do manipulation and various other things to give me some temporary relief.

NHS physio appointment for dislocation disappointed me.

I had expected careful examination, gentle physical manipulation and supervision whilst I did exercises.

What I got was an emailed list of exercises to do at home. And told to return in a month.

At the month 'review' I was told to just continue the exercises and my case would be closing.

Both appointments lasted less than 5 minutes.

I too have found them very poor, similar.

I have done a self-referral (standard here) many times.
I haven't had much success, except for seeing a hand specialist some years back and I did get an MRI on my knee to confirm what the issue is (cartilage worn away behind kneecap - no treatment offered due to covid).
It's very hit and miss.

I can't comment on what my NHS appointment would have been like as I managed to get an earlier private appointment.

My private ones for a slipped disc have involved massage, manipulation, lots of advice and exercises to do at home. 30 minutes each. I can't imagine what I'd have done without them as I could hardly walk at the start but my recovery has been very quick.

Yeah similar experience here too.
I was diagnosed with Frozen Shoulder 18 months ago. In practice Physio gave me a steroid injection that went in the wrong place (excruciating)
Luckily my employer paid for some private physio session which helped me through the worst stages.
After 7/8 months finally got an appt with NHS physio which consisted of a consultation and given a list of exercises to do at home. I've had 2 guided steroid injections since - absolutely no follow up from NHS after either.
I've paid for a couple of private physio sessions over that time - but unfortunately I can't afford regular sessions like this.

Yes that's normal. If you can't afford it then an osteopath/ chiropractor or acupuncturist every time. And I'm medically trained.

Meant CAN afford it obviously!

I had years of private physio until the nhs finally took me on

They were fantastic - the range of exercises ( focussed on while lower body not just the dodgy knee) have made life changing difference to me

They did this in a group session - out of the 12 of us only 2 went into the advanced session because most people didn't put the effort in with the exercises

I'm afraid that's the way it is. I have private health care through my work and I've had quite a lot of physio over the years to fix a form of RSI. My physiotherapist with more than 30 years of experience warned me that the new trend is to do minimal manipulation of patients and to put the onus on them with exercises to do at home. This rarely works but it looks like this is the way today's young physiotherapists are trained to operate. 🥺 Mine (and the others at the same private practice) will carry on old school.

NHS physio in my area is a 55 week waitlist.

I suspect what usually happens is, the physio teaches a set of excercises and tells the patient "x times a day for y weeks". The patient does them for three or four days, feels no benefit so stops or forgets. So of course there is no further benefit and the "physio has failed".

They are a bit useless in my experience. Something went wrong with my knee and my NHS physio kept saying "when we injure ourselves", except I hadn't. I'd woken up unable to use my knee probably, no falls or slips. It felt a bit box-ticky. After a year of physio I've learnt to ignore it and carry on at the gym as usual. It's 75% better but still won't bend properly. No idea what happened to it.

Physio here is mostly phone appointments.

I had face to face appointments when I broke my foot and damaged ligaments in my foot and ankle, which meant I struggled to walk and fell over a lot - they were woeful! 5 minute appointments, 7 exercises were “explained” at speed and I was told I’d be sent some videos (which didn’t happen).

I went to a private physio/sports therapist and it was like a different world. Appointments were one hour to one hour 15 minutes long. I had ultrasound treatment and manual therapy, exercises were demonstrated and I practised them under supervision and the reasons for the pain were explained clearly.

I’m lucky I could afford private physio, but I’ll do the same in the future if I need treatment again.

Thank you for the replies. It's a shame there's so many similar experiences

Unfortunately just now I don't have the money for private physio but I will try and save up for it

I called the number for self-referral today for my hands and knee which are giving me trouble (couldn't do it online for some reason). Someone is going to call me back in the next two weeks - I've had to say that I can only take calls after a certain time due to my job. My money is on no calls, or calls with no message when I can't answer.
It's a shame because when you finally jump through all of the hoops, they can actually be helpful.

Yes but this isn't anything new and it certainly has nothing to do with the conservative government. I started physio appointments at in 1999. It was the same then. Saw another physio during pregnancy in 2007, same situation. Then again in 2011, same. Every appointment was useless. Funnily enough every appointment was actually for the same issue which I resolved with private physio. By that point though it took months and every so often I still have the odd appointment. I was very fortunate to afford to pay. Anything that requires physio now I don't even bother with the GP.

Same here. Been for on and off since the late 90s and have always gone private as the NHS waiting lists have always been too long to wait and were largely useless when I eventually got an appointment. It’s not cheap at approx £50 a go though (though having said that, it’s been that price since 2000 locally so in relative terms it’s a lot cheaper than it used to be!)

In my experience nhs physios are only useless because appointments are clogged up with people who expect that nhs to fix them , when all they do it tell you how to fix yourself

I've had NHS physio for a hip and knee issue and it helped massively. No, you don't get a long appointment with loads of massage etc. (Though I did get some manipulation for shoulder to help free it up. That was painful but necessary). What I did get was months of a exercise program that I stuck to religiously with follow ups to check progress and adjustments as things changed. Plus steroid injection for shoulder. Hopefully never have to have that again!

we should not have to pay for private treatment - we need more physios we are paying into the system all the time - the same with dentists