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Original poster

appropriate behaviour

16 replies

essexgirl58 · 22/03/2022 03:46

I am having physio for a back issue. I have a good male therapist but have a couple of concerns which may be blown out of proportion. Shoul they always were the regulation blue plastic gloves? I have had three sesions and on the third one, he was not wearing the gloves and him touching my skin with bare hands somehow did not feel right. He was doing various exercises with me and he touched my hands a couple of times to place them where he wanted them to be during the exrcise. Him toucing my hand without the gloves made me feel uneasy and i am sure I am more than capable of placing my own hands where they needed to be.

Can I insist that next time he wears the gloves? Not sure why he did not wear them this time.

OP posts:
Original poster
essexgirl58 · 22/03/2022 04:00

Also I have mild sciatica. I am of the opinion that I will always have it an that I can learn how to manage things so that it does not flare up. When I mentione this to the physio, he said what makes you assume you will alway have sciatica.

I believe that as long as you have a problem that causes sciatica then you will always have sciatica. In my case I have bulging discs and one of the discs is bulging and hitting the sciatic nerve. The only way to rid of the sciatica is to unbulge the disc that is hitting the nerve and that is never going to happen so realistically I need to manage things so that I do not get pain but I cannot run the next marathon, not that I ever wanted to because running long distance is high impact an will aggrivate the sciatica so I have to adapt my life accordingly and my therapist cannot see this. He is convinced I will rid myself of the scatica once and for all. Yeah right? Maybe in the next life

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SexiestDogWalker · 22/03/2022 04:10

Um.

Most cases of sciatica resolve spontaneously. It's not typically a lifelong condition. It can recur and bother people regularly but it usually goes away. Most cases are caused by pinched nerves due to disc involvement. The physio is meant to help ease the pressure on the nerve and resolve the sciatica. He's right to say what he said.

You can ask him to wear gloves of course, but there are different rules around PPE for each hospital trust and outpatient clinic and the guidance changes regularly. I shouldn't imagine he thought he'd get some thrilling skin on skin action from you.

Sounds like you need a female therapist, to be honest, because you're uncomfortable with him doing his job.

HeyBlaby · 22/03/2022 04:16

No requirement for him to wear gloves as long as he gels or washes hands before and after.

Sciatica should resolve, even if caused by a bulging disc.

Original poster
essexgirl58 · 22/03/2022 07:58

Thanks. I will stick with the male physio as he is good. He is not at a hospital He has his own private clinic. I was referred to NHS physio in November and still wawiting because of a backlog. When I chased this up I was told they are still only seeing people who were referre in September. I might just phone my GP and get them to remove me from the waiting list.

Regarding the siatica, someone on another thread on here said she had sciatica for years so on that basis i just thought it would not go away. I simply thought like with some other things like parkinsons where you shake you have no control over it and once you have it, you have it for life but learn how to manage it. Anyway I now only see my physio every two or three weeks because he does not think I need weekly sessions anymore which is good

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Anon778833 · 22/03/2022 08:03

Trust your gut instinct. If you’re getting inappropriate vibes don’t ignore them.

choosername1234 · 22/03/2022 08:14

Gloves are used to protect the HCP from body fluids. It is not safer for you for him to wear gloves, he should be washing or gelling his hands before he touches you

MollyRover · 22/03/2022 08:42

@MondaysChild7

Trust your gut instinct. If you’re getting inappropriate vibes don’t ignore them.
He's not being inappropriate though. Just because the OP is uncomfortable with a male therapist doesn't mean he's done something wrong. Lots of women will only see female doctors etc, ditto for men.
Anon778833 · 22/03/2022 08:44

@MollyRover - he didn’t need to touch her hands. It’s gaslighting to accuse someone of not knowing that what they experienced was inappropriate.

LizDoingTheCanCan · 22/03/2022 09:02

[quote MondaysChild7]@MollyRover - he didn’t need to touch her hands. It’s gaslighting to accuse someone of not knowing that what they experienced was inappropriate.[/quote]
It was not inappropriate. It's not 'gaslighting' to advise someone that what they experienced is normal practice.

Anon778833 · 22/03/2022 09:05

Sorry, what adult needs to have their hands picked up and moved? I’ve never done that to any of my clients (I’m a massage therapist)

Xiomara22 · 22/03/2022 09:07

I’ve been having physio since I was 11 (now 30) seen privately & nhs over the years and I’ve never once had a physio wear gloves Confused

MollyRover · 22/03/2022 09:08

@MondaysChild7

Sorry, what adult needs to have their hands picked up and moved? I’ve never done that to any of my clients (I’m a massage therapist)
A physiotherapist will show a patient how to do their own exercises, as well as the perform the therapy they are providing. A massage therapist is doing all the work for the patient. I really don't think this is an issue. It's ok to be uncomfortable with a therapist of the opposite sex, I don't think it's ok to suggest they are being inappropriate when they are just doing their job.
LadyLolaRuben · 22/03/2022 09:50

Everything you describe is normal. He may have been wearing gloves to protect himself due to having a cut on his finger on previous visits or there was different PPE requirements at the time.

Regarding the sciatica, you're challenging a fully qualified, trained and experienced allied healthcare professional based on a comment made on MN?!

Physios have to get close up to touch and manipulate the body. If you are really this uncomfortable, you need a female physio as a previous poster suggests. If you decide to stay with this physio and there's something specific you don't like, please tell him so you can agree an alternative. This guy sounds like he is just doing his job.

LadyLolaRuben · 22/03/2022 09:52

BTW I'm a senior NHS manager and review staff conduct and determine disciplinary action

Original poster
essexgirl58 · 22/03/2022 20:38

@LadyLolaRuben

Everything you describe is normal. He may have been wearing gloves to protect himself due to having a cut on his finger on previous visits or there was different PPE requirements at the time.

Regarding the sciatica, you're challenging a fully qualified, trained and experienced allied healthcare professional based on a comment made on MN?!

Physios have to get close up to touch and manipulate the body. If you are really this uncomfortable, you need a female physio as a previous poster suggests. If you decide to stay with this physio and there's something specific you don't like, please tell him so you can agree an alternative. This guy sounds like he is just doing his job.

yes I should not have challenged.

Regards keping him on as a physio. Yes I could tranfer to a female physio but I ha one before him and she was rubbish

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Original poster
essexgirl58 · 24/03/2022 18:40

@LadyLolaRuben

Everything you describe is normal. He may have been wearing gloves to protect himself due to having a cut on his finger on previous visits or there was different PPE requirements at the time.

Regarding the sciatica, you're challenging a fully qualified, trained and experienced allied healthcare professional based on a comment made on MN?!

Physios have to get close up to touch and manipulate the body. If you are really this uncomfortable, you need a female physio as a previous poster suggests. If you decide to stay with this physio and there's something specific you don't like, please tell him so you can agree an alternative. This guy sounds like he is just doing his job.

I now think I was right to challenge my physio. Since my last session 3 days ago, I hae been in almost constant pain. I felt quite well and thought things were progressing in the right diretion and then I started to wear a pair of heels and I am not sure that was what is now causing my sciatica pain. I have been told by this physio and a previous osteopath that heels of 2 inches were fine to wear. It is my body and I know what works for my body and what does not work and my physio may be qualified but each body is diferent. He should not sit there and tell me siatica pain does go away. because it gies the patient false hope.

Yes there is a person who posted on MN who has had sciatica pain for years. I wonder what she would say to any therapist who tells her sciatica goes away. No medic should say this. What they shoul say is that sciatica pain might go away because that is a more realistic scenario. Yes some people can wear 2 inch heels but sadly I may be one of those who cannot because it bring on sciatica pain. I am absolutely convinced this is what has happene to me

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