Optima News

Physiotherapy

Physiotherapy is an allied heath profession concerned with improving mobility, quality of life and performance by using clinical reasoning to deliver the most suitable treatment for an injury or condition. Physiotherapists assess, diagnose and treat people with different movement problems that are often causing pain or affecting performance during sport and/or work.

Physiotherapists are first contact practitioners. This means you don’t need a referral to see a physiotherapist unless you are claiming Work Cover, Third Party Insurance, Veteran’s Affairs entitlements or Medicare (conditions apply).

Physiotherapy integrates clinical expertise with evidence-based research. Physiotherapists are trained to assess the underlying causes of joint, muscle and nerve disorders, educate patients about managing their condition, and advise ways to prevent pain and injury. In addition, physiotherapists are well placed to ensure that performance enhancement strategies can project managed, implemented and progressed for all clients who seek to function at a higher level.

Physiotherapists treat people of all ages and backgrounds, from young infants to the elderly, and from weekend sporting warriors to elite Olympic athletes.

Common conditions treated by physiotherapists include:

• Back or neck pain
• Muscle strains and tears
• Ligaments sprains
• Sporting injuries
• Headaches
• Recovery following surgery, such as ACL or shoulder reconstruction
• Ante- and post-natal care

Physiotherapists use a wide range of techniques to relieve pain, restore function and movement, and prevent further problems, including:

• Joint mobilisation and manipulation
• Therapeutic exercise
• Massage
• Strapping and Bracing
• Breathing exercises & techniques
• Clinical Pilates
• Dry needling
• Diagnostic ultrasound retraining for low back, pelvis and groin pain
• Progressive sports specific rehabilitation programs

All physiotherapists are university educated; with either a Bachelor or entry level Masters Degree in Physiotherapy. Many physiotherapists then undertake further qualifications at a Masters or Doctoral level to specialize in clinical areas or research.

Physiotherapy at Optima Sports Medicine

Mr Michael Dalgleish, an APA Sports Physiotherapist, is the director of Allied Health for Optima Sports Medicine. We offer general physiotherapy services as well as sports physiotherapy. Optima Sports Medicine is also fortunate to offer the services of a specialist sports physiotherapist with a sub-specialty in adolescents in sport (see our AISP programme for details). All our physiotherapists are APA members and are fully qualified to assess, diagnose, treat and rehabilitate a variety of injuries. We have a special interest in the field of sports medicine and have been servicing some of Queensland’s and Australia’s best athletes for more than a decade. We believe we extend our capacity to supply the highest levels of treatment and care to all our clients whether they are elite athletes or not.

Optima Sports Medicine is dedicated to the management of physical injuries from simple sprains to complex motor vehicle and sporting accidents. No problem is too large or small. A multi-disciplinary approach enables the prescription of an effective treatment plan by better understanding each individual's specific needs. We pride ourselves on our hands on approach to injury management.

For those people searching for something extra, Optima Sports Medicine’s clinicians have been trained to help top performing individuals to identify potential injury risks BEFORE they happen. This aspect of injury prevention is ideally linked to aid performance enhancement in athletic endeavour.

Our goals include:

• Excellence in musculo-skeletal care
• Minimize recovery time and return to sport
• Prevent re-occurrences of injury/pain
• Optimize sporting performance
• Improve quality of life and daily function
• Better self management programs
• Long - term prevention programs
• Pain management programs

Optima Sports Medicine has a tiered structure of clinicians, based on qualifications, expertise and experience, and this is reflected in our tiered fee schedule. Our Graduate Physiotherapists offer a reduced price for your consultation, but are qualified to treat any condition; our APA Sports Physiotherapists have undergone extra university training in sports physiotherapy and have special interests in a particular sport and/or body area; and our Specialist Sports Physiotherapists have additional university training and clinical experience beyond this as well as a recognized sub-specialty, such as adolescents in sport.

Please see Prices for our most current fee schedule.