Inspiro physiotherapists can help you manage a wide variety of mobility, muscle or joint problems.  Heidi is one of our physios. We caught up with her recently to find about more about the incredible work she does.

Hi Heidi! What made you want to be a Physiotherapist?

I decided I wanted to be a Physiotherapist in Year 12, when I discovered that there was too much frustration in computer programming and I really wanted to establish a career working with people.

What does a typical day at Inspiro look like for you?

A typical day at Inspiro for us involves:

• Running group programs such as GLAD, Steady As you Go ( a balance group) or Hydrotherapy.
• Seeing clients one on one for assessments, post group reviews, or to manage issues such back pain, sore shoulders or mobility issues.
• Catching up with colleagues for a quick lunch.
• Seeing NDIS clients or more complex Neurological clients for one on one exercise sessions.

Inspiro’s GLA:D program is especially useful for people with osteoarthritis. What is osteoarthritis and how can a physio help you manage and prevent it?

With all our clients we take a holistic and longer term/self – management approach as appropriate. With clients attending with osteoarthritis, we do a thorough assessment and manage them largely in 4 main ways:

• Advising clients of the best way to  manage their pain – such as  through exercise (land and/ or water based), heat, balancing rest with activity, taping, braces, analgesics, gait aids etc.
• Educating on osteoarthritis – what it is and isn’t, and the evidence behind treatment strategies.
• Exercising to improve strength, control and alignment. This has a protective function on joints and can work really well if done in the right way. We can also look at exercise for other primary reasons such as maintaining balance and function. We run GLA:D which is an 8 week, evidence based program that has come from Denmark for people with osteoarthritis of the hip and knee. We will also manage clients independently or look at referring into the pool group as needed.  Everyone is different so we focus on individual needs.
• Discussing other matters relating to long term management such as goal setting, weight loss and maintaining exercise patterns/lifestyle.

What’s the best thing about your job?

The best thing about being a Physio, for me, is still working with people and seeing the difference we make in people’s lives.  A lady came in today after the GLAD program for a review and her pain in her knee had disappeared completely. It had gone from a 5/10 in May to 0/10 in September.  She is now smiling and happy to walk to the shops and return home – 30 min each way (which she couldn’t do before).

Quite often we see people also for falls and balance issues. When they are a lot steadier with the measurements we take, I kind of wonder about the potential accidents, pain and suffering that have been avoided – for the whole family.

Would you like to know more about our physio services?

Visit our physio page to learn more or give us a call on 03 9738 8801.