Many people believe that there is only one type of physiotherapist. There is one that knows and does everything that physiotherapists do! This is completely false! There are many types of physiotherapists that specialize in different areas of our bodies! 

In this post, we’ll be covering 5 different types of physiotherapists. We’ll review the conditions they treat, and by the end of this article, you should have a really good idea of which physiotherapist you should see and how they can help you. If by the end of this article you still don’t know which type of physiotherapy will help you, feel free to give us a call and we’d be happy to help you! 

1. Paediatric Physiotherapy

Pediatric physiotherapy is simply the delivery of physiotherapy services to children and youth from birth to about 25 years of age. Typically, people visit a pediatric physiotherapist to have their child’s condition/injury assessed. This can include: 

• gross motor function and posture
• including strength, gait, flexibility, balance
• Developmental delays
• Neurological Disorders and Syndromes such as Spina Bifida, Down Syndrome, etc.
• Ataxia
• Cerebral Palsy
• Traumatic Brain Injury
• Post Stroke (CVA)
• Athetosis
• Hypertonia
• Hypotonia
• Orthopaedic injuries
• Fine Motor Delays
• And much more!

Pediatric physiotherapists usually treat children using manual therapy, hands-on facilitation, education, referrals to other specialists, and/or prescription of a home exercise program. At All About Kids Rehabilitation Centre, we treat children with all sorts of conditions and see optimum results with extensive care and treatment. 

To learn more about some conditions that paediatric physiotherapists treat, visit our blog to get all the details! 

At All About Kids Rehabilitation Centre, our paediatric physiotherapists are highly educated and come from different educational backgrounds. They are highly knowledgeable in paedatric physiotherapy care and truly enjoy helping your children get back to having fun! 

At All About Kids Rehab Centre, we offer physiotherapy services for children who present with gross motor delays (delays in rolling, crawling, sitting, transitions, walking, running, and jumping), poor balance or coordination, and decreased strength and range of movement. Our therapists are trained in NDT, CME/MEDEK (levels 1 and 2) and the Therasuit Method. 

When intervening in a condition with pediatric physiotherapy, there is a multitude of benefits for your child: 

• Improve ROM (range of motion)
• Improve Strength
• Increase Balance
• Improve Co-ordination
• Return to Sport
• Improve Posture
• Improve Tone
• Integrate Reflexes
• Increase Independence
• Improve Activities of Daily Living

2. Sports Physiotherapists / Sports Injury Physiotherapist

This is a specialization of physiotherapy that primarily deals with preventing injury and rehabilitating patients and athletes who participate in sports activities. Sports physiotherapists can help athletes in many ways! 

They can help:

• Increase your physical strength, 
• Help your body relax
• Prevention and treatment of injuries
• Improving your overall body and muscle movement
• And much more! 

Sports physiotherapists are your go-to people for anything sport-related! 

At All About Physiotherapy Performance Centre and All About Kids Rehabilitation Centre, we treat numerous athletes of all ages who are recovering from injury, surgery, or simply just pain or discomfort. To learn more about physiotherapy for dancers and artistic athletes, click here! 

3. Pelvic Floor Physiotherapist

You may have seen many advertisements, commercials, and more about pelvic floor physiotherapy; however, never understood what it actually means! 

Pelvic floor physiotherapy is a branch of physiotherapy in which it involves internal and external examinations and exercises of the pelvic muscles. Pelvic floor muscles are located between the hip bones and the sacrum, in which it holds organs such as the bladder, colon, and uterus, our pelvic organs. 

Some disorders that are treated with pelvic floor physiotherapy can include but are not limited to: 

• Endometriosis
• Chronic pelvic pain
• Painful Bladder Syndrome
• Urinary incontinence
• Pelvic organ prolapse
• Constipation 
• And many more! 

Pelvic floor physiotherapy has numerous benefits in which it aids in pelvic floor dysfunction. Pelvic floor dysfunction can be a result of two things; your muscles are either too weak or too tight. Physiotherapy is just the right solution for this! 

At All About Physiotherapy Performance Centre and All About Kids Rehabilitation Centre, our physiotherapists, Rim Boulos and Madeline Aarts, are specialized in pelvic floor physiotherapy and would love to help you or your child’s pelvic health! 

4. Orthopaedic Physiotherapist

Orthopaedic (or ortho for short) physiotherapy is a branch of physiotherapy dedicated to diagnosing and treating injuries to bones, joints, muscles, and ligaments in the body.  It is primarily dedicated to treating your musculoskeletal system. Here at All About Physiotherapy Performance Centre, our Orthopaedic Physiotherapists can treat a variety of musculoskeletal conditions, including: 

• Arthritis
• Knee Instability
• Joint Pain
• Lower Back Pain
• Lymphedema 
• Parkinson’s Disease
• Scoliosis 
• Muscular Dystrophy 
• After surgeries such as hip replacement, knee replacement, rotator cuff repair, etc. 
• And much more! 

Orthopaedic physiotherapy has various benefits for your body, well-being, and overall health. Some benefits can include:

• At All About Physiotherapy Performance Centre, our orthopedic physiotherapists will help you understand your injury, develop a recovery plan, and then meet your goals to get you back to what you love to do!
• Ortho physios are experts at developing treatment plans so you know what you will need to do to get better. 
• Our ortho physios at All About Physiotherapy Performance Centre are experts in helping you reach your recovery goals.    

At All About Physiotherapy Performance Centre, our highly experienced and educated professionals will provide you with a comprehensive overview of treatment plans and exercises. In some cases, determining exactly what treatments will be most effective or how long the recovery process may take can be difficult to estimate. However, our physiotherapy team at All About Physiotherapy Performance Centre may provide you with an estimate of recovery time as well as work that needs to be done by both the physiotherapist and the patient. 

To learn more about Orthopaedic Physiotherapy and everything there is to know about it, check out our new blog! 

5. Neuro Physiotherapist

Neuro Physiotherapy is a special branch of physiotherapy in which it treats physical impairments caused by neurological disorders and conditions. 

For example, neuro physiotherapists are specialized in treat conditions and impairments caused by: 

• Stroke
• Traumatic brain Injury/head Injury
• Spinal cord injury
• Multiple sclerosis (MS)
• Parkinson’s disease
• Cerebral palsy

Here at All About Physiotherapy Performance Centre and All About Kids Rehabilitation Centre, our physiotherapists are highly specialized and knowledgeable in neuro physiotherapy. We treat numerous children and adults with neurological conditions that have caused physical impairments to the body. 

Similarly, we offer a special treatment called Neurofunctional Acupuncture in which we have seen amazing results from! For more information, check out our blog Neurofunctional Acupuncture and the mind-muscle connection.

For more information about neuro physiotherapy, watch this video by Katie Davies (Australian Physiotherapy Association). 

That wraps up 5  types of physiotherapists! That is not all! There are numerous other physiotherapists and types of physiotherapy specialized in different areas of the body and conditions. The best physiotherapist is the one that is knowledgeable about your condition, communicates effectively, and who you feel you can trust. Simply put, don’t be afraid to try several physiotherapists – not all will be the right fit for you!