physiotherapist problem.

mossfort

ive been having problems with pain in my neck , shoulder and hand and my gp diagnosed it as compressed discs in my neck. he said i should go and see a physiotherapist and have traction done on my neck.
i decided to go to my local physio and rang and made an appointment and got one that day as she had a cancellation. i arrived on time waited for 20 minutes before i got called and i explained in good detail to the physio what problems i was having and that my doctor reccomended i have the traction done. the physio examined my neck and shoulder and applied some pressure on different areas asking if i felt any pain .i told her when it hurt and she came to the conclusion that the pain in my hand had no connection to the neck pain and she then told me i needed to correct my posture when sitting .
she made another appointment for me the following week which i kept and she went over the same routine again and told me it was muscles pulled in my hand and the neck problem could be sorted by sitting correctly.
she said one more appointment should sort the problem out which was arranged for the following week.
i arrived the following week and after which i had not improved one bit challenged her on when she was going to do the traction whick took her by surprise and when she went to set up the machine for the job she had to call in the head physio who owns the place because she didnt know how to work it . the week after having the traction done there was a huge improvement with far less pain in my hand and i went back for another appointment but this time it was with the head physio who owns the place.
this time i had to wait 30 minutes past my scheduled time after she saw to an eldery gentleman who arrived to collect a support and who did not have an appointment. i again felt good after the traction in which she cut the visit short to 45 mins because she was behind schedule.
i went back the next week expecting to have more traction but she had somebody else in the room at my appointment time so she sent me to another room where she put a heat pack on my back and dissapeared for 20 mins came back did some pressing on the joints and cut the appointment short and told me i needed another appointment to sort it out.
i told i would ring if i needed another appointment as i was fed up with her at this stage. she held back the receipts till the end i presume because you might not show up for an appointment and you will need them for your health insurance claim.
altogether i done six visits at 50 euros a visit and onl spent 35 minutes having traction done in total .
i feel that i have been ripped off and this physiotherapist is listed as a chartered physiotherapist.
i would expect something like this from a chiropractor but not from a physio and i wonder is this common practice or was i just unfortunate in my choice as i now have to start over again somewhere else.

Improbable

It sounds like she just wasn't very good. I have a friend who did Irish dancing and so saw a physio quite regularly and she's always waxed ecstatic about how good he was. I would recommend making sure that you indicate very strongly what your GP has indicated. Since it seems that the traction is working for you, for the new physio make very sure that thats what you want.

N8

mossfort wrote: »

i would expect something like this from a chiropractor but not from a physio

why would you expect such lack of knowledge and professional behaviour from a chiropractor?

eilo1

im training as a physio and I would recommend that you call the practice and ask for the receipts. (although it does seem strange to me that they withheld them it may be something innocent like just holding them until the end of treatment so you have them all together for your claim ((might be wishful thinking here))

I would also tell them why you are not coming back for treatment and explain your annoyance at paying a fee for a short treatment session. And that you are also annoyed that they didnt give you the treatment that you requested and where referred for!

If you are still not happy with their reasoning then I would say definitely report them to the csp, why should them be allowed to give you substandard treatment when you are paying so much money for these sessions.

I hope you find a better physio who will give you the treatment that you need and sort out your problems quickly and efficiently!!