1. WHAT TO EXPECT FROM MY FIRST APPOINTMENT?

The first thing you may notice is the time we spend with you. Our appointments are longer than normal; on average, we have the longest appointments in Sydney’s CBD and Eastern Suburbs. We have long appointments because we believe you’re unique and we need to spend time getting to know you and how we can help. You’re not just another shoulder, knee, or lower back that walks through our door; you’re an individual who needs something individualised and specific.

You may also realise we want you to be an active and highly involved part of working out what your problem is. We want to know everything about your story so we can work out why you’re not being the best you can be. We not only want to know all about what’s causing you trouble right now, but we also want to know all of your past injuries and niggles, even if you think they’re small and irrelevant.

We want to know exactly why your injury is causing you pain. By feeling what is happening with your knee, your shoulder, your lower back, or whatever is causing you trouble, we’re able to accurately tell you what is happening and why you’re in pain. This also helps us know what to do to get you better!

A key part of the ConnectTherapy assessment is getting you to move. Together, we will identify a movement that is important to you but you can’t do as well as you normally do or want to at the moment. This is called the Meaningful Task Analysis and it helps direct the whole body assessment we undertake to find the key, underlying reason for your pain, the Driver.

What does this all mean in simple terms? Basically, we’re going to look at how you move to find out what is moving well, what isn’t moving well, and how the parts that aren’t moving well relate to your injury and pain.

During the assessment, we’ll make a temporary change to help optimise how your body moves. Your responses and experiences to these changes will help guide us in finding out the Drivers of your pain. Once we’ve found the Drivers and support these areas of your body, you will experience less pain, better movement, and a whole new way of living within your own body.

An important part of our treatment involves giving your body options for moving in new ways. Changing the way you move is important for resolving the pain you’re in. There are a number of ways we can treat your body to give you new ways to move; you might need tight muscles or scar tissue release with some hands on treatment or you may something different like dry needling to help relieve muscle tension.

For long term change to happen and resolution of your pain to occur, you will need to learn to move in new ways. Learning these new movement patterns takes practice and we will help strengthen these movement patterns by designing and progressing an exercise program that is unique and specific to your needs and goals.

Each injury, body, person, and story is unique. Come and experience a new way of moving, feeling, and being!

2. HOW LONG IS A SESSION?

Our physiotherapy appointments at Balance in Motion are longer than you might be used. On average, we have the longest appointments in Sydney's Eastern Suburbs and the CBD.

Physiotherapy appointments:

• Initial appointment - 60 minutes.

• Follow up appointment (standard) - 40 minutes.

• Follow up appointment (short) - 30 minutes.

Pilates appointments:

• Pilates initial assessment - 60 minutes.

• 1-on-1 Pilates appointment - 40 or 60 minutes.

• 1-on-2 Pilates appointment - 40 or 60 minutes.

• Group (max of 4) Pilates appointment - 50 minutes.

3. DO YOU TAKE INSURANCE CLAIMS (MOTOR VEHICLE ACCIDENTS OR WORKERS COMPENSATION)?

Some of our physiotherapists treat insurance claims. Please let our reception team know.

For motor vehicle accidents, ring your insurer for permission to commence immediate treatment. We will bill them directly once you have a claim number. Please bring your claim number and case managers details with you. If you don’t have this information, we have to charge you.

For work related injuries, you will need a doctor’s referral, which will enable us to then forwards the fees directly to your company’s workers compensation insurer. You will need a Workcover Medical Certificate. When Workcover receives all of your documents, they can begin the process of starting a claim if it is approved. In order for us to bill Workcover directly we need a claim number, and the case manager’s details to verify the claim.

4. DO YOU TAKE MEDICARE?

We do provide treatment for patients with Medicare, however Medicare will only cover physiotherapy treatment under certain circumstances. We require a referral to indicate that your treatment is Medicare approved. Your doctor will issue you with an Enhanced Primary Care Plan (EPC) along with your referral. This allows a maximum of 5 physiotherapy treatments within one calendar year.

We require payment at the time of consultation and will issue you with an invoice that will enable you to lodge your claim with Medicare in order to access the rebate.

5. HOW DO I PAY?

We accept Visa, Mastercard, debit card and cash. If you have private health insurance, please bring your card and we will do the claim on the spot for you. This means that you only have to pay the gap. The amount covered by your health fund is determined by your health fund provider and the type of cover you have.

6. DO I NEED A REFERRAL?

No. Usually you don’t need a referral except in the case of insurance claims or for Medicare/EPC.

Physiotherapists are primary health practitioners; therefore private patients do not need a doctor’s referral to see them. This also means that a physiotherapist can issue a sick leave certificate.

If you are planning on claiming your injury through an insurance company, then it is advisable to see your GP to get a referral to make claim management easier. It also reduces claim dispute issues from insurers. If you already have a claim number, please bring this and details of your insurer to your initial appointment.

7. DO THE PHYSIOS USUALLY RUN ON TIME?

Yes, we take pride in our commitment to running on time. However if we are running late we will give you as much notice as possible in the form of a text message or call.

8. WILL I HAVE TO STOP WORKING OR TRAINING?

It is incredibly rare that we would stop your training completely. All of our physios currently compete in sport and they don’t want to stop either. In most cases, movement in some form is good for injury management.

9. WHAT SHOULD I WEAR?

We will provide you with t-shirts and shorts so that you are comfortable and so that the physio is able to work with you effectively. If you prefer, you can bring your own clothes. Please also bring your running shoes and orthotics.