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Is physiotherapy painful?

Physiotherapy is adjusted to the person’s symptoms and tolerance; some techniques can feel uncomfortable. Some techniques are uncomfortable while they are being done, particularly moving a stiff joint, deep manual therapy and dry needling, but nothing in a physiotherapy session should be unbearable. You are allowed to say stop at any moment, and saying it is useful information rather than a complaint.

Published by Al-Shama Physiotherapy ClinicIllustrated portrait of Dr. Zahra Fatima in burgundy scrubsClinically reviewed by Dr. Zahra Fatima, DPT

A closer look

A simple way to judge it: during treatment, discomfort you can breathe through and talk through is acceptable. Pain that makes you hold your breath, grip the bed or clench your jaw is too much, and it does not make the treatment work better. Pushing a painful joint harder usually makes the muscles guard it more.

What the techniques feel like. Manual therapy feels like firm pressure or a stretch, sometimes a strong one at the end of a stiff range. Exercise therapy may produce muscle fatigue and burning, which is normal, but not sharp pain. Ultrasound feels like nothing, or a slight warmth. TENS is a tingling or buzzing that should never sting. Electrotherapy feels similar.

Dry needling is the one people ask about most. The needle is very thin and often not felt going in. What you may feel is a deep ache or a brief twitch in the muscle, lasting seconds. Hijama feels like a strong pulling tightness and leaves round marks that fade over several days.

Some things mean stop immediately and tell her: new numbness or pins and needles, pain spreading further down your arm or leg during treatment, weakness, dizziness, nausea or changes in your vision while your neck is being treated, or chest pain. These are not pain to be endured, they are signals.

What it means for you

Tell her at the start if you are frightened of being hurt, if you have had a bad experience elsewhere, or if you have a condition that makes you sensitive to pressure. Treatment can be graded gently and built up, and in most cases that works better than force.

Use words she can act on. Saying it is a four out of ten and tolerable is more useful than saying it is fine. Saying stop is enough, you do not have to explain yourself first.

Expect some soreness for a day or two after the first session or two, like the ache after unfamiliar exercise. If it is still worse after three days, message her rather than pushing on with the exercises.

Urdu / Roman Urdu

Choose your reading script / اپنی پسند کا رسم الخط منتخب کریں

اردوUrdu script

فزیوتھراپی زیادہ تر دردناک نہیں ہوتی۔ کچھ چیزوں میں تھوڑی تکلیف ہوتی ہے، جیسے اکڑے ہوئے جوڑ کو ہلانا، گہری مینول تھراپی یا ڈرائی نیڈلنگ۔ لیکن برداشت سے باہر درد نہیں ہونا چاہیے۔

آپ کسی بھی وقت کہہ سکتے ہیں کہ بس کریں، اور یہ کہنا غلط نہیں ہے، اسی سے علاج ٹھیک ایڈجسٹ ہوتا ہے۔ سیشن کے بعد ایک دو دن ہلکا درد یا اکڑن ہو سکتی ہے، یہ نارمل ہے۔ لیکن اگر سن ہونا، جھنجھناہٹ، کمزوری یا چکر آئیں تو فوراً بتائیں۔

Roman Urdu

Physiotherapy zyada tar dardnak nahi hoti. Kuch cheezon mein thori takleef hoti hai, jaise akre hue jor ko hilana, gehri manual therapy ya dry needling. Lekin bardasht se bahar dard nahi hona chahiye.

Aap kisi bhi waqt keh sakte hain ke bas karen, aur ye kehna ghalat nahi hai, isi se ilaj theek adjust hota hai. Session ke baad ek do din halka dard ya akarhan ho sakti hai, ye normal hai. Lekin agar sun hona, jhunjhuni, kamzori ya chakkar aayen to foran batayen.

Questions people ask

Does dry needling hurt?
Not usually in the way people expect. The needle is very thin and often is not felt going in. What you may feel is a deep ache or a quick twitch in the muscle, lasting a few seconds. Bruising and a dull ache for a day afterwards are common.
Should I take a painkiller before my session?
Ask your doctor about any medicine, since physiotherapists do not prescribe. In general it is better not to mask the pain completely during an assessment, because pain is the information she is using to find the problem and to judge how far to push.
Is no pain no gain true in physiotherapy?
No. It is one of the most damaging ideas in rehabilitation. Tissue responds to the right amount of load, not the maximum you can tolerate. Working into sharp pain usually causes a flare and sets you back several days.
Does hijama hurt?
It feels like a strong pulling or tightness rather than a sharp pain, and it is usually tolerable. It leaves round marks that fade over several days. Tell her if the pulling becomes too strong, because the suction can be reduced.

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