Show Notes

[00:00:00] Sherman Hu: Welcome to today’s 10-minute podcast powered by ALTUS Chiropractic and Physiotherapy. We have Nikkie Brar, a physiotherapist and clinician at the clinic. Nikkie, good afternoon! Welcome to the podcast.

[00:00:13] Nikkie Brar: Thank you! Very happy to be here.

How varied are the branches of physiotherapy?

[00:00:15] Sherman Hu: I know there are many branches of physiotherapy. How varied is it?

[00:00:20] Nikkie Brar: So it’s quite varied. The three main branches that we study in school are musculoskeletal, which is basically what in like a private practice clinic. So that’ll be a lot of injuries to your muscles, ligaments, strains, sprains, those kinds of things.

[00:00:34] Then you have neurological so that you see a lot of stroke patients, spinal cord injury patients, concussions, et cetera.

[00:00:44] And then you have cardiorespiratory, which most people don’t know that much about, but you actually do help work with people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and different things like that.

[00:00:56] It’s not as well known, but physios do work in that field as well. [00:01:00]

[00:01:00] Sherman Hu: And because of that, a physiotherapist will have a lifetime of learning different disciplines and training and specialties, right?

[00:01:10] Nikkie Brar: That’s definitely one thing I love about the profession, is you can be in one area and then you can switch over and do something completely different.

[00:01:16] And there’s always so many courses that you can take to keep bettering yourself, but you’ll never get bored. That’s for sure.

What are you adding to your body of skills in the next couple of years?

[00:01:23] Sherman Hu: That’s awesome. Now, what are you adding to your body of skills in the next couple of years or near future?

[00:01:30] Nikkie Brar: So I’m hoping to do a few courses. I really want to do acupuncture and dry needling. And I’ve been debating, looking into doing a bit more neuro, so possibly concussion because I do see quite a few patients that have had concussions for motor vehicle.

[00:01:46] And then I pelvic floor physio is another interest. So that’s another specialty. You have to do more school for, so there’s a lot of things that you can keep learning and specialize in that require additional schooling.

[00:01:57] Sherman Hu: Correct. I hear pelvic floor is on the [00:02:00] uprise, a lot of requests for pelvic floor specialist.

[00:02:05] Nikkie Brar: Yeah, definitely. Yeah. And there’s only a few therapists that do it, so it’s definitely a good one.

What kind of cases do you work with often in your practice?

[00:02:12] Sherman Hu: What kind of cases do you work with often in your practice?

[00:02:15] Nikkie Brar: In the clinic, I do see a lot of motor vehicle accidents, so that’s usually a lot of whiplash, usually to the neck and the back as well. And I do see sports injuries. So a lot of like ankle sprains, Achilles tendinopathies, rotator cuff injuries, and then sometimes in my older population, I’ll work with a lot of arthritis patients.

[00:02:35] Sherman Hu: Okay.

[00:02:35] Nikkie Brar: I’ve also seen a lot of people with with back pain, from a disc herniation. So I’ve done a lot of work with patients who have like neuropathies or nerve pain as well. So it can be like a handful, for sure.

What is your favorite approach to treatment?

[00:02:48] Sherman Hu: Nikkie, I can imagine with many different physiotherapists, having different specialties and trainings, there must be a the different approach… everybody has maybe a different approach to treatment. [00:03:00] What is your favorite?

[00:03:01] Nikkie Brar: I really like working with my hands. I’m more of a *hands-on physiotherapist *versus using modalities. So I like doing a lot of soft tissue work, mobilizations, and exercise prescription. So I give all my patients lots of exercises to do.

Can you tell when a patient has not applied the exercises that you have given?

[00:03:16] Sherman Hu: Can you tell when a patient comes in and has not applied the exercises that you have prescribed? Is it more common than I think it is?

[00:03:29] Nikkie Brar: It’s not too bad in the private section in the clinic, because people usually here, they really want to get better. They’re taking the time, the effort to come in. Sometimes I’ve been orienting to outpatient at the hospital right now because I also work in the hospital and sometimes they just say, “Oh, nope, haven’t done any of the exercises you’ve given me.”

[00:03:50] Sherman Hu: Have you seen cases where somebody has not applied the exercises, but they actually improved and got better?

[00:03:55] Nikkie Brar: Off the top of my head I honestly can’t think of anyone.[00:04:00]

[00:04:00] Sherman Hu: So no outs folks, no outs. You got to do your exercises.

[00:04:04] Nikkie Brar: Yeah. You gotta do your exercises and we’ll know. We can tell.

Case study: A client’s treatment journey.

[00:04:09] Sherman Hu: As we wrap up this episode, Nikkie, give me a case that you remember where it was a before, during, after experience or journey with a client where you were really impressed with their progress and improvement, in any branch or treatment type that you can think of.

[00:04:30] Nikkie Brar: I had a patient who came in for this hip pain, so I gave her some exercises to do. And then she called in and she didn’t come in again. And I was like, “Oh, no did I do something?” But she called in and she was like, “I’m all better. I don’t need to come in anymore.”

[00:04:45] It was really nice, surprising twist that she was actually just completely fine. And she was very happy and she didn’t need to come in anymore. And she did her exercise. And then she got better after the first session. And that was very impressive.

[00:04:58] Sherman Hu: That’s impressive. That’s impressive. And she [00:05:00] came in once?

[00:05:01] Nikkie Brar: She only came in one time for the initial. I had her booked again, she called and canceled. So I was just concerned. I was hoping that everything was okay, but she just was completely fine and she didn’t need to come in again. I knew she did her exercises.

[00:05:13] Sherman Hu: That’s amazing. Nikkie’s prescriptions work.

Do your prescribed exercises. Your physiotherapist knows.

[00:05:15] Sherman Hu: Okay. Nikkie, thank you so much. Any final words for our viewers as we wrap up this episode.

[00:05:20] Nikkie Brar: Yeah. Do your exercises please. Cause we’ll know if you haven’t done them. And yet we’re definitely free to answer any questions you have for sure. And if people do have difficulty doing your exercises, we can always change them about make them a bit less or find something that they do enjoy doing.

[00:05:35] Sherman Hu: That’s wonderful. Thank you Nikkie, for your time. Thanks for sharing about your physiotherapy insights for our viewers and listeners. Thanks for joining us! Stay tuned next week, as we have another episode from ALTUS Chiropractic and Physiotherapy.

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