All physios are equally fantastic

[ForbiddenPlanet]

Or so it appears from reading the Google reviews of the sports clinics in my area. They all appear to cost around the same - and they all, without exception, seem to have glowing reviews.

I guess I should just go with the one that's in the most convenient location for me?

Talking myself around to a private physio as I'm feeling there might be a bit of a wait for access to an NHS one, and the private running clinics must deal with running injuries all of the time, so should be steeped in the necessary expertise.

[Grannyhugs Graduate10]

Any reputable physio will check you out and let you know whether you need long term physio or not so you can judge whether to continue paying or wait for nhs. I've used both nhs and private, the difference I've found is that you can see private quicker and they tend to work with you to get back to the activity quickly whereas nhs have given me exercise to do for a month before revisiting so rehab can take months. Good luck, trust your instincts and don't feel bad at asking lots of questions and get exercises written down.

[ForbiddenPlanet Graduate10 in reply to Grannyhugs]

Thanks very much, gtb, for sharing with me your insight gained through your own experience. Really excellent and invaluable to me!

[Grannyhugs Graduate10 in reply to ForbiddenPlanet]

Hope you get what you need.

[Tasha99 Graduate10]

Don’t think any of the 3 I have seen have helped me. I solved my own problem in the end by getting low drop shoes. I do feel one of them might’ve mentioned this to me as a possible solution 🙄

[ForbiddenPlanet Graduate10 in reply to Tasha99]

Thanks Tasha. Food for thought!

[Oldfloss Administrator 60minGraduate]

Make sure they are registered chartered Physios.... I love my physio....in a nice way of course...

[ForbiddenPlanet Graduate10 in reply to Oldfloss]

Thanks for the tip - much appreciated!

[EEPaul Graduate10]

I have used a private physiotherapy clinic twice (first, to aid recovery after a broken wrist; second, to recover from an ankle injury). In both cases, I would have waited a fortnight for the initial assessment, but by going private I was on the road to recovery quicker, and was seen regularly at times that fitted in with my work (my local NHS physio clinics were held on set days/times during the working day).

As Grannytobe says, the NHS route would (sadly) have taken months. Going private, I was also seen by the same physio each time (helpful in gauging progress and adjusting the programmes of exercises, etc), initially weekly, and then fortnightly. After my ankle injury, I was able to resume running (with care) after about four weeks, and gradually built up the distances between physio sessions. The ankle manipulations and massages were not always comfortable, but they worked wonders in reducing swelling and regaining movement, the exercise recommendations helped with some core strength and alignment issues, and I got expert answers to any questions I had about my shoes, running style, gait, etc. I was back to pre-injury levels of running (c 5k) after a further three weeks, and am now close to running 10k.

[ForbiddenPlanet Graduate10 in reply to EEPaul]

Thanks Paul - first of all glad to hear you're back on track to 10K. And thank you for such a detailed and thorough retelling of your experiences which will be very helpful to me. Seems to me that with their assistance and your own efforts, you achieved a fantastic speed of recovery.

[ju-ju- Graduate10]

If you want running specific advice and help- see a sports physio or osteopath as in my experience, the ones that don’t just don’t understand runners at all.