In the simplest terms, physiotherapy is a means of treating conditions and injuries through physical manipulation and exercise. But that barely scratches the surface of the profession, which is about much more than that — patients can change their lives through sessions with the physiotherapist.
“I enjoy manual therapy, hands-on treatment, and follow that up with education,” said Josh Kaufmann, who recently opened Restoration Physiotherapy at 120A 11th Ave. N. “The more you educate a patient, the more you empower them. It’s not something where they get treated and get better.”
He appreciates the social aspect, too. Over the course of several appointments — depending on what the course of treatment requires — practitioner and patient get to know each other quite well.
“If you can’t talk to people, you’re going to have a hard time of it,” said Kaufmann. “At the same time, you’re helping them with something big.”
That means getting patients active again, whether they’re recovering from recent injuries, chronic ailments or surgeries, the latter one of his particular favourites.
“You see people coming full circle.”
Kaufmann also enjoys helping those suffering from chronic back pain.
“They’re in dire straights,” he said. “They can hardly sit, they can hardly move. After a few sessions, they’re ready to go for a walk or go back to water aerobics.”
Entering a health-related profession was a logical step for Kaufmann, whose father is a dentist and mom is a nurse.
“I kind of felt that was my calling.”
He attended university, but didn’t find a focus until he dropped into the physio building, spending a few hours learning what it was all about.
“Before that, I didn’t have any direction,” he said. “I didn’t know what physiotherapy was.”
While studying at the University of Tennessee, Kaufmann met his wife, Jessica, a Canadian. The couple ended up completing grad school at California’s Loma Linda University, he with doctorate in physiotherapy and she as a dentist.
A native of Jacksonville, Fla. — with a population of over 800,000 — Kaufmann got a taste of a much different lifestyle when he and his wife spent time in her native Wyoming, Ont., a village of about 2,100 (prior to amalgamation with the larger Plympton in 2001). They then moved to another small town, Bonners Ferry, Idaho, where he practiced for over four years before they headed north to Creston with their children, aged five and two.
“I got this taste of small-town living,” he said. “Moving to Bonners Ferry was an easy transition — I like the small-town feel.”
Creston’s health community emphasized that, with local physiotherapists popping in to say hi during Kaufmann’s first week of business.
“I was blown away,” he said. “People in general come in and say, ‘Welcome to town.’ ”
The small-town feeling extends to Kaufmann’s treatment style — while physiotherapists in larger centres may work briefly with patients before sending them to an aide or technician to teach them exercises, he does it all himself. That adds to the personal connection, which encourages patients to be proactive with their own recovery.
“People don’t get better from passive treatment,” such as electric stimulation, said Kaufman, who has a certification in applied functional science. “The mindset is getting the patient to play an active role. … When they feel the benefit in the clinic, they’re more inclined to carry on at home.”
For patients who are in pain, getting to a physiotherapist — which doesn’t require a doctor’s referral — sooner rather than later is key to recovery.
“Most people fall into the rapid response category if they get on the ball soon enough.”
And what they learn in the clinic can help them get back on track, and also give them a new outlook for the future.
“People see exercise as a really daunting thing because they don’t know where to start,” said Kaufmann. “It ultimately strengthens the community because people participate in more things when they get feeling good.”
