Can Physio Help With Weight Loss?

Posted on: 14 May 2018

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There are millions of people out there who want to lose weight. Of course, there is no quick fix, but there are some things you might not have thought of that could help you on your own weight loss journey. You might think of physiotherapy as something that only athletes do when they are trying to recover from an injury and to keep their body in perfect shape, but physiotherapy can also be used as an aid to weight loss. This doesn't mean that you can eat endless piles of chocolate cake, do no exercise and expect to lose weight with physio, but it can be a great complement to your weight loss program. Here's how:

Repair the damage from weight gain. When you put on weight, it's not only things like your cholesterol and blood pressure that you need to be concerned about. That extra weight you carry around also impacts your mobility, and if you aren't fully mobile, how can you be expected to lose weight to the best of your ability? Everybody puts weight on in different places, and your physiotherapist will be able to tell whether you are putting extra strain on your back, hips or any other part of the body. They can then create mobility exercises to help you with those particular parts of the body so you can launch into vigorous exercise without a problem.

Help you keep on track. When you open the magazines and see celebrities who have lost ridiculous amounts of weight in a month, it can be disheartening because that's not the reality of most people's weight loss journeys. Also, those people are not professionals in the health industry, and any health professional will tell you that when it comes to weight loss, slow and steady wins the race. The great thing about having regular physio appointments while you lose weight is that they will keep you accountable along your journey without placing any unrealistic expectations on you.

Massage will help your energy. Not all physio involves tricky exercises, and sometimes it can just be an enjoyable massage. Not only is this a great motivator to help you keep on track with your weight loss goals, but massage also helps the circulation, which in turn helps to drain the by-products of your metabolism out of your system. This will make your body feel more energised and ready to take on your weight loss challenge.