Quick answer
General physiotherapy treats pain, stiffness and weakness through hands-on therapy, graded exercise and movement retraining. Treatment begins with a full assessment of how you move, what hurts and why, followed by a written plan. Most musculoskeletal problems improve within six to twelve sessions alongside daily home exercises.
Physiotherapy is the treatment of pain, stiffness and weakness through movement rather than medication. It works by identifying which structures are irritated, which are weak, and which movement habits keep the problem going — then changing all three.
What happens at the first appointment
The first session is an assessment, not a treatment. Your physiotherapist takes a history, watches how you move, tests strength and joint range, and examines the painful area. By the end of it you should know three things: what is most likely causing your pain, whether physiotherapy is the right treatment for it, and roughly how many sessions it should take.
If we think the problem needs imaging or a doctor's opinion first, we say so at that appointment rather than starting treatment.
What treatment involves
A course of physiotherapy usually combines:
- Hands-on treatment — joint mobilisation, soft tissue work and stretching to reduce pain and restore movement
- Graded exercise — a small number of specific exercises, progressed as you improve
- Electrotherapy where it helps — ultrasound, TENS or IFT for pain relief in the early stages, used alongside exercise rather than instead of it
- Advice you can apply — how to sit, lift, sleep and train without re-irritating the problem
The home programme matters more than the clinic sessions. Two or three exercises done daily will outperform an hour a week in a clinic, which is why we keep the programme short enough to actually follow.
How long it takes
Most straightforward musculoskeletal problems — a stiff neck, a strained back, tennis elbow — settle within six to twelve sessions over four to eight weeks. Post-surgical and neurological rehabilitation runs longer, often three to six months, because the tissue and nervous system heal on their own timetable.
We give you an expected timeline at the assessment and review it as you progress. If you are not improving as expected, we reassess rather than repeating the same treatment.
Medically reviewed by Kapil Kumar, BPT, MPT, Orthopaedic Physiotherapy · Last reviewed September 2026