How Physio Helps Patients with Various Conditions

If you have never seen a physiotherapist before, the sheer breadth of what we do can be surprising. Physiotherapy is not only for sportspeople or those recovering from surgery. It is a regulated health profession that supports people at every stage of life, with conditions that range from a stiff neck at the desk to long-term rehabilitation after a stroke.

What Conditions Can a Physiotherapist Treat? A Chartered Physiotherapist's Guide (Ealing & Hanwell)

The scale of need in the UK is significant. Around a third of the population — over 20 million people, according to Arthritis UK — live with a musculoskeletal condition, and musculoskeletal problems accounted for 26.5 million of the working days lost to sickness in 2024, as recorded by the ONS. Physiotherapy is one of the most evidence-based ways to help you move, work and live with less pain.

This guide, written for patients in Ealing, Hanwell and the wider West London area, is a practical map of what physiotherapy can (and cannot) do. Every clinical claim below is attributed to a UK authority: NICE, the NHS, the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy (CSP), Arthritis UK or the ONS.

What is physiotherapy, and what does a physiotherapist do?

Physiotherapy helps people affected by injury, illness or disability through movement, exercise, manual therapy, education and advice. The NHS describes it as a science-based profession that takes a "whole person" approach to health and wellbeing, and that plays a role in a very wide range of conditions.

The term Chartered Physiotherapist has a specific meaning. It refers to a physiotherapist who is a member of the CSP and, by law, is also registered with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC). HCPC registration is a legal requirement for anyone using the title "physiotherapist" in the UK, and every clinician at CK Physiotherapy holds both. If you are ever unsure, you can search a clinician's name on the HCPC register.

What conditions can a physiotherapist treat?

Physiotherapy is used across the whole of medicine, from a first-time runner with a niggling knee to someone rebuilding their life after a stroke. The table below summarises the main condition categories a Chartered Physiotherapist works with, what physiotherapy typically involves, and the UK guideline or authority that supports its use.

Musculoskeletal: back pain, neck pain, arthritis, joint pain and sports injuries

Musculoskeletal (MSK) problems are the most common reason people see a physiotherapist. For non-specific low back pain and sciatica, NICE guideline NG59 recommends staying active and considering a group exercise programme as core interventions, with manual therapy used only as part of a package that includes exercise. For osteoarthritis of the hip, knee or hand, NICE guideline NG226 is unambiguous that therapeutic exercise should be offered as a core treatment to everyone with the condition.

In clinic, that translates into everyday problems we help people manage: a stubborn episode of back pain, nerve pain shooting down the leg that we cover in more depth in our sciatica guide, arthritis of the knee or hip, hip and buttock pain from gluteal tendinopathy, running-related knee pain such as patellofemoral pain syndrome, and desk-based problems such as repetitive strain injury.

Post-surgical rehabilitation and prehabilitation

Physiotherapy plays a role on both sides of surgery. Prehabilitation — building strength and cardiovascular fitness in the weeks before a planned operation — can help support your recovery, while post-operative physiotherapy is a routine part of aftercare for procedures such as joint replacement, ligament reconstruction and abdominal surgery. Programmes are typically progressed from early mobility work through to loaded strength and return-to-activity training, always in coordination with your surgical team.

Neurological conditions: stroke, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's and Bell's palsy

Physiotherapy is a core part of rehabilitation after a neurological event or diagnosis, working alongside NHS medical care rather than replacing it. For stroke, NICE guideline NG236 recommends offering at least three hours a day of multidisciplinary rehabilitation, on at least five days a week, to people who can take part.

Beyond stroke, private physiotherapy commonly supports people living with multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease and Bell's palsy. Our role is to help you maintain mobility, balance and independence for as long as possible, and to give family members practical strategies at home. For stroke rehabilitation specifically, ongoing work can be delivered in clinic or at home, depending on what suits you.

Respiratory conditions: asthma, COPD and post-viral recovery

Physiotherapists work with people who have breathing difficulties, whether short-term after a chest infection or long-standing in conditions such as asthma or COPD. Techniques include breathing pattern retraining, airway clearance strategies, paced physical activity, and education on managing breathlessness in daily life. Our guide to respiratory physiotherapy covers the main techniques in more detail. COPD is a manageable condition rather than a reversible one, and the goal of physiotherapy is to help you maintain function and confidence.

Cardiovascular: recovery after a heart attack

The NHS specifically lists recovery after a heart attack among the conditions physiotherapy helps with. Cardiac rehabilitation is a structured programme that combines graded exercise, symptom monitoring and lifestyle education, and is typically delivered alongside your cardiology and GP team. If you have completed NHS cardiac rehabilitation and want to continue building fitness safely, our cardiac recovery article explains how private physiotherapy can support the next stage.

Women's and pelvic health: postnatal recovery and pelvic floor

Pelvic-floor problems are common and treatable. NICE quality standard QS77 is clear that women with stress or mixed urinary incontinence should be offered a supervised pelvic-floor muscle training programme of at least three months as their first-line treatment. Physiotherapy also supports postnatal recovery — from abdominal separation and back pain to gradual return to exercise — and broader pelvic health issues that many people find difficult to raise elsewhere.

Age-related mobility, balance and falls

Loss of strength, balance and confidence is not an inevitable part of ageing. Strength and balance training remains one of the most effective interventions to keep older adults active, and physiotherapy is well placed to deliver it, either in clinic or at home. Our physiotherapy for elderly patients guide and our ageing and rehabilitation article explain how programmes are adapted for older bodies, and how home-visit physiotherapy works if leaving the house is difficult.

Chronic and persistent pain

Pain that has lasted more than three months is described as chronic or persistent, and it often needs a different approach from short-term injury. Physiotherapy for chronic pain focuses on gradually building activity tolerance, restoring confidence in movement, and helping you understand the mechanisms of pain itself. It works best as part of a wider plan involving your GP and, where appropriate, pain-management services.

How physiotherapy treats these conditions: our approach

Every plan starts with an assessment. From there, a Chartered Physiotherapist selects from a well-tested set of tools:

• Exercise prescription — the foundation of most modern physiotherapy, with programmes tailored to your goals and progressed as you improve.
• Manual therapy — hands-on techniques such as joint mobilisation and soft-tissue work, used alongside exercise where clinically appropriate.
• Shockwave therapy — a focused treatment for selected chronic tendon problems, often when other approaches have not helped.
• Electrotherapy — used in specific circumstances where the clinical evidence supports it, always as part of a wider plan.
• Acupuncture and dry needling — used selectively by trained clinicians as an adjunct to core treatment.
• Education and self-management — the piece patients often value most; helping you understand your condition and manage it independently.
• Home visits — the same clinical care delivered in your own home, for those who cannot travel easily.

The combination will depend on you, not on a fixed protocol. You can see the full range on our treatments page or read more about how exercise underpins physiotherapy.

What to expect at your first appointment

Your first session is a proper conversation, not a rushed exam. A Chartered Physiotherapist will ask about your symptoms, medical history and goals, watch how you move, and carry out a hands-on assessment where appropriate. You will typically leave with a working diagnosis, a plan you have agreed together, and often a first set of exercises to get started with straight away.

The number of sessions needed varies. Simple problems may resolve in two or three; long-term conditions may benefit from occasional review over months or years. We will always tell you honestly what we think will be useful and what will not.

When should you see a physiotherapist?

A good rule of thumb: if pain, stiffness or loss of function is affecting your work, sleep, sport or daily life — and is not settling within a couple of weeks — it is reasonable to seek assessment. You do not need a GP referral to see a private physiotherapist, although some insurers require one, so it is worth checking your policy.

Physiotherapy in Ealing and Hanwell: how CK Physio can help

CK Physiotherapy has been treating patients from our Hanwell clinic on Elthorne Avenue (W7 2JY) since 2003. Everyone who treats you is a Chartered Physiotherapist, HCPC-registered and a member of the CSP. We look after patients from across Ealing, Acton, Chiswick, Brentford, Southall, Greenford and the wider West London area, and we run a home-visit service for those who cannot easily travel to us.

You can read more about the team and our approach on our about us page, see the full range of conditions we treat, browse our general physiotherapy services, review our sports physiotherapy pathway, or read what other patients have said on our testimonials page.

Frequently asked questions

References and further reading

1. NHS. Physiotherapy: overview and conditions treated. nhs.uk.
2. National Institute for Health and Care Excellence. Low back pain and sciatica in over 16s: assessment and management (NG59). NICE, updated 2026.
3. National Institute for Health and Care Excellence. Osteoarthritis in over 16s: diagnosis and management (NG226). NICE, 2022.
4. National Institute for Health and Care Excellence. Stroke rehabilitation in adults (NG236). NICE, 2023.
5. National Institute for Health and Care Excellence. Urinary incontinence in women: quality standard (QS77). NICE.
6. Chartered Society of Physiotherapy. What is physiotherapy?. csp.org.uk.
7. Arthritis UK. The State of Musculoskeletal Health. arthritis-uk.org.
8. Office for National Statistics. Sickness absence in the UK labour market: 2023 and 2024. ONS, 4 June 2025.
9. Health and Care Professions Council. HCPC register and standards. hcpc-uk.org.