Kinésithérapie

[Hereford]

I have an ordonnance for 8 sessions of kinésithérapie. Has anyone had this treatment please?  I have made an appointment for next week for the first session  and I have to say that when I went through the door the place was buzzing with people so it is clearly popular. My doctor thinks I have tendonitis, I am not convinced as my shoulder is very damaged from a dislocation and later repair many years ago in  the UK.

Thanks

Mrs H

[Jay]

Not had it myself but this site gives you a good idea...

http://www.ordremk.fr/

My wife went through similar treatment after a tendon repair. Didn't recognise the name though.

[andyh4]

OH is just completing a session ( 16 sessions in all).  Kinésithérapie = Physio-therapy.  Seems to have done the trick with her.

[Benjamin]

As andyh4 says it's straightforward Physio. The methods used may vary to the UK but the end result is the same.

[NormanH]

I have had many sessions, some very good but often dreadful.

In the best cases you get a certain amount of individual attention for your problem with things such as massage, heat/cold treatment, help with balance(if needed)  exercises suited to building up the weak muscle areas on various apparatus tailor made as required.

In the worst there are 5-10 people all at the same time   and it is (for example) "get on the exercise bike for 20 minutes" and the kiné disappears for 30+ mins leaving you wondering what to do next.

I have experienced both extremes and as might be expected the key is the personality of the therapist.

There was an absolutely splendid young woman working in the convalescent home I was in who was able to make everybody in the room feel as if she was concentrating on them individually, and knew everybody's needs and limits.

More recently I have been to a local practice where there are two young men in their thirties who are clearly already world-weary, and they couldn't even bothered to make sure that the pedals on the bike were adjusted correctly.

In all cases try to take advantage of the spirit of camaradie that can exist. After a few sessions you see the same people from time to time, and I made a point of being encouraging and noticing the progress others were making.

This wasn't being false; it helped create a cheery atmosphere, and we all had a good chat and moan [:)]

 

[suein56]

[quote user="Hereford"]I have an ordonnance for 8 sessions of kinésithérapie. Has anyone had this treatment please? [/quote]

Yes for arthritis. As Norman says a lot can depend on the kiné you have ... both the procedures and the person organising the treatments. If possible the kinésithérapeute - the actual person - should be chosen with care as it can make a huge difference. Mine was brilliant at massage and sometimes varied the treatments depending on what she discovered when she examined me on my arrival for each session. I had 2 sessions a week over 10 weeks.

Sue

[Gardian]

Mrs G has osteo-arthritis in her neck & shoulders and has been having a weekly session at the kine for the last year or so.

The treatment has improved things to the point that she has no need of painkillers.  The young man is excellent and never has more than two patients in at any one time (overlapping). 

The treatment is dealt with by an ordonnance from our GP with any balance taken up by our complementaire.

All I'd say is that if you don't feel in any way happy with the kine you've been sent to, then ask around for someone else who might better suit your needs. Its very commonplace therapy here in France, unlike the UK.  Hope it works for you.

[Patf]

One of the best parts of the french health system. I had many sessions after a hip replacement.

While I was there I saw a lady who had had a stroke being helped to walk again, something we were unable to obtain for my poor Mum in the UK, even offering to pay.

[AnOther]

I had a session a couple of years back following a sudden and severe attack of vertigo which came on literally in seconds.

Apparently they can tell from certain tests and the eye responses whether it's just vertigo or something more serious, fortunately in my case it wasn't !

[Hereford]

Thanks for all these replies.  My prescription says "massage et électrothérapie" so does not sound like physio in the English sense.  I just have an initial appointment so will see what happens (next week). I am reassured by the comment about being examined each time as my shoulder has been dodgy for years and does not take kindly to rough treatment - even by me!

Mrs H

[andyh4]

From that more detailed description it sounds as if you will be getting a TENS machine for the electrotherapy.

 

http://www.patient.co.uk/health/TENS-Machines

 

This is a very gentle way of bringing muscle back into use

[NormanH]

The électrothérapie is one of the more soothing treatments, and helped me. They gave me a controller so I could up or down the intensity in case I felt uncomfortable and I believe I felt an improvement after each session.

This is one area where being left to get on with it or while chatting to a neighbour works.

Remember this is not osteopathy. They may massage firmly, but  a kiné doesn't manipulate.

I have in fact been to an osteopath for a painful shoulder, who did rather vigorous movements with my arm, then decided that the problem was in a rib that was not moving freely and did one of those 'click' movements to my upper torso to free it. Whereas a kiné gives a course of several sessions the osteopath only took one, and gave me some exercises to do at home. It was also one-to-one for an hour, including a detailed medical history.

 This is not re-imbursed by the Social security (although it may be  in part by an expensive Mutualle) and cost me 65€ very well spent.

[Hereford]

Many thanks again. I feel much more in control now that I know what is likely to happen. I really hope it works, a dull ache all the time and nasty pain when it is moved in a particlar way as a nuisance, and I don't really want more cortizone injections as I am up to 3 now which is quite enough.

Mrs H

[debiphysio]

Hello,

I have just happened across the above discussion and thought I might add to it.

I am a Chartered Physiotherapist who trained in Cambridge 27 years ago and am qualified to work in the UK, USA and France.

There are differences between the training and methods used in all three countries although in all countries physiotherapists make use of physical means to promote healing and for rehabilitation.

French kines ( apologies for lack of accents) tend to use a lot of massage and prescription of exercise and can either work 'conventionne' or 'non-conventionne'. The former is within the 'health service' where part of the government-set fee can be reclaimed by the patient and the latter is outside the french equivalent of the NHS where the physiotherapist can charge a fee set by themselves - just like private physiotherapists, osteopaths and chiropractors in the UK.

French kines are not generally taught to manipulate although this is may change as there is a move towards this. In England I do manipulate and perform acupuncture (another modality not undertaken by French kines).

According to the government dept who gave me my Adeli number, I am the first English physio in Charente- Maritime! It took huge perserverence with the various dossiers and you definitely need to be able to speak and write in French to succeed.

The electrotherapy used by french kines may be TENS but it may be something else as they do use a fair amount of electrotherapy- which is interesting as many other countries ( including the UK) have moved further away from it towards more manual treatments. In my practice in England we have Ultrasound, Interferential and Tens but there is definitely more of an emphasis on manual treatments ( not massage so much, but more like a gentle form of manipulation staying within the joint's physiological range of movement).

I hope the lady who started this discussion with her question about the treatment she can expect has a good experience and that it proves to be a success and I would definitely reiterate what was said about changing the physio if you are not happy. ( I personally would never treat more than one patient at a time but I can understand why the french kines do it as the 'conventionnes' are paid quite a low fixed rate and this is the only way they can increase their income.)

Bon Courage!

Debi

[Hereford]

Thank you Debi

I will post again  after next Thursday but admit I don't hold out much hope really of a very positive result. I dislocated my shoulder in about 1960, had a major repair in 1976 (dislocating almost weekly, found all muscles detached and one was "wrapped around" top of bone to hold it in, but not pinned - at least that is how I understood it at the time) but interestingly no physio after the op as surgeon preferred it to heal without interference. Having been strapped to my body for 6 weeks it took a while to be usable and I was not allowed to drive for 6 months.

I have never had full movement of the arm since and at present it is very painful if moved. I have calcification in the joint.

I am used to this now but would like a bit of relief from the constant dull ache.

Fingers crossed.

Mrs H

[NormanH]

Good luck, and don't be afraid. I have always found that they err on the side of caution.[:)]

[Hereford]

Well: had the first appointment today and I am impressed - don't know whether it will help but the attitude was everything I could have wished for.  I had not realised that the session would be 45 minutes! A chat about the problem, twenty minutes of electrothérapie - I shall take a book to read next time. I can see why the Kinés treat more than one patient at a time. I was left alone for the twenty minutes (with two quick checks that I was OK) and I cannot see what else the person would have done during that time. Then a quick zap with a machine to help break up he calcification and 10 minutes on a simple piece of gym type equipment.

I got the feeling that he thought I should have had this type of treatment years ago...

I now have two appointments a week. The kiné said as I left "we have lots of work to do!".  I spoke French, he spoke English so we both gained.

Thanks again to all

Mrs H

[NormanH]

Delighted to hear it went well, and that you are feeling positive about the treatment, as that is half the battle.

[suein56]

[quote user="Hereford"]I now have two appointments a week. The kiné said as I left "we have lots of work to do!" [/quote]

Sounds like a promising start. You both appear to have the right attitude viz try a few different things and hope for an improvement.

[quote user="Hereford"]I spoke French, he spoke English so we both gained. [/quote]

That sounds just like my appointments !

Sue [:)]