Column: What Physiotherapists Actually Do

[Column written by Dr Kimberley Watkins and Natasia Symonds]

Ask most people what a physiotherapist does, and you’ll probably hear some version of “helps with sports injuries”, “massages”, “causes pain”, “gets you up walking”, or “stretches you out after surgery.” That’s true, but it’s a small slice of a much bigger picture.

Next week marks World Physiotherapy Day [Tuesday, September 8th], and over the weeks that follow we’ll be publishing a series of articles exploring how physiotherapy connects to two of the biggest health challenges facing Bermuda: cardiovascular disease and stroke. World Physiotherapy has chosen these two important topics for their theme this year. Before we dive in, it felt worth taking a step back and answering a simpler question first: what does a physiotherapist actually do?

More than injury recovery

Physiotherapists are movement and exercise experts, trained to assess how the body works and help it work the best it can for that person. That might mean:

• Musculoskeletal physiotherapy – recovering from injury, surgery, or chronic pain, and building strength and mobility back up

• Neurological physiotherapy – helping people regain movement, balance, and independence after conditions like stroke, a brain injury, Parkinson’s disease, or spinal cord injury

• Cardiorespiratory physiotherapy – supporting people with heart and lung conditions to breathe easier, manage their conditions, and exercise safely

• Pediatric physiotherapy – helping children with developmental or movement conditions reach their milestones

• Women’s Health physiotherapy – addressing pelvic health, pregnancy-related changes, and postpartum recovery

• Sports physiotherapy – injury prevention and performance for athletes at every level

Prevention, not just recovery

Here’s the part that often gets missed: physiotherapists don’t just treat problems after they happen. We’re part of the healthcare team working to prevent them in the first place.

That means identifying people at higher risk of conditions like heart disease or stroke through inactivity, high blood pressure, or other factors, and building personalised plans to lower that risk before it becomes a crisis. It means teaching people how to move safely and confidently, so small issues don’t become bigger ones. And it means working alongside doctors, nurses, occupational therapists, speech and language therapists, dieticians, social workers, and other healthcare professionals as part of a coordinated team, not in isolation.

Why this matters for Bermuda

Bermuda faces an increase in the incidences and impact when it comes to heart health, and we’ll get into those in detail next week. But the short version is this: many of the conditions driving those numbers are preventable, manageable, or both. And physiotherapists have a real role to play at every stage, from the first risk factors to long-term recovery.

What’s coming next

Starting September 8th, World Physiotherapy Day, we’ll be publishing a weekly series running through to World Stroke Day on October 29th. We’ll cover:

• Cardiovascular disease and the role physiotherapy plays in prevention and recovery
• Understanding stroke: what it is and what rehabilitation is
• The overlooked link between heart health and brain health
• Staying active at every age
• Life after stroke: what recovery actually looks like
• World Stroke Day and upcoming events

If you’ve ever wondered what physiotherapists actually do all day, we hope this series makes it a lot clearer. If you’re looking for a registered physiotherapist in Bermuda and have any questions, the Bermuda Physiotherapy Association can help point you in the right direction.

- Dr Kimberley Watkins and Natasia Symonds

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