Most people book their first physio appointment at least a month after they should have. Usually because they’ve been hoping the pain will sort itself out, partly because they’re not sure what actually happens in the room — and a fair chunk of the nervousness is about the second one.
This article is the short version of the conversation we have with every new client at reception before their first session at Sum Of Us. If you’ve already booked, read it before you arrive. If you haven’t, it’ll answer most of the “is it worth it” questions.
You don’t need a referral. In Australia, physio is a primary-care profession — you can book directly with us without seeing a GP first. (The exception is if your treatment is being paid for under Medicare, WorkCover, TAC or DVA, in which case you’ll need the relevant paperwork from your GP or insurer. Reception will flag this when you book if it applies to you.)
Bring:
Wear activewear, or clothes you can move in and roll up easily. We’ll need to see the area we’re working on — if it’s your knee, wear shorts; if it’s your shoulder, a singlet or loose top helps. If you forget, we have shorts and singlets in reception you can change into.
Arrive five minutes early. That gives us time to sort out the intake form and introduces no stress to the actual appointment time.
A standard first appointment is 45 minutes. Here’s exactly how it’s structured.
Minutes 1–10: The conversation. Your physio sits down with you in the treatment room and asks a lot of questions. What hurts, where, when, how long, what triggered it, what makes it better, what makes it worse, what you’ve already tried, what your job looks like, what your sport or hobbies look like, whether you’ve had this before, what your sleep and stress have been doing. This is the single most important part of the session — about 70% of what a good physio diagnoses, they diagnose from this conversation before they’ve touched you.
Minutes 10–20: The physical assessment. Your physio watches you move. How you walk, bend, reach, rotate, squat — whatever’s relevant to the problem. They’ll palpate (feel with their hands) the area that’s painful and the areas around it that might be contributing. They might do specific tests — for a neck, that could be resisted movements; for a knee, it could be ligament stress tests; for a lower back, it’ll often be nerve tension testing. None of this should increase your pain beyond mild discomfort — if anything hurts more than you expected, tell us immediately.
Minutes 20–35: Treatment. Based on the conversation and the assessment, your physio delivers some form of hands-on treatment. That might be soft tissue release, joint mobilisation, dry needling (if you’re comfortable with it), targeted stretching, or muscle activation work. You’ll usually feel a noticeable shift in the pain or range of motion during this window. If dry needling is recommended and you’ve never had it, your physio will explain what it is and give you the option to say no — it’s never mandatory.
Minutes 35–45: The plan. This is the part most first-time clients tell us they weren’t expecting. Before you leave, your physio writes up — and explains — a clear plan. It includes:
You walk out with a printed or emailed exercise sheet and, usually, a follow-up booked for the next week. We don’t lock clients into packages or memberships — if one session is enough, one session is enough.
Most of the time, one session gives us a diagnosis and a clear plan. Sometimes it gives us a question that needs imaging (MRI, ultrasound) or a specialist opinion (orthopaedic, neurological, women’s health) before we can go further. In those cases, your physio will refer you on directly and we’ll coordinate with whoever needs to be involved. You don’t need to go back to a GP first.
We’d rather send you to the right person on day one than waste four appointments finding out we’re not it.
After thousands of first appointments in the Prahran clinic, a few things come up over and over:
For reference, these are the issues we most commonly see at a first appointment at our Prahran clinic:
If your issue isn’t on that list, it doesn’t mean we don’t treat it — it just means it’s less common. Call reception on (03) 9510 6311 if you want to check before booking.
If you’ve read this far, you’re past the first hurdle. Book your first physio appointment online, or call us on (03) 9510 6311 and reception will find you a time that works.
We’re at 602 High Street, Prahran, five minutes’ walk from Prahran Station and with parking at the door. Bring the scans. Wear the activewear. We’ll handle the rest.
