What is physiotherapy?

"Physiotherapy is a health care profession concerned with human function and movement and maximising potential:

• it uses physical approaches to promote, maintain and restore physical, psychological and social well-being, taking account of variations in health status
• it is science-based, committed to extending, applying, evaluating and reviewing the evidence that underpins and informs its practice and delivery
• the exercise of clinical judgement and informed interpretation is at its core."

The above definition is taken from the CSP curriculum framework (January 2002).

Physiotherapists work in a wide variety of health settings such as intensive care, mental illness, stroke recovery, occupational health, and care of the elderly. See our careers section for some more examples with indicative areas of work.

To build a better picture of the range of conditions that physiotherapists can treat, see our A-Z of physiotherapy:

• Conditions A - E
• Conditions F - J
• Conditions K - O
• Conditions P - T
• Conditions U - Z