Common Pains FAQ: An Interview With Sarah, Our Rehab Trainer

Q1. What are the top 3 common pains that your clients have when they first came to you?

• Knee pain

• Back pain

• Shoulder pain

Q2. What are the usual causes of pains for those above?

• Poor postural awareness

• Poor flexibility

• Poor muscle strength

• Sedentary lifestyle

• History of injury that was ignored/not treated

Q3. What is the difference between a physio, movement therapist, and rehab trainer? At what stage do you see each of them?

• A physiotherapist provides rehabilitation for injuries sustained from diseases, accidents, sports injuries or simply mechanical issues.

• A rehabilitation trainer provides training/treatment for certain musculoskeletal (muscle or bones) injuries.

• A movement therapist specializes in re-training poor movement patterns which encompass improving on flexibility/strength.

Basically, all 3 of them can help to fix common pains caused by all of the above issues (in Q2), just that the price might differ.

Q4. Generally how many sessions are required with a rehab trainer to solve the pain?

The number of sessions will vary on several factors such as type and severity of injuries sustained, age and the patient’s/client’s commitment to the program/treatment.

For example, a client of mine had chronic neck and shoulder pain + poor posture (rounded back, forward head, kyphosis, poor feet stability) and general full-body tightness/weakness. Recommending a number of sessions for this case will vary as the cause of the neck and shoulder pain is related to poor posture. After each session, I was able to loosen up the tightness and strengthen the weak muscles and the pain is relieved.

If the client doesn’t put in the effort by doing his homework stretching and exercises, the outcome will be delayed and may not improve in the long term. Assuming the client does puts in the effort and does his homework, it will take about 30 sessions to improve his posture.

Q5. How would you know if a rehab trainer is “not legit” or a scam? (e.g. selling a 50 session package or 1-yr chiropractor membership)

The patient/client will usually have a hint during the first consultation if the trainer is not legitimate based on their body language, poor knowledge and poor treatment technique. Before committing to a huge package or long term membership, always try a few sessions to ensure that this trainer can help you and you see minor improvements.

A good rehab trainer will be able to give you a gauge of how many sessions to commit to seeing results & what to expect in term of progression (provided client follow the program closely as well) and not expect you to stay with them “forever”.

Is your rehab trainer really fixing or just temporarily “fixing” you and making you come back again? At SgFitFam, we believe in achieving sustainable fitness with sustainable results. Our team of trainers in Singapore have up to 20 years of experience and are located island-wide and can travel to your home as well. Learn more about our pain management package and reach out to us if you have other questions regarding rehab and pain.

This article is written by our rehab trainer, Sarah Caisip, who specialises in rehabilitation, functional training, weight loss, and strength and conditioning. She has a bachelor’s degree in physical therapy and is a certified personal trainer from the American College of Sports Medicine.

Edited by the SgFitFam Team.