The difference between physiotherapy and biokinetics

Physiotherapist and physical therapist are synergistic terms, meaning they are one and the same profession. In America, physiotherapists are often called physical therapists, while in the rest of the world, physiotherapist is more common. In 2020 the UK-registered NGO ‘World Confederation of Physical Therapy’ (WCPT) rebranded under the operating name of ‘The World Physiotherapy Organisation’ and now advocates the term physiotherapy. Since the Namibian Society of Physiotherapy (NSP) is a member of the World Physiotherapy Organisation, the terms physiotherapy or physiotherapist are used in Namibia. Nevertheless, it should be noted that a biokineticist is not a physical therapist. Biokinetics is a profession in its own right.

Both biokinetics and physiotherapy are university-trained professions registered as part of the Health Professions Council of Namibia (Allied Health). Like occupational therapy, biokinetics and physiotherapy thus fall under medical jobs rather than wellness.

What is the difference between physiotherapy and biokinetics? In some respects, it may seem like there is a fine line between the two. According to the Biokinetics Association of Namibia’s website, “biokineticists utilise exercise for musculoskeletal disorders and chronic disease prevention and management and have a broad knowledge in all aspects health-related. Biokineticists can also address lifestyle and behaviour modification.”

Physiotherapists also treat musculoskeletal conditions and utilise therapeutic exercise as a treatment modality. Physiotherapists and biokineticists can thus work together to prevent and rehabilitate musculoskeletal disorders.

Wide-ranging tools

However, as the physiotherapist Munashe Chinyama (Careers Publication 2022) indicated in an interview, physiotherapy does not stop there. You also find physiotherapists in hospitals treating an extensive range of orthopaedic, neurological, cardiorespiratory, surgical, and paediatric conditions. Physiotherapists work in Intensive Care Units (ICU) and neonatal ICU. To put this into perspective, physiotherapists will help a person walk for the first time after they had a knee replacement. I will help someone who suffered from a stroke regain as much independence as possible. Physiotherapists will help children with delayed milestones reach realistic developmental goals; it will teach a person who has a spinal cord injury how to get from the floor into the wheelchair, and physiotherapists can apply respiratory management (for example clearing secretions) in intubated patients.

Due to the cardiorespiratory training physiotherapists receive, they played an integral part during the Covid-19 pandemic and they continue to help those suffering from long-Covid to manage their daily lives. Physiotherapists can also assist with pregnancy-related conditions – even conditions such as painful breasts when breastfeeding and scar management after a caesarean section. Physiotherapists help with lymphatic draining (decreasing swelling), for example, after breast removal due to cancer. Furthermore, some physiotherapists assist in pelvic health, for example urinary incontinence after prostate removal or various types of prolapses in men and women. These are some of the lesser-known examples of the wide range of conditions that physiotherapists can treat.

Diverse optionsAnd although physical activity and exercise often form a large part of a physiotherapist’s toolkit, we use a wide variety of modalities and techniques to treat patients. To name a few, we use strapping, heat, ice, joint mobilisations, myofascial release, ultrasound, electrical stimulation, percussions/vibrations (respiratory techniques), splints, dry needling, and we educate. You can grow your physiotherapy career by doing a master’s and a doctorate in physiotherapy. You can do academic work (lecturing) and become a researcher. As such, physiotherapy makes for an exciting career. You can train to become a physiotherapist at the University of Namibia (UNAM) — in May 2022 the first locally trained physiotherapists celebrated their graduation.

This column on physiotherapy is placed as a correction on a profile published in the Careers Guide that appeared on page 44.