Physiotherapist treating a patient during a home visit

Physio home visits

Physiotherapy at Home

A qualified physiotherapist comes to you, assesses properly, treats, and teaches the programme you carry on between visits. For knee and hip replacement, fractures, stroke recovery, back pain and balance problems in the elderly.

  • Assessment before any treatment
  • Rehab in the home you actually use
  • A written home programme
  • Family trained in safe transfers

Book physiotherapy at home

The first session is an assessment. You will be told honestly if a clinic suits your case better.

Quick answer

What is physiotherapy at home?

Physiotherapy at home is a session where a qualified physiotherapist comes to the patient's residence, assesses movement, pain and function, and treats with exercise therapy, manual therapy and joint mobilisation. They also teach a programme the patient or family carries on between visits, which is where most of the actual recovery happens.

Most booked for

Knee and hip replacement, fractures, stroke recovery, back pain, elderly balance

First session

Mostly assessment, with treatment started and goals agreed

Also called

Physio at home, physiotherapist home visit, home care physiotherapy

Home or clinic: what changes and what does not

Most people assume a home visit is the compromise option, taken because the patient cannot travel. For the conditions families usually book physiotherapy for, that has it backwards.

Rehabilitation is about function in the place the patient actually lives. Their stair rise, their bed height, their bathroom doorway, their floor. A patient who can walk confidently between parallel bars in a clinic and then cannot get over their own doorstep has not finished rehabilitating, they have just got good at the clinic. Working in the real environment removes that gap entirely.

Home is often better for

Where the goal is managing daily life

  • Stroke and neurological rehabilitation
  • The first weeks after knee or hip replacement
  • Balance and fall prevention in elderly patients
  • Bedridden patients, where travel is not possible at all
  • Chest physiotherapy, which is done at the bedside anyway
  • Anyone whose family needs training in safe transfers

A clinic is better for

We will tell you if this is your case

  • Spinal or cervical traction
  • Short-wave diathermy and similar fixed machines
  • Hydrotherapy, which needs a pool
  • Later-stage sports rehab needing gym equipment
  • Treadmill or harness-supported gait training
  • Cases needing a machine every single session

Plenty of patients do both: home visits through the early weeks when travelling is painful, then a clinic later once they can get there and need the equipment. If that is the sensible route for you, we will say so at the assessment rather than book you a course of visits you do not need.

What we treat at home

Treatment always follows what your surgeon or doctor has prescribed. Where there is no referral, the assessment establishes whether physiotherapy is the right answer at all.

After knee or hip replacement

The commonest booking. Knee bending and straightening range, quadriceps strengthening, walking retraining with a walker or stick, swelling management, and getting on and off a bed, chair and toilet safely.

Post-operative physiotherapy · TKR and THR rehab

After a fracture or surgery

Regaining movement in a joint that has been immobilised, rebuilding the muscle lost while it was, and returning to weight-bearing at the pace the surgeon has allowed.

Fracture rehabilitation · post-surgical mobilisation

Stroke and neuro rehab

Positioning, preventing contractures on the weaker side, sitting and standing balance, gait retraining, and teaching the family safe transfers so nobody is injured lifting.

Post-stroke physiotherapy · hemiplegia · Parkinson's · spinal injury

Back, neck and sciatic pain

Working out what is actually driving the pain, then manual therapy, specific strengthening and correcting the sitting and lifting habits that keep bringing it back.

Lower back pain · cervical spondylosis · sciatica · disc problems

Frozen shoulder and joint pain

Restoring shoulder range where it has stiffened, and managing arthritic knees and hips so the joint keeps working without the pain dictating the day.

Frozen shoulder · osteoarthritis · rheumatoid arthritis

Elderly balance and weakness

Strength and balance work that reduces the chance of a fall, plus a walk through the house to find the rug, the step and the dark corridor that will cause the next one.

Geriatric physiotherapy · fall prevention · gait training

Chest physiotherapy

Airway clearance, percussion and breathing exercises for lung and heart conditions, and for any patient who has been in bed long enough that the chest has started to collect.

COPD · post-pneumonia · ventilated and tracheostomy patients

Bedridden patients

Passive movement of every joint to stop them stiffening shut, positioning to protect the skin, and keeping whatever muscle the patient still has.

Contracture prevention · passive mobilisation · long-term bed rest

Not sure physiotherapy is the answer?

Describe the problem and what a doctor has said so far. If physiotherapy is not what this needs, we will tell you.

Book an assessment

What a good first session looks like

Worth knowing so you can judge any physiotherapist, including ours. If the first visit is forty minutes of massage and no measurement, you are not getting physiotherapy.

Session one: assessment

  • The surgical or medical notes read, not skimmed
  • Joint range measured in degrees and written down
  • Muscle strength graded, not guessed at
  • Watching the patient walk, sit, stand and take a step
  • A look round the house for hazards and for what can be used
  • Goals agreed with you, in plain words

Every session after

  • The previous measurements repeated, so progress is a number
  • Manual therapy and joint mobilisation as needed
  • Exercise therapy progressed, not repeated unchanged
  • The home programme checked and corrected
  • The family shown anything they have to help with
  • A note to your surgeon or doctor where relevant

How many sessions will it take?

Nobody can answer that before the assessment, and any service that quotes you a fixed number over the phone is guessing. After the first session you get an expected range, reviewed as you go.

What genuinely moves it: the condition itself, how long ago the surgery or stroke happened, the patient's age and baseline strength, whether something like diabetes is slowing healing, and whether the daily home exercises actually get done. That last one changes the outcome more than how often we visit.

What the physiotherapist brings

  • A portable TENS unit for pain relief
  • Therapy bands and balls for resistance work
  • A goniometer, to measure joint range properly
  • Portable ultrasound therapy and hot or cold packs where indicated

Most of the work is done with the physiotherapist's hands, the patient's own body weight, and the furniture already in the room. A bed, a sturdy chair and a step are more useful than most machines.

If your case needs a walker, a knee brace or a CPM machine, you will be told, and it can be taken on rent rather than bought.

Equipment on rent

Who we send

A qualified physiotherapist
Credentials verified before any visit is assigned.
Matched to the condition
Neurological rehabilitation and orthopaedic rehabilitation are different skills, and the case is matched accordingly rather than sent to whoever is nearest.
The same therapist throughout
Continuity matters more here than in almost any other home service, because progress is judged against what the same pair of hands felt last week.
Written records
Measurements recorded each session, so you can see whether the joint is actually moving further than it was.
Details before arrival
You are told who is coming.

Where we provide physiotherapy at home

Open your city for local coverage and how booking works there.

Frequently asked questions

What is physiotherapy at home?

Physiotherapy at home is a session where a qualified physiotherapist comes to the patient's residence, assesses movement, pain and function, and treats with exercise therapy, manual therapy and joint mobilisation. They also teach a programme the patient or family carries on between visits, which is where most of the actual recovery happens. It is used after joint replacement and fractures, for stroke rehabilitation, back and neck pain, arthritis, balance problems in the elderly, and chest conditions.

Is physiotherapy at home as effective as going to a clinic?

For most of the conditions people book it for, yes, and for some it works better. Rehabilitation is about function in the place the patient actually lives, so practising on their own stairs, their own bed height and their own bathroom is more useful than doing it on clinic equipment. A patient who can walk between parallel bars but cannot manage their own doorstep has not finished rehabilitating. What genuinely needs a clinic is traction, short-wave diathermy, hydrotherapy and gym machines, and your physiotherapist will tell you if your case needs those.

What happens in the first physiotherapy session at home?

The first session is mostly assessment rather than treatment, and that is how it should be. The physiotherapist reviews the surgical or medical notes, measures how far the joint moves and how strong the muscle is, watches how the patient walks, sits, stands and climbs a step, checks the home for hazards, and then sets goals with you. Treatment usually starts in the same session, and you should finish it knowing what the goal is, roughly how long it should take and what to do daily until the next visit.

How many physiotherapy sessions will be needed?

Nobody can answer that honestly before the assessment, and a service that quotes a fixed number before seeing the patient is guessing. After the first session your physiotherapist gives an expected range and reviews it as you go. What moves the number is the condition itself, how long ago the surgery or stroke was, the patient's age and general strength, whether other conditions like diabetes slow healing, and above all whether the daily home exercises actually get done between visits. That last one changes outcomes more than session frequency does.

What equipment does the physiotherapist bring?

Typically a portable TENS unit for pain relief, therapy bands and balls, a goniometer to measure joint range, and where indicated a portable ultrasound therapy unit and hot or cold packs. Most of the work is done with the physiotherapist's hands, the patient's own body weight and the furniture already in the room. Where a walker, a knee brace or a CPM machine is needed for your case, they will tell you and it can be taken on rent rather than bought.

Do you provide physiotherapy after knee or hip replacement?

Yes, and it is the commonest reason families book. Starting early matters after joint replacement, and the first weeks are exactly when getting to a clinic is hardest. Treatment follows what your surgeon has prescribed and typically covers knee bending and straightening range, quadriceps strengthening, walking retraining with a walker or stick, swelling management, and getting safely on and off a bed, a chair and a toilet.

Can physiotherapy at home help after a stroke?

Yes. Neurological rehabilitation is long, repetitive work and much of it suits home better than a clinic, because the goal is managing the patient's own house. It covers positioning, preventing contractures and stiffness on the weaker side, sitting and standing balance, gait retraining, and training the family in safe transfers so nobody gets hurt lifting. Progress after a stroke is measured in months, and honest physiotherapy says so at the start.

Does physiotherapy hurt?

Some discomfort while a stiff joint is being moved is normal and expected. Sharp pain is not, and it is a signal to stop and tell the physiotherapist rather than push through it. Pain is also part of the assessment: where it is, when it comes and what eases it tells the physiotherapist more than any machine. Nothing should be done that has not been explained to you first.

Related services

Book physiotherapy at home

Tell us the condition and what the surgeon or doctor has advised. The first session is an assessment, and if a clinic genuinely suits your case better, we will say so.