How to stick to your physio exercises at home
Do them at the same time each day, straight after something you already do, keep the exercise sheet where you'll do them, tick off each session, and tell your physiotherapist what's difficult rather than quietly stopping.
Why is this harder than it sounds?
Exercises are a common part of physiotherapy treatment, and most of them happen at home, between sessions. They're repetitive, sometimes uncomfortable, and progress is slow enough to be invisible day to day, which is exactly the kind of task that slips. There can also be a wait for NHS physiotherapy, which makes the exercises you've already been given even more important to keep up.
What should you do?
Get the exercises written down
Ask for a sheet or a link with pictures, and how many times and how often. Don't rely on memory from the session.
Fix a time and a place
"After my morning coffee, on the living room floor" is a plan. Keep the sheet and anything you need right there.
Start with the minimum
On a bad day, doing one round is better than skipping. Consistency matters more than the perfect session.
Log it
A tick on a calendar. It shows you progress you can't feel yet, and it's what your physiotherapist will ask about.
Note what hurts or is hard
Which exercise, what you felt and when. Bring it to your next session.
Ask before changing anything
If an exercise seems too easy, too hard or painful, ask your physiotherapist rather than adapting it yourself.
What tends not to work
Doing a big catch-up session after missing several days.
Stopping because it hurts without telling your physiotherapist.
Waiting until the next appointment to admit you haven't been doing them. They can adjust the plan if they know.
Common questions
Can I refer myself for NHS physiotherapy?
In many areas of England you can get physiotherapy from NHS community musculoskeletal (MSK) services without a GP referral. Your GP surgery can tell you what's available.
What if the exercises are painful?
Tell your physiotherapist what you're feeling and when. Don't push through pain or change the exercises without asking.
Where Nura fits
Nura can check in at the time you choose, every day or on weekdays, by phone call, WhatsApp or in the app, and ask whether you've done the exercises. It keeps a record of how it's going and what you said was hard, so you can bring that to your next session. It won't change your exercises; that's your physiotherapist's job.
Sources
General information, not medical advice. Nura does not diagnose, prescribe or replace your clinician. In an emergency call 999 (UK) or 911 (US); in the UK, NHS 111 can help if you need medical help but it isn't an emergency.