Physiotherapy is often undermined, and that’s where everyone goes wrong. Unless the extent of the need of a physiotherapist borders on the extreme, people tend to give it less importance. The fact of the matter is, physiotherapists save lives. They help people affected by injury, illness or disability through movement and exercise, manual therapy, education and advice. They maintain health for people of all ages, helping patients to manage pain and prevent disease.

Dr. Dikshant Koirala is a young physiotherapist from Nobel Hospital in Sinamangal. We talk about the importance of physiotherapy and the medical world helped him find himself by finding the people he saves.

“Physiotherapy is all about lubricating the body. Your body is a machine that works and if one part is affected it affects the entire system. The human body is the most complex machine and it has to be taken care of beforehand and also when your body cannot function without some support.”

TNM: HOW DID YOU FIRST START?


DK: I always loved sports, and I was always involved. You name the sport and I’ll play it. Naturally, I was always around friends who played. With sports or any exertive activities, injuries are inevitable at times. Having seen so many cases of injuries, being able to help cure and prevent them really intrigued me.

And that’s where it all began.
I decided I would pursue physiotherapy as my profession. I studied to get my degree in India and now it has been 2 years I have been practicing.

TNM: WHY DID YOU CHOOSE NEPAL? WHY NOT GO TO SOME OTHER COUNTRY?


DK: I love doing what I do, where
I did was never of concern. I don’t see any reason not to work in Nepal. Yes, I earned more when I worked in India and all my friends are working with the pro-athletes in India but I’ve never once thought I made a bad decision. I love working here I have patients that I can treat and that is all what matters.

However, the lack of equipments is a challenge in my line of work. But I am doing the best I can.

TNM: WHAT HAVE YOU OBSERVED FROM YOUR WORK AND EXPERIENCE?


DK: Most of the times, people come to me after an injury
or occurrence of pain and discomfort. But some problems are preventable and I urge people to come forwards with questions and queries on how to prevent the preventable.

Also, most problems that people come to me are related to their posture. There are so many patients that have back, neck or shoulder problems, some which could have been prevented. People spend their working days at the office sitting in a chair at the desk where there is less movement on the lower body which places more stress on
the upper body mostly the back areas. Luckily, most of this can be prevented.

TNM: WHAT WOULD YOU SUGGEST YOUR PATIENTS OR PEOPLE IN GENERAL DO?.


DK: Some of my patients are just in their 20s and they still have a lot of problems about their health. There are people who think without medicine we can cure some of the diseases. People that come to me are satisfied and all the treatment methods are always changing. Most of my patients are those who play sports. But the use of physiotherapy does not end at that. Physiotherapy is for everyone because we have a body and we need to balance it. And you can always start with following the posture that is favorable for your job.

TNM: WHAT KEEPS YOU MOTIVATED TO DO WHAT YOU DO?


DK: The important thing is you should love what you love to do. And I love what I do. I was always into sports and even if I am not
a sports person I am around them and help them as much as possible.

There was one case where an athlete had a knee injury and it was severe, after I treated him he was able to play again and afterwards he even won a gold medal, he came up to my office and shared it with me. Its things like these that really keep me motivated.

SOME PROBLEMS ARE PREVENTABLE AND I URGE PEOPLE TO COME FORWARDS WITH QUESTIONS AND QUERIES ON HOW TO PREVENT THE PREVENTABLE.