The History of Physiotherapy

Have you ever wondered how physiotherapy began?  The first practitioners of physiotherapy are believed to have been physicians like Hippocrates who advocated massage, manual therapy techniques and hydrotherapy to treat people in 460 B.C. 

The 18th century saw the developments of orthopaedics. Machines like the 'Gymnasticon' and other 'contraptions' were developed to treat gout and other diseases by the systematic exercise of the joints - similar to later developments in physiotherapy. In 1813, physiotherapy practitioners were first documented as belonging to a professional body when a man named Per Henrik Ling, considered the 'Father of Swedish Gymnastics', founded the Royal Central Institute of Gymnastics (RCIG). 

Sweden led the way in 1887 when physiotherapists were given official registration by Sweden's National Board of Health and Welfare. Other countries soon followed. Seven years later, in 1894, four nurses in Great Britain formed the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy (CSP) which today is the professional body for the UK's 64,000 chartered physiotherapists.

So, we have a Greek doctor to thank for the introduction and development of physiotherapy - along with a country we can thank for also giving us meatballs, Ikea, Volvo and Eurovision winners Abba and Loreen!