Physiotherapy modalities we can bring to your home
Because our physiotherapists come to you, they can bring portable equipment to support your treatment. Below is an honest, evidence-based guide to the main portable modalities — what each one is, how it works, and what the research shows. Modalities are used to support active rehabilitation (exercise and hands-on therapy), not to replace it.
TENS (transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation)
Drug-free electrical pain relief.
TENS is a non-drug method of pain relief in which a small, battery-powered device delivers gentle electrical currents through adhesive pads placed on the skin near the painful area.
A large 2022 systematic review of 381 trials found moderate-certainty evidence that strong, comfortable TENS applied at the pain site gives a clinically meaningful reduction in pain intensity during or just after treatment, with no serious side effects. It is commonly used for osteoarthritis, back pain, and other musculoskeletal pain. The benefit is mainly short-term, so TENS is best seen as symptom relief that supports, rather than replaces, active rehabilitation.
Read the full guide →Therapeutic ultrasound
Sound waves that ease pain and support tissue healing.
Therapeutic ultrasound delivers high-frequency sound waves into soft tissue through a hand-held applicator moved over the skin with a gel. It is used for musculoskeletal pain, calcific shoulder problems, and to support soft-tissue healing.
There is genuine positive evidence for ultrasound. In a landmark New England Journal of Medicine trial, ultrasound helped clear calcium deposits in the shoulder and speed early recovery. Meta-analyses of randomised trials also show it reduces knee osteoarthritis pain (a moderate effect) and improves function, with an excellent safety record. Its tissue-warming effect reliably increases blood flow and flexibility, which is why it is used to prepare tight tissue before stretching. It works best as part of a plan alongside exercise.
Read the full guide →Muscle stimulation (NMES / EMS)
Electrically assisted muscle contraction for strengthening.
Neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES), also called EMS, delivers small electrical pulses through skin pads to make a muscle contract. Unlike TENS — which targets sensory nerves to reduce pain — NMES targets the motor nerves to produce an actual muscle contraction.
The evidence is strongest for building muscle strength as an add-on to exercise. A 2025 review of trials after ACL knee surgery found NMES added to standard rehab significantly improved quadriceps strength, especially when started early. In stroke rehabilitation, a 2021 review found it improved activities of daily living. Benefits are most consistent for strength rather than overall function, and NMES is an adjunct to active exercise, not a replacement.
Read the full guide →Interferential current therapy (IFC)
Comfortable, deeper-reaching electrical pain relief.
Interferential current therapy is a form of electrical stimulation used for pain relief, in which two medium-frequency currents are passed through the skin so that they cross inside the body’s tissues.
IFC has good supporting evidence for pain. A 2022 meta-analysis found it significantly reduced knee osteoarthritis pain, both short- and long-term. For chronic low back pain, a 2023 review found moderate-quality evidence that it reduces pain and disability compared with placebo. It relieves pain at least as effectively as TENS, and a sham-controlled trial in cardiac-surgery patients found it cut post-operative pain and the need for painkillers. It works best as short-term pain relief that supports active rehabilitation.
Read the full guide →Heat and cold therapy
Simple, portable relief for stiffness, pain, and swelling.
Heat therapy (thermotherapy) applies warmth — via hot packs or heat wraps — to ease pain and stiffness. Cold therapy (cryotherapy) applies cold — via ice or gel packs — to a painful or freshly injured area. Both are simple, non-invasive, and widely used.
Heat is generally used for chronic stiffness and muscle spasm; cold for acute injuries and swelling. Heat has the firmer evidence: a Cochrane review found moderate evidence that heat-wrap therapy gives a small, short-term reduction in pain and disability in acute and sub-acute low back pain. Cold’s evidence is thinner, and the old "ice everything" approach has softened — newer frameworks such as PEACE & LOVE emphasise gentle early movement.
Read the full guide →Low-level laser / red-light therapy (LLLT)
Low-intensity light for pain and tissue repair — dose matters.
Low-level laser therapy (LLLT), also called photobiomodulation or red-light therapy, applies low-intensity red or near-infrared light to the body to reduce pain and support tissue repair. Unlike surgical lasers, it does not heat, burn, or cut tissue — the effect is photochemical, not thermal.
The evidence is genuinely mixed and strongly dose-dependent — results depend on using the right wavelength and energy dose. It is best supported for neck pain (a Lancet meta-analysis found meaningful relief versus placebo) and for preventing severe oral mucositis in cancer care (guideline-endorsed). For knee osteoarthritis, benefit appears only at recommended doses, and reviews disagree. Tendinopathy findings are promising but inconclusive, and low back pain evidence is weak. It is an adjunct, not a stand-alone cure.
Read the full guide →Resistance bands
Portable elastic resistance for real strength gains.
Resistance bands (elastic bands or therabands) are stretchy bands used to add resistance to exercises. They are one of the most practical tools for building strength at home — light, packable, and joint-friendly.
The evidence is strong. A systematic review found elastic bands produce strength gains comparable to conventional or machine weights. In older adults, band training significantly improves everyday functional capacity — standing from a chair, walking speed, and grip strength — and improves lower-limb strength and balance, which supports fall prevention. Home-based band programmes also reduce shoulder pain and improve function in rotator-cuff problems.
Read the full guide →Weights & resistance training
Progressive strength training — a cornerstone of recovery.
Weights — dumbbells, ankle weights, or other free weights — add a constant load to exercises to build muscle strength. Progressive resistance training (gradually increasing the load) is one of the best-evidenced tools in all of rehabilitation.
The evidence is excellent. A landmark Cochrane review of 121 trials found progressive resistance training makes older adults markedly stronger and improves everyday function — walking, climbing stairs, and rising from a chair — and reduces pain in those with osteoarthritis. Leading guidelines strongly recommend strengthening as a core, first-line treatment for hip and knee osteoarthritis, and resistance training before joint-replacement surgery ("prehab") improves recovery. It also counters age-related muscle loss (sarcopenia) and supports bone health.
Read the full guide →Pneumatic resistance training
Air-pressure resistance machines for smooth, joint-friendly strengthening.
Pneumatic resistance machines use compressed air, rather than a weight stack, to provide resistance. Our centre uses HUR equipment, common in rehabilitation and senior-fitness settings, for guided strengthening exercises such as the leg press.
The underlying principle — progressive resistance training — has strong evidence in older adults and rehabilitation populations (see our Weights & Resistance Training modality). A randomised controlled trial of a community pneumatic-machine programme (Gym Tonic) in adults 65 and over found supervised twice-weekly sessions over 12 weeks improved lower-limb muscle strength, physical performance (SPPB), chair-stand ability, and walking speed, with high (around 90%) attendance. The smooth, low-inertia resistance and fine load increments make pneumatic machines a practical way to deliver this evidence-based training to people who are frail, deconditioned, or early in rehabilitation.
Read the full guide →Cable functional trainer
Adjustable pulley training for pulling, rowing, and functional strength.
A cable (pulley) functional trainer uses a weight stack connected to an adjustable overhead cable and handle, letting a physiotherapist set resistance through a huge range of pulling, rowing, and functional movement patterns. Our centre uses HUR pulley equipment, including a wheelchair-accessible version.
The evidence base is the same progressive resistance training evidence that supports weights and bands (see our Weights & Resistance Training modality) — the cable machine is a delivery method that adds adjustable height, angle, and smooth-tracked resistance. This makes it especially useful for rebuilding pulling and rowing strength (relevant to posture and shoulder rehabilitation), and for people who need a seated or wheelchair-accessible strengthening option, since the cable height can be set to match the person rather than the other way around.
Read the full guide →Motorised cycling therapy
Motor-assisted pedalling for neurological and weak-limb rehabilitation.
Motorised cycling therapy uses a seated pedal-trainer that can actively assist, passively move, or resist the legs (and often the arms) through a cycling motion. Our centre uses MOTOmed-type equipment, widely used in neurological and general rehabilitation for patients who cannot yet pedal unassisted.
A systematic review and meta-analysis of motorised cycling therapy in stroke patients with hemiplegia found it improved mobility and activities of daily living when added to standard rehabilitation. Reviews also report gains in lower-limb function and standing stability. It is typically used as an add-on to standard therapy, particularly useful early in recovery, or for very weak or spastic limbs, when other forms of active exercise are not yet possible.
Read the full guide →Supported treadmill gait training
Treadmill walking practice with handrail or body-weight support.
Supported treadmill gait training uses a treadmill with tall parallel handrails (and sometimes a body-weight-support harness) so a person can practise walking with reduced balance demand and physical assistance close at hand.
A Cochrane systematic review found that people who could already walk to some degree (but not those who were fully dependent) benefited most from treadmill training, particularly in walking speed and walking endurance. Handrail and body-weight support reduce balance demand and help patients practise a more normal gait pattern earlier in recovery than would otherwise be possible.
Read the full guide →
Not sure which treatment is right for you?
Request a home visit and a physiotherapist will assess you and recommend a plan.