Whether you're a farmer, a sports participant, or supported by the NDIS, local physiotherapist Karen Waters believes it's important to treat any ailment at the earliest stage possible.

"The sooner you come in to see us, the easier, less complex, and usually less costly it will be to manage," says Karen.

Karen owns both the Crookwell and Goulburn Physiotherapy Centres, and they have been offering their services to Crookwell for the past seven years.

Currently, physiotherapists Tristyn Joyce and Tim Moule are available for appointments in the Health Care Centre on Kialla Road two days a week, or if you have limited mobility home visits are an option.

You don't have to get a GP's referral first, and "If you have images (scans) already, please bring them in, but we can refer for X-rays if required." They will also work closely with your doctor or any other practitioner you're seeing.

Getting back to Karen's first point, "If you work on a property, it could be a knee or an elbow giving you trouble. If it is left to go until it becomes a big problem, you'd then have to modify your farming activities to work around it, or you may not be able to work at all."

Additionally, the way you do heavy or repetitive tasks might just need a subtle adjustment now to stop you hurting yourself in the future.

"We're very well placed to give good manual handling advice. Tim and Tristyn know what goes on on a farm. They can help you modify your activities and show you how to do those activities safely."

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In terms of sport, "Hockey is huge in Crookwell. Tim and Tristyn are expertly trained in assessing sporting injuries."

Again, for the same reasons, Karen says to go in and get it treated sooner not later.

Some sporting codes are also putting efforts in to minimise the risk of injury.

One technique is called pre-hab, and something that's also recommended before having a joint or hip surgery. In short, the fitter you are before the surgery, the less time your recovery should take.

"We know the orthopaedic surgeons in Goulburn, and we talk with them to see what is appropriate for that particular patient to give them the best care possible."

Karen says other methods of sports injury prevention are quite simple and include appropriate warm-up and appropriate cross-training to give your muscular system the strength to better deal with things like sudden or severe changes in direction.

As we alluded to earlier, they are also registered for the NDIS.

"Therapy is goal-based for NDIS patients, looking at their functional ability. That includes all the activities they need to do each day from dressing and personal care to getting around their house and yard," helping you to live independently.

"We can do home visits in the Crookwell area if they have a limited mobility for any reason [including the elderly], and we can also have a look at mobility issues around the house in general, look for risks like falling, and make suggestions.

"The main thing is to make sure they have that basic access. We can liaise with their occupational therapist too."

They're part of other initiatives as well. In late March, Karen and Tim attended the Continence and Post-prostate Rehabilitation Forum in Canberra.

Whether it be an incontinence issue before or after surgery, or another related sexual health concern, Tim and Tristyn are ready to help. "As a reference for information they are a really great resource," Karen says.