Dr. Naina Batra is a Doctor of Physiotherapy by profession and currently works at an
outpatient orthopedic clinic in Edmonton, Alberta. She is also a world renowned
bollywood dancer with more than 10 years of experience.
"As a physical therapist, I am also certified in trigger point dry needling. I see a variety of patients at the clinic with an age group of patients between 13-90 years old. I primarily treat musculoskeletal injuries such as sports injuries, post-surgical conditions, motor vehicle injuries, and work-related injuries. My background as a professional dancer intrigued my interest in the science of human movement and ultimately drove me to pursue Physiotherapy as a profession. Apart from dancing, I enjoy listening to music, singing, sketching, and traveling.
In addition to treatment, I always strive to draw my client’s attention to their daily life activities that could potentially be feeding into their current injury. I find it is crucial to understand how you should be sitting, squatting, sleeping, and even watching TV to prevent future injuries. These are some of the activities you do repeatedly throughout your day without giving much thought, which is why it’s even more important to make sure you perform them correctly and learn to avoid or modify certain movements. I recall having an educational moment like this and my patient stated “You’ve opened my eyes and I’ve learned so much. Thank you”. I felt accomplished hearing that and it’s always rewarding to know that my patients leave the clinic empowered to make the right changes to live a pain-free life.
Moreover, my mom was always interested in finding conservative methods for healing and also looked into preventative measures such doing yoga, creating home remedies, and eating healthy. Growing up with that mentality in addition to having an interest in dance and movement, I found the career as a Physiotherapist to be a perfect balance of my two key beliefs/values.
Being a PT also guides me to understand the needs of my dance students and how I can properly guide them to learn a certain movement that they may be struggling with. Thus, I am able to understand why they may be having difficulty. For example, I often find biomechanical faults in my young students who are unaware of the position of their knees or are not engaging their core while dancing which requires a lot of effort for the body and increases stress on the respective joints.
Professionally I look forward to completing my certification in Trigger Point Dry Needling this year and I intend to further my training in Acupuncture and Advanced Manual Therapy. In terms of dance, I never really started it with an intention except to share my passion with the rest of the world. Dance has opened many opportunities for me along the way and I will continue to seek ones that provide me with an opportunity to grow and experience the world of dance
In terms of bringing change within the Canadian healthcare system, I would like to advocate for our profession as a Physiotherapist. I feel there are many people who do not quite understand what Physiotherapists do or they have misconceptions about the field and often confuse it with massage therapy or chiropractic care. For this reason, many do not know when they should be seeking help from a Physiotherapist.
It’s important to note that Physiotherapists are movement experts and they treat any movement related injuries/pain with treatment plan consisting of one or more of the following: range of motion/strengthening exercises, manual therapy, soft tissues mobilization, electrotherapy, and patient education. "
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