How to stay pain-free in retirement

If you’re suffering from a sports injury or more general wear and tear, physiotherapy can be an effective way to ease the pain and get everything moving as it should.

During your initial assessment, your physiotherapist will discuss your symptoms with you and ask questions about your lifestyle and medical history, before starting you on a course of treatment.

This can include manual therapy (massage), exercises to do at home, ultrasound therapy, hydrotherapy and even acupuncture.

Physiotherapy is available free of charge on the NHS – if you contact your GP they will tell you whether you need to book a doctor’s appointment or provide instructions on how to refer yourself. It’s likely that you may need to wait a while before you get to see a physiotherapist.

If you don’t want to wait for treatment on the NHS, you can arrange private physiotherapy yourself. Just make sure that they have the letters MCSP after their name (which means they are chartered) and that they are registered with the Health and Care Professions Council.

You can find a chartered physiotherapist using the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy website, or ask local friends and family for recommendations.

The average cost of a 60-minute initial assessment in the UK is £75.07, with 30-minute follow-ups costing £52.81, according to our research.

Osteopathy is an alternative option for problems with muscles, bones and joints. This can include back, neck and shoulder pain, as well as arthritis and sports injuries.

In your initial assessment your osteopath will talk to you about your concerns and ask you to carry out some movements or stretches to help them assess you.

Treatment tends to be much more hands-on than physiotherapy, including massage, stretching and joint manipulation. They might also use thrusts – a short, sharp form of spine manipulation that often results in a popping noise – to relieve tension.

Some parts of the UK will provide access to osteopathy on the NHS – contact your GP to find out if it’s available where you live. That said, most people will pay to see osteopaths privately.

You can find a local registered osteopath at the General Osteopathic Council website.

The NHS says you can expect to pay between £45 and £65 for an osteopath session – but costs will vary across the country. Initial assessments are likely to be longer and more expensive than follow-up appointments.

Chiropractic treatment is not dissimilar to osteopathy and it can be used to help a range of musculoskeletal problems such as back, neck, elbow and shoulder pain.

The differences lie in the history and philosophy of each discipline. Chiropractic is largely focused on the spine and its impact on the nervous system, while osteopathy uses a whole-body approach.

But like osteopathy, chiropractic is a gentle hands-on treatment. It’s likely to involve spinal manipulation, stretching muscles and moving joints in different directions.

Chiropractic treatment is not normally available on the NHS – if you need some form of physical therapy, your GP would normally refer you for physiotherapy instead.

You can find a local registered chiropractor at the General Chiropractic Council.

Initial assessments are likely to cost between £50 and £100, according to the NHS, with follow-up appointments costing between £30 and £50.

A podiatrist (also known as a chiropodist) can help if you’ve got problems with your feet or ankles – from heel pain or tendinitis to fungal nails.

Podiatry services are available free of charge on the NHS – but you will need to meet certain criteria to be eligible, for example having a diagnosed condition (such as diabetes or a circulatory disorder) that affects your feet. If you aren’t sure, check with your GP.

If you don’t qualify, it’s easy to make an appointment with a podiatrist yourself, and the NHS offers a search tool on its website.

You can typically expect to pay around £50-£80 to see a podiatrist in the UK, but further costs will depend on the nature of your problem and the treatment they recommend. Custom orthotics (to put in your shoes) for example, could cost up to £150.

Acupuncture is an ancient form of Chinese medicine that involves inserting fine needles at specific locations on the body.

As many as 20 needles could be inserted into your body at key points for up to 30 minutes, while you relax. Although you might be aware of the needles, you shouldn’t feel any pain.

Traditional practitioners use the technique to balance the flow of energy in your body – referred to as your ‘chi’ or ‘qi’ - while western practitioners say that acupuncture points can stimulate nerves and tissues to help with healing.

Acupuncture can be used to help with a wide range of conditions, including joint and muscle pain. It may also be used to support cancer patients with pain and to help them manage the side effects of chemotherapy. But the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) only formally recommends acupuncture for the relief of chronic pain, migraines, tension headaches, hiccups and prostatitis (inflammation of the prostate).

Although acupuncture is occasionally available through the NHS (from a physiotherapist or within your GP surgery), most people access treatment privately.

But, it’s important to note that acupuncture isn’t regulated in England. That means if your acupuncturist isn’t a regulated healthcare professional like a doctor, nurse or physiotherapist, you should check whether they are a member of an accredited acupuncture organisation.

You can find an acupuncturist near you using the Professional Standards for Health and Social Care website or through the British Acupuncture Council (BAcC).

According to the BAcC, treatment typically costs between £20 and £80 a session.

Reflexology works on the ancient belief that parts of your hands, feet and ears link to your organs and various processes within your body. By applying gentle pressure to these sites, you may experience a range of health benefits such as pain relief, relaxation, better sleep and improved emotional wellbeing.

This complementary therapy isn’t normally available on the NHS, but it’s sometimes offered to cancer patients at some specialist hospitals or cancer centres.

Otherwise, Cancer Research says private treatment is likely to cost between £35 and £70 an hour.

You can find a reflexologist who’s local to you using the Association of Reflexologists’ website.

Another alternative therapy that you might come across is homeopathy. It uses heavily diluted natural substances (from plants and minerals) to trigger healing in the body and is usually delivered in the form of a tincture, capsule or pill.

Working on the logic that ‘like cures like’ proponents say homeopathy kick-starts our natural defence systems.

It can be used for a variety of conditions from chronic pain and migraine to depression, allergies and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).

But there isn’t much medical evidence to support homeopathy and in 2017 NHS England pulled all funding for the treatment.

Find a Homeopath says prices range from £30 to £125 a session.

Which treatment is right for me?

Working out which therapy is right for you will ultimately come down to your symptoms and your own personal preferences. You might also be influenced by what you have seen work for friends and family.

Although most of the therapies we’ve covered in this guide won’t be easy to come by on the NHS – they are all considered to be safe if you use a qualified or accredited practitioner.

Good practitioners will let you know if they think your symptoms merit further medical investigations. Nonetheless, if you do have any concerns about your health, it’s important to discuss them with your GP. You should never use any of the therapies we’ve mentioned in this guide in place of advice from your doctor.

When you’re in pain, it’s easy to see the appeal of therapies that provide hands-on relief, without the need for medication or a lengthy wait.

When you contact practitioners directly, you can often get appointments within days and at a time that suits you. But, as successful treatment will usually require a number of sessions, costs can quickly rack up.

However, if you have a private health insurance plan, or a health cash plan – you might be able to get some help with the cost.

Using private health insurance

Private health insurance is designed to cover acute and serious medical problems – from hip replacement surgery to cancer. This can include initial consultations, testing and diagnosis as well as treatment and surgery.

Policies vary substantially, but comprehensive options may also include some cover for mainstream therapies like physiotherapy, osteopathy and chiropractic. Or, that cover might be available as an additional or bolt-on benefit.

In some cases you won’t even need to get a referral from your GP to book an appointment and you will either get an annual ‘allowance’ for this type of treatment or a specified number of sessions.

If your pain is really bothering you - and you suspect it’s not a problem that can be fixed with physical therapy - you can also use your health insurance to book a prompt consultation with an orthopaedic consultant at a private hospital (although you will need a referral from your GP).

Just note that if you decide to take out a new private health insurance plan to help you in retirement, you won’t be covered for any pre-existing medical conditions you might have. That’s likely to include any aches and pains you’ve raised with your GP.

The typical cost of private health insurance for a 70-year-old is around £201 a month for a comprehensive policy, with outpatient cover included.

Using health cash plans

Health cash plans are designed to help you with the cost of everyday healthcare. This can be anything from a trip to the dentist or optician to a session with your acupuncturist or osteopath.

Normally, you pay for treatments or appointments yourself and then make a claim on your policy. Just how much you can claim will depend on the provider and level of cover that you choose - but it will typically be 100% of your costs up to a maximum amount, such as £100, £200 or £300 a year.

So, if you have £300 worth of cover for therapies each year, your plan will cover all of your costs, up to that limit.

If you end up needing hospital treatment or surgery, you may also be able to claim a cash payment for any consultations that you require, day cases, or nights in hospital. But, it would not cover the cost of treatment, like a private health insurance policy would.

Cash plans are much more affordable than private health insurance – with premiums ranging from as little as £7 to over £30 a month. Typically, the more you pay for your policy, the more money you’ll be able to claim back.

But if you think a cash plan could save you money, it’s important to do your research and check that the treatments you’re likely to pay for are covered. More niche therapies, like reflexology or homeopathy, won’t be covered by every policy.

Once you have taken out your policy, it’s also important to familiarise yourself with the claims process. You will likely need to provide proof of payment (such as a receipt or invoice) and submit your claim within a certain timeframe.