Let me tell you about the time I threw out my back.
It started with what I thought was a simple act of domestic heroism—lifting a bed to adjust a rug. Next thing I knew, I was lying on the floor wondering if I’d ever stand up straight again. The diagnosis? Lumbar radiculopathy, which basically meant my lower back had decided to wage war on my left leg via my sciatic nerve.
As an American, I was relatively lucky. Within three months, I had X-rays, a specialist consult, and a physical therapy prescription. But during those 90 days of agony, I kept thinking: Surely there has to be a better way.
Turns out, the UK’s National Health Service (NHS) was wondering the same thing.
Enter Flok Health: The AI Physio
When I heard about Flok—the first AI-powered physiotherapy app approved for NHS use—I had to try it. Here was a potential solution to the UK’s staggering 350,000-person musculoskeletal treatment backlog. The premise was simple: AI could handle straightforward cases, freeing up human therapists for complex ones.
The app greeted me with Kirsty, my digital physiotherapist. Dressed in sleek workout gear and framed by a suspiciously Instagram-worthy Monstera plant, she guided me through a series of questions about my pain. Each response triggered pre-recorded follow-ups, creating the illusion of a real conversation.
It felt like a choose-your-own-adventure book where every path led to hip stretches.
The Good, The Bad, and The Robotic
What surprised me most was how polished the experience felt. Unlike ChatGPT-style AI that might hallucinate treatment plans, Flok’s system followed strict clinical logic—no made-up exercises here. For 20 minutes, Kirsty had me twisting and bending while explaining how each movement targeted my specific pain points.
But here’s where reality intruded:
Kirsty couldn’t see me.
When I butchered the “cat-cow” stretch (turning it into more of a “confused walrus” pose), there was no gentle correction. The app relied entirely on my self-awareness—a dangerous assumption for someone who once gave himself tennis elbow trying to open a pickle jar.
The Human Element
This became painfully clear when I compared Flok to my in-person physical therapy sessions in the US. My human PT immediately spotted how I was overcompensating with my shoulders during simple exercises. “You’re doing it wrong,” she said cheerfully, before repositioning my entire torso like a misassembled IKEA chair.
Flok did offer a voice memo feature to ask real physios questions, but it lacked the immediacy of live feedback. For mild cases, this might suffice. For someone whose body awareness rivals that of a drunken giraffe? Less ideal.
What the Experts Say
I spoke with several researchers about AI’s role in healthcare. The consensus? AI works best when it knows its place.
“Systems that succeed won’t be those claiming to ‘replace doctors,'” said Harvard’s Pranav Rajpurkar, “but those that thoughtfully redistribute clinical work.” Elizabeth Stuart from Johns Hopkins emphasized that AI tools need the same rigorous testing as traditional medicine—especially since some algorithms “change under the hood” in ways even developers don’t fully understand.
My Verdict
After several Flok sessions, my pain did improve—but I credit that more to finally doing regular stretches than the AI itself. The app’s real value lies in accessibility: It’s infinitely better than nothing for patients stuck on waiting lists.
But until AI can physically adjust my terrible posture or laugh sympathetically when I complain, I’ll keep seeing my human therapist. Some things still require flesh-and-blood expertise.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go ice my back—this time from writing about back pain for too long
