I recently had a patient ask me about what the difference is between chiropractic and physical therapy. I can understand the confusion because there is definitely overlap between what a chiropractor and a physical therapist do. Both chiropractors and physical therapists use their hands to move joints through motions to help restore proper motion and function to those joints and also use other tools like muscle stimulation, ice/heat, etc. So from the outside it can look like there are a lot of similarities between chiropractic and physical therapy. In fact, I use a lot of myofascial release techniques and teach exercises to strengthen muscles to support better posture and movement that are considered physiotherapy (basically physical therapy but because I am not a physical therapist it is not called physical therapy). So yes, there are a lot of similarities. But if I had to enumerate the differences, I think it comes down to two major things: 1. Focus/purpose/philosophy 2. Chiropractic Adjustment. And really these two things are related.
Now before we get into those differences, I want to say that neither chiropractic nor physical therapy is better or worse than the other. They are different, but there are wonderful results you can get with both depending on what you need. That is why I think it is important to understand the differences. If you didn’t have success with one, don’t think that the other won’t help you because that just isn’t true. It is the same with different chiropractors or physical therapists as well. We all do not practice the same way and just because going to one chiropractor may not have helped you doesn’t mean that another chiropractor with a different approach couldn’t help you either.
Focus, Purpose, Philosophy
Now I lumped all these together because they really all go hand in hand. The philosophy is the basis of your purpose as a practitioner and leads you to focus on certain things. Now again, I am not a physical therapist and my view of their philosophy, purpose, and focus is coming from a view outside the profession. Like chiropractic I imagine there is a wide variety of views on philosophy, purpose, and focus within the physical therapy profession. My view is gathered from knowing some physical therapists and also from looking at what their national organization (American Physical Therapy Association) has to say about physical therapy on their website for the public about physical therapy-
Physical therapists are experts in improving mobility and motion, and pain-free movement is crucial to your quality of daily life, your ability to earn a living, your ability to pursue your favorite leisure activities, and so much more.
What they have to say about the importance of movement to your quality of life I would agree with wholeheartedly. I think that is what their purpose and focus is: improving mobility and motion. As far as philosophy goes physical therapists fit in more with the typical medical model. In fact, many patients are referred from their doctor for a ‘prescription of physical therapy’. While physical therapists focus more on function than a typical doctor, it still is very much about treating a symptom – restricted or painful motion.
Now what about chiropractic? Well I would like to start with the philosophy of chiropractic. The basis of chiropractic is that our bodies are designed to heal and be healthy. This is the body’s natural state; a state of health. But there are many things that can interfere with this natural state of health, one of the biggest being a spinal subluxation. In chiropractic terms, a subluxation is improper movement or alignment of the bones of the spine that results in irritation to the nerves affecting the way the nerves function. I mention this because as a chiropractor in Colorado Springs this is really my purpose and focus: to find and help correct spinal subluxations. This allows the body to do what it is designed to do and heal itself.
Now don’t get me wrong, I am happy to relieve pain and improve motion and that is part of what I do. However, my focus and purpose is to help the body remove subluxations so that the body can heal and function better. I don’t know if the difference is easily seen from the outside, but I think it makes all the difference in the world.
Chiropractic Adjustment
Which also brings us to the second difference, the chiropractic adjustment. Now again this may seem to be a small thing, but there are differences. Without getting too technical physical therapists often use mobilizations of joints including spinal manipulation. Spinal manipulation or chiropractic manipulative therapy are terms that may be used to refer to the chiropractic adjustment. I personally think there is a difference between an adjustment and a manipulation. I know there are others that may disagree, but I think the intent you have in doing an adjustment makes a difference. To put it in a different way anyone can manipulate a joint or the spine, but a chiropractic adjustment should be more than that. Again this is not meant to say that physical therapists are not highly trained individuals that are excellent at what they do, but their focus and purpose is not the same as a chiropractor and are not giving chiropractic adjustments.
Now to be completely honest I know there are chiropractors out there that do not give chiropractic adjustments. There are some chiropractors that will basically do the exact same thing on every patient. It goes something like this: a couple of manipulations to the mid-back, have the patient turn on their side and manipulate the low back/pelvis, then on the other side to do the low back/pelvis again, then the patient is on their back and they manipulate the neck from one side and then the other. This is not giving a chiropractic adjustment! While I know these chiropractors do help people to feel better and move better, they are not practicing chiropractic.
A chiropractic adjustment needs to be specific or it is not chiropractic. This is a paraphrase of what B.J. Palmer has said. B.J. Palmer developed and expanded chiropractic in the early years of the profession. B.J.’s father D.D. Palmer is the founder of modern chiropractic.
Being specific and focused on helping the body to remove subluxations is required for a chiropractic adjustment. Everything else is just a spinal manipulation. This is why I personally take my time to thoroughly evaluate each patient on each visit and adjust just the area that is found to have subluxation. This makes all the difference in the world.
Conclusion
In closing I want to reiterate that I have the utmost respect for physical therapists, and many do an excellent job in helping restore proper motion to the body, and helping to rehabilitate injuries. And while chiropractic will help with those things too, there is a difference between chiropractic and physical therapy. These differences center on the purpose and focus of what each is doing. I hope this post has helped explain that difference at least from my point of view. If you found this information helpful leave a comment below and share it with a friend!
Reference
http://www.moveforwardpt.com/Benefits/Default.aspx#.VUFg75NKZdA accessed April 29th 2015
