 |
| Chiropractic vs Physical Therapy |
Both chiropractic treatment and physiotherapy disciplines are
very important for physical rehabilitation and solve ailments in different
parts of the body, but they are specialized in treating different pathologies.
Injuries, discomfort
and musculoskeletal pathologies, that is, all those that affect the bones,
muscles and ligaments of the body, are among the ailments with the highest
incidence in the population and, in fact, are the first cause of sick leave.
There is countless
pathology, as well as rehabilitation processes after surgery or an accident,
which require the intervention of professionals of the human locomotors system.
Some of them to mention here are tendinitis, osteoarthritis, low back pain,
dislocations, fractures, muscle breaks, contractures, sciatica, herniated
discs, and plantar fasciitis.
Preserving the health of our bones, joints, ligaments, muscles, and tendons is essential to enjoy both
physical and emotional health. In this context, physiotherapists and
chiropractors are the ones who help us achieve it.
But these two
professions, often mistakenly considered synonymous, are different, because the
training is different and the health problems they treat, as well as the way of
dealing with them is not the same either. Therefore, in today's article and
with the aim of answering all the doubts that may be had, we will see the main
differences between a physiotherapist and a chiropractor.
WHAT
IS A PHYSICAL THERAPIST AND A CHIROPRACTOR?
Before detailing their
differences, it is important to define both professions. Broadly speaking, both
are professionals who prevent and treat health problems related to the human
musculoskeletal system, which always usually consist of injuries, post-surgery
rehabilitation and treatment of traumatic ailments. Having made this clear,
let's define each of them.
PHYSIOTHERAPY:
What Is It?
Physiotherapy is a
discipline encompassed within the health sciences that consists of the
application of both manual and physical therapies to diagnose, prevent and
treat ailments of the muscles, ligaments, joints, tendons, and bones through a
professional known as a physiotherapist.
In short, Physiotherapy
is a multidisciplinary health science, in the sense that it is related to
fields of medicine such as traumatology, neurology, dermatology, cardiology and
even mental health, since the musculoskeletal system is closely related to
related to all organs and tissues of the body.
In this sense, a physiotherapist is a personnel trained to apply manual and physical therapies
to maintain the muscular and locomotor health of the body. On the one hand,
manual therapies consist of massage sessions, kinesiotherapy (movements of the
body without the patient making voluntary muscle contractions), treatment of
muscle and bone injuries (knee problems, back, and neck pain, contractures,
muscle breaks, hip injuries), the introduction of postures to take care of the
joints, stretching, unblocking the airways, enhancing the pelvic floor.
Moreover, physical
therapies consist of hydrotherapy techniques (exercises in water),
electrotherapy and ultrasounds (application of electric currents and
ultrasounds to cure neuromuscular problems), cryotherapy (use of cold),
thermotherapy (use of heat).
In summary, a
physiotherapist is the person trained to diagnose, prevent and treat any
musculoskeletal injury, detecting the injury and applying both manual and
physical therapies so that that part of the body recovers its normal
physiological state.
CHIROPRACTIC:
What Is It?
Chiropractic is the discipline of its own (not a branch of Physiotherapy) encompassed within the
health sciences whose specialty is to detect, analyze and correct problems that
may exist in the spine, that is, fix vertebral subluxations.
These vertebral subluxations are alterations in the alignment of one or more of the vertebrae in the spine. Chiropractic bases its entire object of study on the fact that problems in the spine can lead to discomfort in any other part of the body, something that is fully confirmed.
It is that the spinal
column, made up of a total of 33 vertebrae, is the nucleus of the human bone
system. Its function is to protect the spinal cord, which is part of the
central nervous system and, in this column, branches into all the other
peripheral nerves that connect the brain with literally all the other organs
and tissues of the body.
Therefore, it is not
surprising that vertebral subluxations have consequences on our physical and
emotional health. Correcting these spinal problems can help correct posture,
reduce pain, improve blood circulation, strengthen muscles, etc.
In summary, a chiropractor does not treat ailments of the musculoskeletal system but
corrects deviations in the spine to improve the health of other systems in the
body.
HOW
ARE PHYSICAL THERAPY AND CHIROPRACTIC DIFFERENT?
Having defined both
professions, it is becoming clear how they differ, but now we will see it much
better. These are the key aspects that determine that, despite their
similarities, they are two very different disciplines.
1. Training Is Different
Physiotherapy and
Chiropractic are not only about two different professions, but their training is also
different. To practice as such, you have to take a certain degree. In the case
of physiotherapists, they have studied the degree of physiotherapy, which is
completed in four years. On the other hand, a chiropractor is a person who has
graduated in chiropractic, his own degree with a duration of 5 years that is
studied in few universities but that is highly respected internationally.
2. They Focus On Different
Structures
As we have commented when we analyzed them individually, physiotherapy focuses on the diagnosis, prevention and treatment of injuries in the musculoskeletal system, which includes all those pathologies that can be suffered in muscles, ligaments, tendons, bones, and joints. Therefore, a physiotherapist detects very specific musculoskeletal pathologies and applies therapies to the damaged area so that it recovers its physiology.
Chiropractic, on the other hand, does not focus on musculoskeletal injuries. Chiropractor specializes
only in problems of the spine, that is, in subluxations of the vertebrae that,
in effect, can give rise to discomfort in any other part of the body, but not
only at the level of the locomotor system, but also neurological, respiratory,
cardiovascular, etc.
In summary,
Physiotherapy focuses its study on the musculoskeletal system, while
Chiropractic does so on the proper functioning of the nervous system, where the
bone component of the spine is of enormous importance.
3. The Chiropractor Does Not Treat
Symptoms
Another major difference is that the physical therapist treats symptoms and the physical
therapist does not. That is, the physiotherapist detects problems in any part
of the musculoskeletal system and, depending on the symptoms he sees, he will
apply some therapies or others. That is, if you have had knee surgery and you
have to regain mobility, it will focus on the knee. And if your neck hurts, he
will do therapies to relax the muscles.
In contrast, a
chiropractor "does not care" about symptoms, in the sense that,
although they may help you to know what problem your patient has, he will go
directly to look for a misalignment in the spine to correct it.
In short, a physical the therapist treats after seeing the symptoms, while a chiropractor treats after
analyzing the spinal alignments that, in effect, lead to those symptoms. In
other words, when our neck hurts, the physical therapist treats the neck; But
when you go to the chiropractor because your neck hurts, he will not treat the
neck (or yes, it depends), but perhaps he will have to adjust one of the
vertebrae in the lumbar area, for example.
4. The Physical Therapist Does Not
Address Neurological Problems
As we have already
seen, physiotherapy has its center of study in the human musculoskeletal system, as it treats injuries to muscles, bones, tendons, ligaments, etc.
Therefore, it is very useful for treating and preventing musculoskeletal
ailments, but its impact on a neurological level, beyond emotional well-being,
is low.
On the other hand, a
chiropractor, who focuses on the central nervous system, does obviously have an
impact on a neurological level. By correcting the vertebrae, the chiropractor
seeks to improve the health of the nervous system, as this has implications for
the entire physiology.
In summary, a
physiotherapist addresses problems of the musculoskeletal system, while a
chiropractor addresses neurological problems that can lead to problems of the musculoskeletal
system but whose solution is to adjust the spine, not to treat ailments
directly in the muscular and skeletal system.
5. Physiotherapy Is More
Personalized To the Patient
As we can see, a
physiotherapist focuses more on the patient, in the sense that, to treat the
injury, he must have a more complete view of both his physiology and the causes
that have led him to suffer from this problem. This is the only way to make
manual and physical therapies work.
A chiropractor, on the
other hand, does not personalize himself so much in the patient, since it is of
little use to know where he comes from or what has led him to suffer that
problem. The only thing that matters is that the vertebrae are aligned, and in
this there is no valid subjectivity.
In summary, although
this does not mean at all that they are colder professionals, chiropractic is
not as personalized a discipline as physiotherapy, since it is enough to
correct the deviations of the spine, while in this physiotherapy, it is
necessary to have an overview of the entire body of the patient. Chiropractic
equals spine. Physiotherapy equals to all physiology.
6. Chiropractic Heals;
Physiotherapy Prevents
Everything we have seen leads us to the conclusion that chiropractic is only dedicated to curing, because with its famous "crunches", it corrects deviations in the spine, thus solving, in a more or less long way, the patient's problem.
Physical therapy, on
the other hand, by directly addressing the damaged muscle, ligament, tendon,
bone or joint, can, in addition to healing the injury, prevent it from
happening again.
7. Physiotherapy Goes Hand In Hand with
Other Medical Specialties
Let us remember that
Chiropractic, although it is less well known, is tremendously respected by all
health professionals. In any case, it is true that doctors from different
specialties (traumatology, neurology, pediatrics, cardiology, geriatrics)
are more likely to refer their patients to physiotherapists. Chiropractors, on
the other hand, tend to go more on their own, in chiropractic centers or
especially in private consultations.
Comments