Physical Therapy or Chiropractic: Why Not Both?

Physical therapists and chiropractors are clinicians with two notably different skill sets, education backgrounds and treatment philosophies. However, they do share one significant commonality: the month of October. October is both National Chiropractic Health Month and National Physical Therapy Month, giving us the opportunity to honor all of the life-changing work both of these fields do every single day. Instead of focusing on how these professions compete with one another, we’re taking this month to explore and celebrate how physical therapists and chiropractors can collaborate to create better outcomes for their patients. Whether you’re in an integrated clinic or want to broaden your referral network, here are some reasons you need to partner together for the greater good of your professions and patients.

Physical therapists and chiropractors both make a living by helping people reduce pain, move well and live better. With different but complementary treatment techniques and specialties, integrating can reap incredible benefits for patients of all ages. Let’s take a look at what each clinician brings to the table.

Chiropractors view the body’s musculoskeletal and nervous system as an interconnected partnership with the ability to heal itself; their hands-on treatment method relies on identifying and treating spinal and muscular misalignments that may be causing pressure within the central nervous system that are leading to acute or chronic pain.¹ The chiropractic adjustment realigns the vertebrae, releasing tension in the body.² Unlike many treatments done by physical therapists, chiropractic adjustments have been known to provide instant pain relief, making it a great option for people who are in desperate need of acute relief. People who benefit the most from chiropractic care are patients who are experiencing joint or muscle pain in the back, neck, hips and knees.

Physical therapists, on the other hand, use a more diverse set of approaches to diagnose physical abnormalities in patients and help them restore strength, improve balance and gain greater mobility and range of motion.¹ Whether through corrective exercise, modalities, soft mobilization or many other tools and treatments, they care for all musculoskeletal conditions that hinder the body’s movement and/or cause pain.

Integrating physical therapy and chiropractic care can have some exceptional, long-term benefits to patient care and treatment outcomes. Here are three reasons why this partnership can elevate the prominence of hands-on healthcare within the broader healthcare industry.

Unique, Customized Treatments

Both physical therapists and chiropractors follow thorough assessment protocol so that they may fully understand treatment needs and appropriate success metrics. Because each patient is different, this means these professionals will make individualized treatment plans that are tailored to the patient’s unique capabilities and the clinician’s unique competancies.¹ When these clinicians work together, they can create complementary protocol to maximize treatment benefits of every visit.

Better Results, No Matter the Goal

Whether the treatment is meant to prevent injury, rehabilitate an injury or just optimize movement or performance, the combination of physical therapy and chiropractic will help reach the goal more holistically. Utilizing chiropractor’s savvy in adjustment with physical therapist’s expertise in strengthening, lengthening and helping the body move better, patients will reap the benefits of allowing each professional to play off of each other’s strengths and fill in each other’s gaps.

Unified in Providing Safer Pain Relief

Both practices are conservative methods of treating musculoskeletal pain and/or dysfunction. Instead of using invasive tactics like surgery or pushing pills like physicians, physical therapists and chiropractors both understand the benefits of treating the underlying cause of the problem before escalating to drastic or potentially addictive measures. Patients will feel confident utilizing both physical therapy and chiropractic to make better-informed decisions and potentially reduce treatment risk.¹

Looking to participate in the celebrations this month? During National Chiropractic Health Month 2019, the American Chiropractic Association and its members are focusing on how musculoskeletal health leads to strength, stability and ultimately the success of a life lived more fully and actively.³ Get involved by downloading resources from the campaign toolkit, including patient handouts, social media posts, promotional materials and more.

For National Physical Therapy Month 2019, the American Physical Therapy Association is aiming to raise awareness of the benefits of physical therapy and urging people to choose physical therapy to improve mobility, manage pain and other chronic conditions, recover from injury and prevent future injury and chronic disease. Visit ChoosePT.com to find educational resources that can help your patients and community at large understand the value of physical therapy.

While we appreciate the work of chiropractors and physical therapists every day, we’re using this month especially to praise them for the dedication they show to their patients and to the improvement of their fields. Thank you from all of us at Performance Health!

Resources:

1. https://relaxtheback.com/blogs/news/chiropractic-or-physiotherapy-what-s-right-for-me
2. https://www.concentra.com/resource-center/articles/physical-therapist-vs-chiropractor-who-should-i-visit-for-my-back-pain/
3. https://www.acatoday.org/Education-Events/National-Chiropractic-Health-Month