“What is the difference between a physical therapist and a chiropractor?”
I'm 25, and I injured my back while playing a soccer game and now I'm in a lot of pain. Which doctor do you think I should visit? A physical therapist or a chiropractor? How can either one help me?
8 Answers
I often suggest both. Both have valuable tools for musculoskeletal issues. Chiropractic is a neurologically-based profession, personally I’ll look to the brain and nervous system to stimulate pathways to heal that area quickly. A lot of chiropractors only focus on the biomechanics of the body/injury. I can’t necessarily speak for Physical Therapy, but they do an excellent job diagnosing structural injuries and providing rehabilitation programs for those injuries.
Both of them will help you with pain relief. PT will also help restore you to your prior level of function.
Chiropractors are trained to locate, analyze, & correct vertebral subluxations. It’s important to seek care to learn of its benefits for EVERYONE!
A physical therapist is not a doctor, and require a doctor to prescribe a set of physical therapy goals that are to be met during the therapy sessions. A chiropractor is a physician, able to evaluate your condition with testing, history, evaluation of your physical musculoskeletal issues, neurological impairments, posture, etc. A chiropractor has a large number of treatment options for you, where physical therapists must follow the prescription and not deviate from it, even if they think other modalities would be better suited to your condition. They can contact the doctor to see if the prescription can be changed, but cannot change it themselves. So, I would choose a chiropractor, and if they deem physical therapy to be appropriate for you, they can refer you to the PT as needed.
It's better to see a chiropractor---physical therapist are good technicians but unless they have completed the DPT program, they are not doctors. Chiropractors have been autonomous for the last 125 years---they knew how to identify what is and what is not a chiropractic issue.
Dr David Leonard DC, ABHM
Dr David Leonard DC, ABHM
Yes a massive difference! See a chiropractor first because of better training and diagnostics
The difference in Chiropractic and Physical therapy is the specificity of the adjustment that chiropractors perform. Physical therapists can help with the mobility and stability of joints by first and foremost addressing the musculature around bones and joints. Chiropractors deliver very specific adjustments to reinstate the proper alignment of specific bones and joints in specific directions. Chiropractor's doctorates are based in this bony alignment with a handful of classes on the therapies of the muscles. On the other hand, physical therapists' degrees are based on the soft tissue with maybe 1 or 2 classes on the bony manipulation. Manipulation is non-specific, the chiropractic adjustment is specific. Best of luck!
Both can help you in different ways. A Chiropractor will make adjustments to your joints for proper alignment, function, and injury prevention. A PT will find imbalances in your muscles and use stretches, exercises, and other modalities to correct these imbalances. If it were me I would seek out both professions and use them together for the best results.
