Chiropractors focus on the overall health and wellbeing of their patients. They strive to help patients attain a high quality of life they can feel good about. After all, no one should walk through life carrying pains, aches, misalignments, or sore muscles. Chiropractors have trained hard to help relieve these issues and more without the use of invasive medical procedures and heavy loads of medication.
In order to do this successfully, well-rounded chiropractors will have a deep understanding of alternative methods of treatment, especially physical therapy. And, as a result, chiropractic physical therapy means being able to address misalignments throughout the body with manual manipulation of the spine as well as provide the proper movements and exercises to take healing one step further.
The Difference Between Chiropractic Treatment and Physical Therapy
While both chiropractic treatment and physical therapy may work on the same areas of the body, their approach is different. Yet, they complement one another, each having their own focus and methods used to benefit the specific area as greatly as possible. Let’s take a quick look at both, shall we?
Chiropractic Treatment
Chiropractic treatment is a fantastic tool for reducing pain throughout the body – or eliminating it. This is a hands-on approach that uses manual adjustments of the spine, as well as other non-invasive treatments, to bring healing to bones, muscles, joints, cartilage, tissues, and more.
Chiropractors believe that whole-body healing can be achieved naturally by the body when it is in total alignment.
Physical Therapy
Physical therapy is another type of treatment that many seek after things like sports injuries, car accidents, arthritis, post-surgery, and more. Using various treatments that target certain injuries, patients will learn different movements and exercises that will help reduce pain over time.
Many physical therapy treatments will encourage education and tools for a movement that can help for self-managing pain at home and in the future.
Chiropractic Physical Therapy
Chiropractic physical therapy is a focus on your pain and overall healing that encompasses both chiropractic treatment and physical therapy. That means this non-invasive method of reducing – and eliminating – pain and discomfort uses two different approaches.
As a patient of chiropractic physical therapy, you will have access to a wide variety of treatments that will aid in whole-body healing. A few of these treatments include:
- Manual therapy to address spine misalignment, muscle and tissue pain, joint stiffness.
- Therapeutic exercises are movements that include stretching and strengthening. These help to decrease pain, increase range of motion, act as a proactive treatment, and more.
- Therapeutic ultrasound is used to reduce inflammation, relax tissues, encourage blood flow, and speed up healing time.
- Kinesiology tape gives extended soft tissue manipulation that enhances physical therapy.
- Electrical muscle stimulation is a great tool for increasing the impact of chiropractic care.
- Ice therapy, officially known as cryotherapy, works to reduce inflammation and decrease pain.
If a chiropractor has a goal of providing non-invasive treatment and overall healing for the body, then it only seems right to use methods that work together for the greater good. This explains how chiropractic care and physical therapy have come together to provide patients with the best forms of treatment.
Chiropractic Physical Therapy at Stuart Spine Center
Dr. Alyssa Kenyon of Stuart Spine Center understands that not everyone benefits from just one approach. Rather, using a combination of chiropractic care to reduce the pain while enlisting physical therapy methods for extending mobility, healing comes at a much more steady and encouraging pace.
To learn more, contact Stuart Spine Center today at (772) 286-1720.
