Chiropractic Care and Physical Therapy Work Together
Chiropractic care, which involves treating the musculoskeletal system through manual adjustments of the spine, has been in use for over 100 years. Physical therapy has been used for at least that long, though some people believe that it was used in some form as early as 460 B.C., around the time of Hippocrates. Chiropractic care and physical therapy actually have a great deal in common—and there are quite a lot of doctors these days who are choosing to specialize in both.
Chiropractic and Physical Therapy Similarities
Both types of treatment are drug-free and surgery-free. Additionally, both work to relieve pain caused by injury, arthritis, and many other physical conditions. Chiropractic care and physical therapy are hands-on procedures that have many different types of treatments, and they both involve patient participation in that patients are asked to join in with their treatment by doing exercises at home.
Chiropractic Physical Therapy Doctors
Many doctors these days are choosing to open medical practices that offer both chiropractic care and physical therapy. These doctors have recognized that chiropractic care and physical therapy can go hand-in-hand, that they can compliment each other.
By becoming both chiropractors and physical therapists, these doctors can offer more comprehensive care to their patients. These doctors can offer more services and treatment options to their patients, and they can broaden the scope of their practices. Using both chiropractic and physical therapy treatment techniques together can help patients recover more quickly than using either one on its own in many cases.
Treatments from Chiropractic Physical Therapists
Most chiropractic doctors have at least around 50 different types of spinal adjustments and procedures that they routinely perform on their patients. These are done to manipulate the vertebrae, to get them back into alignment. Chiropractic physical therapists regularly perform these types of procedures on their patients.
These doctors also use a great number of other types of treatment options. These may include massage therapy, interferential current, hydromassage, ultrasounds and x-rays, electrotherapy (such as TENS units), trigger point therapy, therapeutic exercise equipment, and joint mobilization techniques.
It is also common for chiropractors of this type to design and implement exercise programs for their patients. Some of these doctors have full gyms in their offices in which patients can exercise under the care of trained therapists; others only designate home exercise programs.
When used together, chiropractic treatments and physical therapy treatments can help a patient to effectively recover more quickly.