Which Practitioner and When?

posted by Pivotal Health Solutions on Friday, September 25, 2015

Think your patients know when to seek your help? Think again.

When choosing among chiropractic, physical therapy and massage, patients aren't always sure which modality best suits their particular injury or issue. Here's a quick guide: 

1) Chiropractic: Patients with clear structural issues (such as pain in the back or neck) are clear candidates for chiropractic. But patients who have soft tissue injuries that keep recurring are also candidates as their pain may be related to a structural issue. 

2) Physical Therapy: If you've had an accident or injury, a physical therapist is who you'd see once the initial pain and inflammation have improved and you're able to move. A PT can help you heal and can help prevent imbalances or permanent injury to movement patterns. Also, if you keep reinjuring an area, a PT can also help you build strength in that area to help prevent injury and restore balance. 

3) Massage (specifically sports massage): Every athlete should be using massage on a weekly or biweekly basis. Massage can help reduce stress, break up muscle adhesions and release spasms and inflammation. After an injury, regular massage helps get fresh blood flow into the area to help it heal.

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Chiropractic, physical therapy, and massage are all relied upon equally by people who used their bodies to make a living as well as recreation athletes. Often times though, people aren’t sure which healing modality is appropriate for their particular type of injury. Today we are going to explore each one and when each can be used most successfully.

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This article excerpt, by Traver H. Boehm, originally appeared here: http://breakingmuscle.com/health-medicine/healing-choices-part-2-choosing-the-right-treatment.