Thursday, August 13, 2009

What Is The Difference Between A Chiropractor And A Physiotherapist?

By Peter Benalla

Physiotherapists and Chiropractors both work tirelessly to help their patients improve their ability to function and move normally while also investing time and effort into finding a way to reduce a patient's pain. Because both professionals involve working with a patient's ability to move and the reduction of pain, many people get the two fields confused. The truth is that there are some fundamental differences between Chiropractors and Physiologists and this article will spell out a few of those differences for the reader.

Schooling

A Physiotherapist must complete at least four years of school and a two year long masters program. A Physiotherapist must train in a wide variety of areas and be licensed to practice his craft. To that end, Physiotherapists are required to regularly renew their licenses throughout their careers. The regular renewal helps forces the professional to stay current and knowledgeable about the newest research and therapy techniques.

Chiropractors are required to complete at least four years of school though schooling usually involves five to seven years of class and field work in the United Kingdom before a professional license can be obtained. Chiropractors, like Physiologists are also required to keep their licenses current in order legally practice chiropractics without supervision.

Relieving Pain

Chiropractors work to relieve their patients' pain by using a number of pain relief therapies. These techniques can either be taught to the patient to do at home or therapies that will require the patient to continue visiting the Chiropractor in order to maintain his alignment and stay pain free.

Physiotherapists offer a variety of therapies that are designed to increase a patient's ability to move properly. Physiotherapy involves everything from teaching patients how to perform a number of different stretches and exercises that the patient can complete at home to working with him in a professional setting. Eventually a physiotherapy patient heals and no longer requires the help of a physiotherapist and can stop going to therapy appointments.

Belief System

Chiropractors believe that all of a patient's problems can be traced back to the spine. This includes problems involving the endocrine and respiratory systems as well as obvious problems in the back and in the joints. Chiropractics believe that if the spine is fixed, the other ailments will heal as well.

A Physiotherapist does not believe that all illnesses can be cured by treating the spine. A Physiotherapist believes in treating the specific injury and reducing a patient's pain while increasing his function. Gall bladder inflammation recovery, for example, cannot be cured with a spinal alignment.

The two fields of study may look similar to most on the outside, but Chiropractors and Physiologists are actually quite different. - 14130

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