Chiropractic Treatment vs Physical Therapy

I’m guessing you know that physical therapy and chiropractic treatment are kind of similar but still quite different. Lucky for you, I made this handy dandy chart comparing the two!

So, it looks like the two are very similar when it comes to the amount of time dedicated to school and how much time is spent with patients. There’s also overlap in how chiropractors and PTs treat, since they both can and will give you exercises to do at home and both can use methods like electrical stimulation or massage. The big differences between the two are what they’re able to treat and how much focus is put on your own, independent movement.

How did chiropractic practice get started?

Chiropractic has an interesting origin story. I pulled the following paragraph about its founder, Daniel David Palmer, from https://www.acatoday.org/About/History-of-Chiropractic:

“Palmer performed the initial chiropractic adjustment in September 1895. Palmer examined a janitor who had become deaf 17 years prior after he felt something “give” in his back. Palmer examined the area and gave a crude “adjustment” to what was felt to be a misplaced vertebra in the upper back. The janitor then observed that his hearing improved.”

I’m going to hold off on physical therapy’s origin story for now. You will definitely see an entire post about it in the future, though!

How do I feel about chiropractic treatment?

Obviously, as a future physical therapist, I’m going to root for PT most of the time. However, I do recognize that some patients may benefit more from a chiropractor on certain things and I look forward to establishing good relationships with local chiropractors so I’ll be able to give my future patients referrals that I’m confident in.

I had to do a lot of reading to make this post because I honestly didn’t know a ton about chiropractic treatment to start and there’s still a lot left that I can learn. If you’re interested in more, try one of these sites:

https://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/chiropractic-adjustment/about/pac-20393513

https://www.physio-pedia.com/Spinal_Manipulation#cite_note-3

https://www.webmd.com/pain-management/guide/chiropractic-pain-relief

I would love to hear about your experience with chiropractic care and/or physical therapy! If you have a story to share, leave it in the comments!