Why Choose a Clinic that Offers Chiropractic and Physiotherapy Together?
Due to lots of myths and misconceptions, many people think there is no value in using physiotherapy while seeing a chiropractor, and vice-versa. Let me tell you that it’s simply not true. Both treatments have great benefits when combined as long as both practitioners fully collaborate with one another.
You may have heard the term “integrated care”. It’s often claimed to be used in multidisciplinary clinics and hospital settings. But a truly integrated care approach requires the health care providers to have open dialog, as well as a trust and belief in the work of the other. An integrated care approach is the best you can find in relation to recovering from an injury or a condition. It combines the expertise from different health professionals and looks at the entire human body and not just the injury itself.
It also allows a stronger collaboration and reduces the redundancy of care, which in return saves you time and money in the long run. But more importantly, it helps you with a better and faster recovery.
We encourage all patients that are new to our clinic to be seen by both professionals. This allows them to have the expertise of two brains, plus countless years of clinical excellence. We have found that the combination of chiropractic care and physiotherapy far outperforms just one on its own.
The leading publication in our combined fields, The Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics (JMPT) published in 2014 a study that compared the cost-effectiveness of chiropractic combined with physiotherapy versus traditional medical care. The manual therapies (i.e. chiropractic and physiotherapy) were more cost effective than the “usual general practitioner care alone, or with exercise spinal stabilization, GP advice, advice to remain active, or brief pain management for improving low back and shoulder pain/disability.” J Manipulative Physiol Ther 2014 Jul-Aug;37(6):343-62.
So, at ReAlign Natural Health Clinic, we choose to follow this approach. You will be seen by more than one specialist for your health care concern. We strongly encourage the symbiotic approach whereas some require more chiropractic, some more physiotherapy, but all would benefit from receiving both.
Drs. Mark and Phil analyze and correct spinal dysfunction. This includes, but is not limited to, such conditions as headache, jaw pain, shoulder dysfunction, lower back pain, neck pain, numbness and tingling among others. Physiotherapist Matt identifies irregularities in movement patterns due to over or underuse, including strengthening weak muscle groups, stretching those muscles that are short due to sitting or injury, rehabilitation from surgery and many more.
Over the years we have seen a tremendous success pattern emerge from our dual therapy approach. We firmly believe that physiotherapy enhances chiropractic adjustments, and that chiropractic adjustments help physiotherapy gains.
Physiotherapists and chiropractors share several major similarities; they address your body’s pain, function and range of movement. Your body works as one functional unit meaning all the joints work together. Many injuries require the work of both of these professionals, such as neck and shoulder pain, back and leg related issues.
By combining the two disciplines, you are able to optimize your treatments and recover faster, and in the best possible way. Whilst chiropractic may help to diagnose the problem, relieve pain and restore normal movement, a physiotherapist can help to keep the restored movement and keep you pain free.
In some cases, one injury can also lead to another issue that may require the help of another discipline. For instance, if you are experiencing an ankle ligament sprain this may induce a limp. Whilst the issues surrounding the ankle can be treated by a physiotherapist, the limp may have resulted in a strain in the lower back which needs to be looked at by a chiropractor.
Finally, getting a second opinion on any injury is always valuable. Each profession can look at injuries from a different angle and may notice one thing but not the other. This means that they may go about treating the injury a certain way that fails to address the underlying issue. By visiting both professionals, you are getting a far more well-rounded treatment than you would otherwise.
Next time you’re not sure which discipline to see for your injury or health concern, call us and let us help you make the right decision.
Learn more about chiropractic care and physiotherapy.