chiropractor
Peter Benalla asked:


Osteopaths and Chiropractors both work with their patients’ entire bodies and because of this many people mix up the two professions.  While Osteopathy and Chiropractics seem similar on the surface, the two are very different schools of thought and the approach each profession takes to pain management and treatment is different.  Here are some of the differences between an Osteopath and a Chiropractor.

A Chiropractor is a person who is interested in how a person’s body works, but views the workings of a body primarily through the spinal and muscular systems.  Usually a Chiropractor focuses on pain relief and injury recovery.  He or she will use spine and joint adjustments, massage, electrical stimulation and rehabilitative exercise to help a patient heal as well as working with the patient in other areas of his life (primarily diet and exercise programs). 

Osteopaths work with a patient’s whole body, not just the spinal system and joints.  An osteopath will conduct a thorough exam of a patient’s entire body to diagnose the patient’s problem.  He is usually contacted in a patient’s effort to reduce pain or heal from an injury, but he helps patients with a variety of other problems as well.  His methods of treatment involve physical therapy, adjustments to the body and massage.

Chiropractors and Osteopaths employ therapy that involves a patient moving his body in ways that he is not used to moving.  Chiropractors accomplish this by moving the patient themselves, with swift “cracking” motion.  Osteopaths’ therapy is gentler, using a smooth technique to stretch the muscles of a patient to increase their range of motion.

Another major difference between Chiropractors and Osteopaths is the way that they get their patients to move.  Chiropractors move the patients themselves.  Osteopaths teach their patients how to move and stretch so that they can incorporate their rehabilitation routine at home. 

One of the reasons that people get chiropractics and osteopathy confused is that Chiropractics is a derivative form of osteopathy.  The person who invented chiropractics (Daniel David Palmer) studied under the person who invented osteopathy (Dr. Andrew Taylor Still).

The major difference between an Osteopath and a Chiropractor is that while the Chiropractor is primarily focused on the spine and joints (and the muscles too”to a point), an Osteopath is also concerned with the rest of the body.  He or she might treat patients with respitory problems, digestive problems or any other number of problems that might not seem related to the spine or joints.

Both Chiropractors and Osteopaths will give you excellent care.



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