How I chose between Chiropractor vs. Physical Therapy (ASL subbed)

[yovonne7]

I HAD MRI'S AND XRAY'S DONE. NO TEAR BEFORE GOING TO THE CHIRO. EVEN THE CHIRO TOOK XRAYS. BUT WHATEVER, YOU DO WHAT YOU WISH, I COULD CARE LESS, I WAS ONLY TRYING TO BE NICE AND GIVE MY OPINION TO HELP.

-__-

[yovonne7]

Noooooo chiro!! trust your insticts ok?? i did go to one and finish tore my disc! i never had that problem before and after went to him cause me A LOT of pain went to hospital and MRI show tore my disc... please avoid because either way you go even if not hurt worse, will have to become dependent. physical therapist will help you get back on track

[chiropractic47]

@yovonne7 Nooooo PT!! Chiro is for spine/nervous system/organs, PT is for large joints and soft tissue. You tore your disc before going to the chiro....be honest now.

[chiropractic47]

It's published...DC's recieve more classroom hours in most advanced science subjects than: MD's, DO's, RN's, PA's, and DPT's. DC's don't "treat" but simply detect then correct nervous system impeding vertebral subluxations...Correction Care. Then maintain the spine/nervous system function and analyze and counsel on a healthful lifestyle...Wellness Care! Many DC's are confused as to their primary goal (outlined above) thus practice as "medipractors" and/or "physicaltherapyactors". ChiropracTIC.

[Weeble1818]

Chiropractic has always fought an uphill battle politically. Its very disenfranchised politically with much infighting about which way the profession needs to go. There are many who wish to incorporate some allopathic methods, ie limited Rx rights etc and then there is the old guard who is staunchly against anything medical. The end result of this is a very weakened political base. The APTA however has much political clout and is very unified, organized but most importantly backed by the AMA

[Weeble1818]

hmm..that it is weird..must be a PT conspiracy ;-) go to the link again and click on "Diffen" to the left of title then type in chiro and pt

Go to the pub med site and type in this in the search field and it should come up.

"A comparative study of chiropractic and medical education"

Not to be argumentative but the grass is always greener. Chiropractic has been prejudice by the AMA for many generations. See Wilks vs the AMA which was a supreme court case regarding this.

[Weeble1818]

Ahh I found one that seems to be about right here you go, You can cut and paste but must add the third "w" to front, happy reading

ww.diffen.com/difference/Chiro­practor_vs_Physical_Therapist

OR for a DC/MD comparison to see even more similarities

ww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/973­7032

[trodeghero]

@Weeble1818 Confused on both the links you provided. The first one, difference between Chiro & PT, only had information listed under PT and nothing under chiropractor ... did I miss something on this (could just be my PC)? Your second one, DC/MD comparison says that it cannot be found. And I did add the extra 'w' ...

[trodeghero]

Interesting tidbit of research to throw at this topic for anyone interested.

A Cochrane Review of Combined Chiropractic Interventions for Low-Back Pain Spine; 1 February 2011 - Volume 36 - Issue 3 - p 230–242

Here's a summary. Chiropractic can slightly help in the short term, however, "there is currently no evidence that supports ... that these interventions provide a clinically meaningful difference for pain ... in people with LBP when compared to other interventions."

[trodeghero]

@Weeble1818 You are saying a DPT degree is not a doctor and DC is a doctor? They are both doctorate level degrees, and both are NOT medical doctors so they are comparable. You base your 'greater' education on the length of the program. Most DPT degrees are 3 years, but also require a 4 year undergraduate degree totaling 7 years of education. All DC programs I have seen require a 2 year associates degree at minimum, totaling only 6 years. By your reasoning, PTs have more education then.

[trodeghero]

@Weeble1818

You are misinforming, for one, about the length and 'expertise' of a PT vs. a chiro. You claim that the DPT is, "... still a shorter curriculum then what is required for chiropractic." is quite simply false. I've talked with former chiropractors and looked up the degree requirements online. If you can prove to me chiropractors have this higher standard of education than PTs, I might consider to believe you. However, I've done the research, and this is simply not the case.

[Weeble1818]

@trodeghero I know it can be confusing but perhaps look into the they actual curriculums instead of "I talked to a friend" which is anecdotal evidence. Here is some real evidence/information on the topic for your review as requested.

AS it stands the DPT program is on average a 34 month or 2.83 years, whereas a chiropractic program runs 48 months or 4 years or greater. Simply put chiropractors do have a greater amount of education on average then PT’s or even DPT’s

[trodeghero]

@Weeble1818 Read my above post regarding your 'evidence'. The 'friends' I've talked to are those that have attended chiropractic schools (more than just 1) and I have reviewed the curriculums online. I still don't see any evidence that a DC education is superior and grants this over qualification compared to a DPT education. And by your logic, I have superior training because I have spent a total of 9 years in higher education, more than double a 4 year DC degree.

[Weeble1818]

@trodeghero Even if one achieves the DPT degree they are still not considered "Portal of Entry Providers" like a DC, Md etc. The reason for this is the lack of required core curriculum to be a portal of entry. Its not that one education is superior over another just different and more extensive. Congrats to your 9 yrs of higher education, I have the same btw 9 years. Chiro school on avg is 4 yrs but as I previously stated 2-4 years of ungrad is also required to get into program.

[trodeghero]

@Weeble1818 It's not that DC curriculum is more extensive, it's that chiropractors did better to promote and lobby their services whereas PTs did not. Therefore, DCs now have more autonomy than PTs, which I admit makes mea PT jealous. That is more of a product of politics and the legal system, which I grant you, DCs did way better than we did. However, our profession is now making the move to stand up for what we know we are capable of doing.

[craysimons3]

@Weeble1818 Physical therapist have direct access in many states. If a patient wants to come see me for low back pain I can treat them without a physician referral.

[Weeble1818]

@craysimons3 That's fantastic, many times a good PT knows more of how to treat a patient then a referring PCP. The only issue is really the ability to correctly diagnose or rule out any complicating factors. This is the purpose for the DPT program, to give PT's the extra training needed in these areas. PT's have gained a lot of political ground since they have a very strong and unified national association.

[Weeble1818]

@trodeghero You may simply cross reference any accredited institutions that offer these programs to get the facts. Again since it is more difficult to compare a PT degree ( which is a therapist) to that of the DC (which is a doctor) you can find a good comparison between MD vs DC education by doing a quick search on pubmed.gov for "A comparative study of chiropractic and medical education"

Pubmed is an online US Government index, not based on hearsay or folks on u tube spouting off

[lavendar2]

Your vlogs are awesome. I get your opinion about chiropractor, PT and Massage. Many different ways that you can feel better to improve your body needs. I am glad that you got the treatment. :D . Visual Hands Massage by Aletheia (deaf)

[onedorki3boi]

very good video. interesting stuff. As for the comments below....I'm not going to even bother. Chiro vs PT is a long going debate between the professions on who's real and who's not, or who's effective, and what they do. And it's pretty extrememe because I have only spent 10 minutes doing research. So for me to figure that in 10 minutes or less is pretty significant.

[Weeble1818]

@onedorki3boi Yes it has been a long debate and really it boils down to a turf war and who gets control/access to the money pot ie the patients. The reality is both professions have a lot to offer and you will find good and bad in both. There is some overlap in both professions BUT one should not judge a profession on a bad experience of a single provider but rather the validity of their clinical rationale and its application thereof.

[Weeble1818]

Last, many Orthopedics own or have vested interest in Pt clinics and therefore when you see one you are likely to be referred to a PT not a chiro as this girl was in video. Also, there is a competing marketplace between PT's and Chiro's. Chiropractic is not part of the "Good ole Boy" club of medicine like PTs are and therefore are always fighting an uphill battle against unfounded bias, misinformation and outright lies.

[YokoWenis]

@Weeble1818 You can take your PT referral to any clinic you want, regardless of what business is on the paper. Anyone who says otherwise is lying.

[Weeble1818]

@YokoWenis I am not sure what you mean. If a referral is made for physical therapy by a qualified provider (MD, DC, DO ) then the patient may take that referral to whatever physical therapy clinic they choose, yes. One however can not see a physical therapist without a referral. 

[YokoWenis]

@Weeble1818 Whether or not your insurance requires a referral prior to treatment depends on your individual insurance coverage.  Mine insurance does not require a referral for physical therapy.

[Weeble1818]

Chiropractors as doctors routinely take or order plain film radiographs, MRI's US and other diagnostic procedures, refer to other specialties and make diagnosis's. Pt's do not but rather get that information form the referring doc.

[Weeble1818]

As to the fear people have to chiropractic and manipulation it stems from a longstanding organized effort of misinformation by mainstream medicine to contain and eliminate chiropractic. This is and always has been about control and money. Anyone interested can do a quick Google search on "WILKES VS THE AMA" a supreme court case the chiropractic profession won against the AMA that proves this.

[Weeble1818]

Chiro's and some Pt's do manipulations but chiro's have far more experience and training in this area. How and why a manipulation is preformed is where the two professions differ. This will dictate the results a patient gets. Both Chiro's and some Pt's do manipulations but chiro's have far more experience and training in this area. How and why a manipulation is preformed is where the two professions differ. This will also dictate the results a patient gets form the manipulation.

[Weeble1818]

Chiropractors and PT's do use modalities known as phYSIOtherapies( abbreviated PT) and this is where much of the confusion comes from as people assume PT always mean physical therapy and not phYSIOtherpay. There is a difference. ONLY physical therapist should preform phYSICAL therapy as that entails much more then just the use of physiotherapy modalities, like work hardening or extensive rehabilitation which most chiro's are not trained for.

[Weeble1818]

There is a greater length of education required to obtain this status then what is required to become a therapist like a PT. There is however a degree known as DPT or doctor of physical therapy and many new PT's are going this route although it is still a shorter curriculum then what is required for chiropractic.

[Weeble1818]

Chiropractors and Physical Therapist as professions do have overlap but they are not the same. Chiropractors however are doctors and are known as "portal of entry providers" so one does not need a referral to see them like they would for a PT.

[Weeble1818]

I agree that this video is obviously biased as she never even gave the chiropractor a chance and you can see she went into the appointment with a negative bias. Perhaps this a PT propaganda vid, I don't know but lets clear up a few things.

[mohomojo123]

@Weeble1818

Total fail. You're the one misinforming. Good luck trying to convince the public that chiros are real doctors or at least more qualified than PTs, because virtually no one that is educated is going to believe you.

[Weeble1818]

@mohomojo123

Really? I certainly I do not want to spread any further misinformation.

Can you please point out exactly where I did so in my prior comments? I can provide references to everything I said so please do the same. Further, I am not trying to convince anyone of anything just stating facts.

Unfortunately this is the plight of the chiropractic profession, constant unsubstantiated, unprovoked, biased attacks.

[Weeble1818]

WOW, I'm always amazed at how much misinformation is still out there.

First let me say "jbarah05" if you are a MD then you do not represent your profession well with that type of language. One would think, as some one with an with an advanced degree, you could formulate a better response to convey your message with.

[jbarah05]

i dont know which stupid fuck doctor (pardon my french) would send you to a chiro just listening to the story it sounded like something to do with the muscles ( i am a M.D) sigh i hope that this is not a common thing PT is really the way to go

[trodeghero]

And I'm sorry but chiropractors cannot provide PT treatments. We are separately licensed and it is illegal to provide PT unless you hold a PT license. Something few people know is that PTs also provide manipulation therapy, when indicated. And if you do some research on spinal manipulation and its effects, you'll probably notice much, if not all, of the research is done by PTs.

[PapaRoach8226]

@trodeghero There are too many shady chiropractors these days misleading the general public, claiming that they do physical therapy, in an effort to drum up more business. Only because chiropractors use physical therapy codes with their billing, are they allowed thru a loophole in the laws and claim they provide physical therapy. The sad truth with chiropractic is that most simply put patients thru an assembly line of treatment and typically not individualized...shady

[mariettachiropractor]

@PapaRoach8226 You're right AND wrong. There ARE too many chiropractors doing physical therapy. Chiropractors work best when they do JUST chiropractic. And sadly, lots of chiropractors DO offer physical therapy because it does pay pretty well IF you're using insurance.

BUT your prejudice against chiropractors obviously slants your viewpoint. Have you EVER been to a chiropractor?

Most chiropractors that see lots of people DON'T EVER do PT. They just help people get better faster.

[trodeghero]

Well she did see a chiro for an initial visit, and it appears she was/is not comfortable with manipulation. As a PT myself, I see patients like this a lot. We have to be able to address the patient's preference and fears in order to adequately provide treatment. So, if someone is afraid of manipulation we have to respect that fear.

BUT, don't try to say that chiros are held to some higher standard than PT, because that is simply false. We are taught to screen serious conditions as well.

[mikesimone1]

The title is misleading. She never received treatment from a chiropractor so there can be no comparison.

Chiropractors and physical therapists do overlap a lot in how they treat but there are important differences. The chiropractor, unlike a PT is taught to diagnose serious conditions as would your general practitioner and they are held to the same high standards of diagnosis as your MD.

Chiropractors are taught physical therapy so you get manipulations (the popping is just gas) and PT.

[mariettachiropractor]

Chiropractic and physical therapy are different. Some chiropractors do physical therapy. Chiropractors take stress off your nervous system caused by a vertebra being out of place. The nerve tells the muscle what to do. It would be nice if you understood the difference before you tried to convince others. Thanks for trying, though.

[PapaRoach8226]

@mariettachiropractor And all physical therapists do chiropractic.

[DrChomz]

Chiropractic treats the nervous system. Allowing the spine to function properly can help with many conditions. Taking chemicals for a mechanical problem is like changing your engine oil to improve your alignment...doesnt make sense.

Chiropractic is safe and effective, also the best way to treat spinal pain.

Every year 16,500 people die from NSAIDs (Aleve, Ibuprofen, Aspirin) used to treat pain. Chiropractic has never killed anyone...

Research it.

[vultureshalo]

I've been told that chiropractic is no different from getting a massage, but that it could also cause problems. I think you were wise to trust your instincts.