Osteopath and chiropractor: what is the difference between them?

In an unprofessional environment, there is an opinion that an osteopath and a manual therapist are one and the same, that is, these names define the profession of one specialist, only in different words. In fact, there is a difference, and it is based on approaches to the treatment of diseases, the coverage of effects on the body and on the methods that are used in therapy.

What is manual therapy?

Manual therapy has been known since the days of the ancient Greeks and even then it was considered almost a panacea for many diseases. The Latin translation consists of the interpretation of the two words "manus" - the hand and "therapeia" - the treatment. Those. treatment through professional manipulations of the hands over the patient’s body.

The masseur also works with his hands, but his sphere of influence is limited to soft tissues and skin. A chiropractor has a healing effect on bones, ligaments, and joints. The purpose of the manipulation is to eliminate violations in the functions of the musculoskeletal system. Traditional medicine includes two sections in manual therapy: diagnosis by the hands of a doctor and therapy.

What does manual therapy treat?

In Russia, this medical specialty officially appeared in 1997. Manual therapy attracts patients with the absence of medications and an instant therapeutic effect.

By correcting the position of the cervical vertebrae, a highly qualified professional manual therapist will relieve the patient from fainting, headaches, dizziness, increased intracranial pressure, etc. If pain in the heart comes, but the cardiogram does not confirm the problem in the heart muscle, then the patient will also need his services. Diagnosed and confirmed scoliosis will respond with complications in the form of diseases of the lungs and other internal organs. In these and many other cases, you need to contact a specialist.

The main condition that the patient must comply with is diagnosis. However, it is possible to get an appointment with a professional doctor of manual therapy only in the direction of another specialist and after conducting a series of studies that exclude a whole range of internal diseases.

Features of manual therapy

The main goal of manual therapy is to eliminate symptoms and altered functions to normalize the joint in full. The means to achieve the result is the developed system of manipulations with the hands, aimed at eliminating and correcting the manifestations of pathologies in the joints, muscles, spine or ligaments.

From a practical point of view, the work of the manual therapy doctor allows to a certain extent to ignore the degree of changes in any organ. He pays maximum attention to identifying the existing reserve of movement for any structural pathologies of the joint, ligaments. That is, a chiropractor does not treat osteochondrosis, arthrosis and other diseases, but only stimulates and tunes the work of all body structures involved in the movement to a normal rhythm in changed conditions.

Indications for therapy

Manual therapy is resorted to in such cases:

• The first stage of osteochondrosis with exacerbation of the pain syndrome is lumbalgia, cervicalgia, lumbago, thoracalgia (symptoms of the development of functional block of the spine in the neck).
• The second and third stages of osteochondrosis, accompanied by displacement of the vertebrae. Most often, it is observed in the cervical and lumbar spine (humeroscapular periarthritis, knee periarthritis, styloiditis, knee periarthritis, etc.).
• Acute pain with common osteochondrosis.
• Degenerative lesions of the spinal column, accompanied by vegetative-visceral pathologies (Meniere's syndrome, hearing and vision impairment, heart pain, dyskinesia, etc.).

All of the above are indications for visiting a chiropractor. There is a range of symptoms in which a doctor should be consulted, but what the result will be is not known. To eliminate all of the above diseases, an osteopath and a chiropractor can. What is the difference if both specialists have sufficient knowledge? It consists in a quick solution to a problem or a long-term treatment of the cause of the disease.

Contraindications to visiting a chiropractor:

• Neoplasms. In the presence of any tumor (benign, malignant), the use of manual therapy will lead to stimulation of proliferation of pathological tissue.
• Any types of infectious diseases of bone and cartilage tissue (tuberculosis, rheumatism, osteomyelitis, etc.).
• Inflammation of the joints, spinal cord in the acute stage.
• Intervertebral hernia.
• High blood pressure (over 180 units).
• Infections, intoxication, acute circulatory disorders (stroke, bleeding, heart attack, etc.).
• Fresh damage to the joints, spine, postoperative condition.

What is osteopathy?

Osteopathy treats osteopathic injuries or disturbances in the functioning of the body as a single system. Damage, according to experts in this field, manifests itself in the form of spasm, limitation of joint mobility, muscle tightness. As a result, there is a violation of hemodynamics, the supply of tissues with venous blood is limited, nerve fibers are involved in the process, and a symptom arises that signals a disease.

A good osteopath in the diagnostic process determines not only the existing diseases, but also those that are only brewing or may appear as a result of the malfunctioning of joints, ligaments, muscle fibers. The osteopath specialty appeared in the list of medical professions in 2013.

Principles of Osteopathy

The chiropractor and osteopath have a different approach to the treatment of diseases. In manual therapy, they do not cure diseases, but stimulate the body's internal reserves for normal functioning in the current conditions.

In osteopathy, they adhere to several principles:

• Man is a combination of mind, body and spirit (trinity).
• The human body is capable of self-regulation, repair, remodeling of its protective functions.
• The structure and function are in a direct subtle relationship and depend on each other.

One of the most attractive postulates of osteopathy is the statement that all degenerative processes in the body are reversible at any age. You just need to know how to do this, go through several sessions and follow the doctor's recommendations, in which a complete change in lifestyle becomes a frequent requirement.

What is an osteopath treated with?

The definition of the human body as a system of relationships and dependencies allows osteopathy to approach the treatment of diseases comprehensively.

What does an osteopathic doctor treat :

• Headache.
• Pain in the back, spine, hernia of the intervertebral disc, protrusion, neuralgia, osteochondrosis, scoliosis, etc.
• Rheumatological diseases, edema, arthritis.
• Periarthritis, convulsions, arthrosis.
• Varicose veins, pinching and inflammation of the sciatic nerve.
• Disorders of the digestive tract, flat feet.

Contraindications for treatment by an osteopathic doctor are limited to a general list, which includes oncology, mental illness, fever, acute viral diseases. Pregnancy, intervertebral hernias, hepatitis and many other conditions and diseases in which manual therapy is prohibited is not an obstacle for osteopaths.

In osteopathy, a separate area thriving on gastrointestinal problems is thriving. They are solved by manipulative methods, without prescribing medications.

Diagnostics - a general condition

To understand the difference between an osteopath and a chiropractor, you should determine the similarity that catches the eye of almost everyone. Common to the two directions of treatment is a certain set of diagnostic measures.

Before going to the procedures, each patient undergoes such studies:

• Radiography - to determine the composition of bone tissue (viruses, inflammation, osteoporosis, etc.).
• Computed tomography (according to indications).
• MRI - to detect intervertebral hernias, protrusions.
• Ultrasound - diagnosis of the state of the thyroid gland, adrenal glands, vessels of the neck and brain (according to indications).
• Densitometry - determination of the degree of osteoporosis (according to indications).
• Laboratory tests of blood and urine (general indicators, in-depth study - according to indications).
• ECG.

What are the similarities?

Determining with a specialist, many doubt who to choose, an osteopath or chiropractor, what is the difference and whose help is more effective. But to understand this is possible only by revealing the degree of relationship between the two areas.

In addition to diagnostics, these specialists are united by the following:

• An individual treatment program for each patient.
• Mandatory hand diagnosis.
• Both methods of therapy are used to prevent diseases of the musculoskeletal system.
• Doctors of these specialties must have a higher medical education, fundamental knowledge in anatomy, neurology, physiological processes.
• The patient feels the results of treatment after the first session.
• Both specialists do not use drugs in practice.

The main similarity is hand therapy. For a chiropractor there is a strictly defined system of manipulations. That is, if the patient has a displacement of the disks in the spine, then the specialist will put them in place. Moreover, quite often the patient hears a crunch, feels pain. An osteopath can also set joints, but using a different technique, pursuing other goals besides the instant effect. The difference between an osteopath and a chiropractor also consists in techniques. In osteopathy, there are no sudden movements, and the patient rarely experiences pain.

What is the difference?

The difference between an osteopath and a chiropractor lies in the principles of treatment. The first will reveal the reason for the displacement of the disks. For example, a person has poorly or not fully restored ligaments after ankle sprain. If treatment has failed, and a person is lame for a long time, then changes in the entire musculoskeletal system will inevitably occur: vertebral discs will shift, knee and femoral joints will be damaged, internal organs will undergo changes, etc. An osteopath will primarily repair damaged ligaments. And everything else will be restored by the internal forces of the body. The chiropractor and osteopath occupy fundamentally different positions in their approach to patient health.

The chiropractor is not looking for the cause of the disease, he works in the designated field and makes every effort to ensure that the joint or spine function productively in the conditions that have already developed. Moreover, if the cause of the pain is, for example, in the internal organs, the patient will seek help repeatedly, receiving only a temporary respite during the sessions.

If we try to briefly determine how the osteopath differs from the manual therapist, then we can say that the first is engaged in the operational solution of the problem, and the second in the elimination of the causes that led to its occurrence.

Professional growth

Neurologist, osteopath, manual therapist - these specialties are connected by a common direction of impact on the human body. They are engaged in restoration techniques to normalize the patient's condition. Each direction has its own methods, but the osteopath has wider coverage and, solving one of the problems, it contributes to the healing of all body systems. Some patients claim that there is a “setup of all systems”, but this requires more than a dozen sessions.

When figuring out for yourself what is better, an osteopath or a manual therapist, do not lose sight of your own diagnosis and ask your doctor which specialist is preferable. It is believed that a chiropractor, after several years of practice, comes to osteopathy. And this is due to the fact that the mechanical effect on the patient is not always the best treatment option. A mild effect that forces the body to change and effectively maintain the resulting state of health is a more successful technique.

Official medicine

From the point of view of modern medicine, it is incorrect to contrast osteopathy and manual therapy. The rivalry takes place at the level of emotions of patients without evidence. Official science gives the main characteristics of the theory and practice of both directions.

Table: Osteopath and Chiropractor Differences and Similarities

Osteopath and chiropractor, what is the difference and what unites these two specialties? The differences lie in the plane of the approach to the treatment of diseases, and the community is determined by a single therapeutic direction - manual medicine.

Who to contact?

A person without a medical education does not know which doctor to contact, whose assistance will be more effective. It’s hard to figure out what the difference is. Osteopath or chiropractor? Simple rules will help to solve these issues and decide:

• The therapist gives the direction to the doctors of these specialties, and he decides whose help is more effective.
• If an acute pain catches up unexpectedly and its localization can be accurately determined, then the chiropractor will provide emergency help .
• In cases where the problem has not been resolved at a time, but is constantly returning, it is worth visiting an osteopath to find its cause.
• Not so important as the specialty is called. An osteopath and a chiropractor should be able to use both techniques. The difference lies only in the methods and the ultimate goal of treatment.

A patient who needs long-term treatment in the case of a running illness of the musculoskeletal system ultimately finds a doctor who trusts his health.