PT, Chiro, Massage....etc...
I still think you should do a little blurb on what to look for in Physical Therapy, Chiro, Massage therapists.
That is a good question. For a physical therapist or chiro, you are really going to want to have somoene that does manual therapy, as well as exercised based therapy. There are a lot of "quawk"practors out there who want you to come in every other day or every week and just crack your back. Ideally, you need to find out why things are out of alignment, how they are getting out of alignemnt and what you need to do to get them back into alignment (proper stretching and strengthening). The "re-setting" that the chiro does is a band-aide to the problem. It is a temporary fix, to which you need to properly maintain. A good chiro should be showing you how to do that and not just taking your money. Physical therapists can also be very helpful in getting you on the path towards feeling better. Again, manaul therapy and proper strengthening and stretching is the way you want to go. If you are walking in and all the therapist does is ultrasound and stim, you need to walk back out and find someone else.
Massage therapy is a little different. Ideally, you are going to go with what feels go to you. I personally prefer a deep tissue sports massage. For some, this may be to invasive and uncomfortable. You have to find out what you can handle. Good soft tissue work can go along way. Like the other stuff, it is always up to you to maintain the proper tissue density once the therapist helps get the knots out.
Therapy modalities are great. They make you feel better and they can make you perform better as well. But, in the end, it is up to you to maintain the healthy structure after therapy. If you don't, you will always end up where you were before.
Another word on Chiro's.....it seems that a lot of them these days want to talk about diet and push their crappy supplements on you or their friggin' pine needle juice or whatever they are selling. I would steer clear of these them. I personally am not a fan of voodoo medicine.
Patrick
That is a good question. For a physical therapist or chiro, you are really going to want to have somoene that does manual therapy, as well as exercised based therapy. There are a lot of "quawk"practors out there who want you to come in every other day or every week and just crack your back. Ideally, you need to find out why things are out of alignment, how they are getting out of alignemnt and what you need to do to get them back into alignment (proper stretching and strengthening). The "re-setting" that the chiro does is a band-aide to the problem. It is a temporary fix, to which you need to properly maintain. A good chiro should be showing you how to do that and not just taking your money. Physical therapists can also be very helpful in getting you on the path towards feeling better. Again, manaul therapy and proper strengthening and stretching is the way you want to go. If you are walking in and all the therapist does is ultrasound and stim, you need to walk back out and find someone else.
Massage therapy is a little different. Ideally, you are going to go with what feels go to you. I personally prefer a deep tissue sports massage. For some, this may be to invasive and uncomfortable. You have to find out what you can handle. Good soft tissue work can go along way. Like the other stuff, it is always up to you to maintain the proper tissue density once the therapist helps get the knots out.
Therapy modalities are great. They make you feel better and they can make you perform better as well. But, in the end, it is up to you to maintain the healthy structure after therapy. If you don't, you will always end up where you were before.
Another word on Chiro's.....it seems that a lot of them these days want to talk about diet and push their crappy supplements on you or their friggin' pine needle juice or whatever they are selling. I would steer clear of these them. I personally am not a fan of voodoo medicine.
Patrick
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