Many patients often ask what the difference between an Osteopath and Physiotherapist is. Many are surprised to find that, when it comes to sports injury treatment, both professions in private practice offer a similar experience.
Osteos and Physios will both assess your general health, enquire about the mechanisms of injury, assess whole body function in relation to your injury and treat accordingly.
We all use soft tissue techniques, manipulation, stretching and adjunctive therapies such as kinesiotaping, western acupuncture and electro therapy. Prescription of exercise is a fundamental component of rehabilitation and in my experience, this expertise can be dependent on the experience and specialism of individual practitioners, so it’s worth enquiring about this with your Osteopath directly.
Exercise prescription is something I’ve been involved with since the beginning of my career as a Personal Trainer and Sports Therapist, and the last 12 years as an Osteopath with a special interest in Sports Injury Rehabilitation. I have a key interest in winter sports injuries, having lived in the mountains in America, France and New Zealand, working on ski and snowboard competitions and treating pros and local legends alike!
These days the wealth of information and evidence base created for treating sports injuries is known across professions. This is a really great thing for the patient as having evidence and varying approaches can help tremendously in finding your way from acute injury to full function again.
Osteopaths are now a key part of medical care at the Olympics and widely employed in professional sports teams.
Over the last 20 years in manual therapy, the more I work with colleagues across the main musculoskeletal professions, the more I realise a multidisciplinary approach to patient care is key to injury recovery.
So why not try an Osteopath’s approach to your sports injury?
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You can find more on Chris, and book online here.