What is the difference between manual therapy and physical therapy?

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asked Jul 8, 2020 in Other- Health by blinknumissit (300 points)
What is the difference between manual therapy and physical therapy?

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answered Jul 14, 2020 by Essmann (42,860 points)
Manual therapy and physical therapy are similar but they are different.

With manual therapy it is a subset of physical therapy.

So while all manual therapy qualifies as physical therapy, not all forms of physical therapy are included in what they call manual therapy.

When it comes to manual therapy, the relevant meaning is “using the hands” or “hands-on.” For physical therapists, manual therapy is literally hands-on therapy.

 When you see a physical therapist they use their hands to provide treatment.

Physical therapy includes additional treatments that you could call “hands-off.”

 Physical therapists often assist patients in using exercise equipment to restore their bodies.

Also for physical therapists, the difference between manual and physical therapy has nothing to do with one form being better than the other. It’s only in specific instances or cases that one form of therapy might provide a more appropriate and effective treatment.

One significant distinction between manual and physical therapy has to do with being able to identify the source of a patient’s problem.

Physical therapists which are trained in the techniques of manual therapy can use their hands to isolate the specific tissue or joint that is causing the patient’s symptoms.

The physical therapists hands provide information that no other assessment tool can replicate.

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