What is the difference between osteopaths / physiotherapists / chiropractors?
There will always be individual variations, but in general physios may use machines in their treatment, and often spend time going through rehabilitation exercises with you. Many do not use hands on treatment. Chiropractic treatment lays its emphasis on adjustment of the joints and the average treatment time would be approximately 10 minutes. The average osteopathic treatment takes 30 minutes as we do similar joint manipulation to the chiropractors, but we consider that the soft tissues (muscles, ligaments etc) are just as important in the overall symptom picture and recovery. Our treatment therefore involves a lot of stretching, articulation and deep soft tissue treatment. This is helpful in cases such as elderly patients where joint manipulation may be better avoided, so a very effective soft tissue treatment may be given without any strong techniques.