The osteopath and the physiotherapist are two manual therapists and both have the patient ‘s health at heart but for different reasons they are consulted and through different methods they reach the goal. As therapies that require close contact between the operator and the patient, to reach in the best way and with the correct timing, it will always be important to create a therapeutic alliance, in a climate of mutual respect and trust.
Physiotherapy: What it is and what it treats
Physiotherapy is a health profession recognized in 1994 with a university course. The university diploma of physiotherapist obtained pursuant to art. 6, paragraph 3, of the legislative decree of 30 December 1992, n. 502, and subsequent amendments, qualifies for the practice of the profession .
The physiotherapist works both in collaboration with the doctor and other health professions, and independently, in relation to the person assisted, evaluating and treating dysfunctions present in the areas of motor skills, superior cortical and visceral functions resulting from pathological events, of various etiologies , congenital or acquired. He elaborates, also in a multidisciplinary team, the definition of the rehabilitation
program aimed at identifying and overcoming the disabled person’s health needs; he independently practices therapeutic activities for the functional re-education of motor, psychomotor and cognitive disabilities using physical, manual, massage and occupational therapies. The physiotherapist, unlike the osteopath, carries out his professional activity in public or private health facilities, as an employee or freelancer. The physiotherapist, working on function, has the ability to bring to light any deficit present in movement, joint mobility, synchrony and harmony of the muscle chains and their activations, as well as any altered perceptions and anomalies in body control-sensitivity at a central level.
In this regard, in fact, one of the main objectives of physiotherapy is rehabilitation in multiple situations such as, for example, in the following fields:
• Orthopedic , after a fracture
• Neurological, after a stroke
• Respiratory, for pulmonary rehabilitation (for example post Covid19 )
• Cardiocirculatory, after surgery or after a heart attack
• Genitourinary, just think of the rehabilitation of the pelvic floor for incontinence , dyspareunia and all the problems of men and women.
Therefore, depending on the level where the lesion is detected and the therapeutic priority, he chooses from a wide range of methods, ranging from massage to cognitive therapeutic exercise, through tissue work. They are all approaches performed with the active participation of the patient, limiting passive work on the couch, in favor of understanding, internalization and putting into practice the gesture or sequence of movements to be recovered . The
physiotherapist performs manual treatments very often supported by machinery such as laser therapy, tecar therapy , ultrasound , magnetotherapy and other instruments based on the present clinical case and the needs of the patient.
The physiotherapist is highly sought after in the sports field, to manage traumas and injuries but also in the geriatric or neurological field in which the bedridden patient or with various motor problems needs to receive numerous physiotherapy sessions at home in order to maintain and improve muscle tone , joint mobility and vascular and lymphatic drainage . In physiotherapy treatment, especially in the rehabilitation field, it is very important that the patient carries out exercises and small therapies independently at home to support and make the work done with the professional more functional.
Osteopathy: What it is and what it treats
Osteopathy is a consolidated system of health care based on manual contact for the evaluation, diagnosis and treatment of the person. Osteopathy is a system of Health Prevention , established and recognized by the World Health Organization (WHO).
Osteopathy in Italy is identified by law 3/2018 also known as the Lorenzin law while on 09/29/2021 the Decree, n. 131 was published in the Official Journal which establishes it as a Health Profession. Both the didactic organization of university training and any supplementary training courses for subjects who have obtained extra-university qualifications are currently being defined.
It is a manual therapy , complementary to classical medicine, focused on the health of the person rather than on the disease; it uses a causal and non-symptomatic approach, looking for the functional alterations of the body that lead to the manifestation of signs and symptoms that can then result in pain of various kinds.
Osteopathic treatment is a manual therapy that uses the professional’s hands as the only intervention tool.
The techniques and approaches used by the osteopath are multiple, chosen based on each individual patient, their needs and their clinical history collected in anamnesis, an initial step carried out during the first visit.
Clinical reasoning, through anamnesis, and the objective examination , aim to recognize the areas most in dysfunction and which, over time, may have created incorrect adaptations which, in turn, generate the patient’s pain .
Osteopathic treatment involves the myofascial system, the visceral system and the entire cranial sphere.
The main reasons why the osteopath is consulted and why his intervention can be of great help are:
