Massage therapy vs Physical therapy

[Power of m squared]

Does anyone believe that physical/physio therapy has any advaneforum.xxxes over massage therapy for most soft tissue pathologies? If so, which conditions would physical therapy provide superior therapeutic results?  A trained remedial massage therapist would expect to see clients with conditions such as headache, migraine, whiplash, carpal tunnel syndrome, tennis elbow, thoracic outlet syndrome, achilles tendinitis and many more such problems. Perhaps more people will consult with a physical/physio therapist for the same kind of problems. Since PT's receive very little training in massage therapy, how are they capable of effectively treating such conditions, which in my opinion benefit most greatly from massage?It's my understanding that PT's will use some type of machine (be it ultrasound, laser, interferential etc.) together with a prescription of stretching and strengthening exercises to treat the problems that massage therapists treat entirely with their hands. [A well trained massage therapist should also be able to prescribe such exercises] Am i correct?If so, has it been established that these machines offer superior therapeutic value?I'm also curious to know why the PT course is so long given that that they don't spend much time at all learning how to massage effectively. How do they pad out the course so much?Thoughts?

 

[meanolmaw]

Massage therapy vs Physical therapy

This was one of the main reasons I had a hard time trying to decide between becoming a PT vs a MT. Due to possibilities of benefits of the clients, I chose massage therapy.

 

[seek513]

Massage therapy vs Physical therapy

I was first enrolled in college to become a PT.  Once I decided that I didn't like college, I gave massage a try.I am very happy with my decision.

Does anyone believe that physical/physio therapy has any advaneforum.xxxes over massage therapy for most soft tissue pathologies?

As I hear/heard many times the massage has made the biggest difference when compared to PT or Chiropractic alone, when dealing with soft tissue pathologies.

Since PT's receive very little training in massage therapy, how are they capable of effectively treating such conditions, which in my opinion benefit most greatly from massage?

If you go to PT you usually only get about 10-30 mins of massage.In my own PT I only had 10 mins.  I had whiplash and a herniated disk along with 2 buldging disks.  I was experiencing pain radiating down my arm also.What was 10 mins. going to do?The part of PT that helped me the most was being on traction.  I never received US.  Stim never seemed to make a difference.Massage helped more to get me a faster recovery, but I was receiving massage elsewhere while going to PT 3 days a week.  Had I only been receiving the 10 mins of massage at the PT facility, I don't think I would have recovered as quickly.In PT, I do think the stretching helps a lot.  The patient is there and performs the stretches while supervised.  This at least seems to get them to do the stretches regularly.  Ice and Heat help but, some of us don't have regular access or time to apply heat and ice to our clients.   At the DC I get 55 mins with each client.  Not much time for anything, IMO. In the after, I maintain myself with massage not PT.  I stretch, receive adjustments and massage regularly.  

 

[bonzii]

Massage therapy vs Physical therapy

I went to a PT 3 times a week for a few months for a neck/ shoulder issue I was having. They did about 20 minutes of massage on me each time, and had me on a stretch and exercise regime. Honestly, I think the main reason the treatment was as successful as it was was due to the regularity of the sessions. I am not terribly disciplined when it comes to things like that, and within a couple of weeks of stopping the visits, the stretches/ exercises went by the way side. But while I was going, there was a huge improvement in my posture, the strength in my back and an awareness of how my posture was contributing to the problem. The postural component has stayed with me pretty well, and I do the back exercises once in a while, usually when I feel soreness in my shoulder.It seems that all these things could have been gotten from a good MT, but I wonder whether I would have been inclined to develop a routine without having that office time set aside with the intention of doing nothing else for an hour.