Massage as a part of PT treatment.

[Sparda29]

Not asking for medical advice here. I was recently in a car accident (neck, shoulder, back injury)and I was sent to physical therapy. The physician in charge of the rehab center prescribed PT and chiropractic care.

One of my friends was telling me, just go to PT and it will be like 3/times a week massages.

I've gone for about a week and no massage therapy at all. I asked them about that and they said that they don't believe in massage therapy as a treatment option. Only electro-stimulation, heat, ice and exercise. Is this something that varies from physical therapist to physical therapist or is this standard?

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[darkangel77]

I think it depends on the clinic. At the outpatient place I worked at as an aide, and at my last outpatient clinical, we did therapeutic massage for patients when it was indicated. Then again, both those clinics had a big focus on manual therapy.

At my mom's PT clinic (she, too, got into a car accident 2 weeks ago), she also just gets heat/stim and TherEx.

At some of the clinics my patients described to me, and that my friends / classmates did affiliations or worked at, they said that they rarely or never did massage or manual work on their patients. So it depends on the clinic / therapist 🙂

Wishing you a fast recovery!

 

[goyo1010]

Not asking for medical advice here. I was recently in a car accident (neck, shoulder, back injury)and I was sent to physical therapy. The physician in charge of the rehab center prescribed PT and chiropractic care.

One of my friends was telling me, just go to PT and it will be like 3/times a week massages.

I've gone for about a week and no massage therapy at all. I asked them about that and they said that they don't believe in massage therapy as a treatment option. Only electro-stimulation, heat, ice and exercise. Is this something that varies from physical therapist to physical therapist or is this standard?

Completely depends on the PT's beliefs and treatment biases. Many therapists don't rely on soft tissue massage as a primary mode of treatment, and there is very good reason for that. If you want a massage, then go to a massage therapists. PTs are educated and trained in much more than just massage. We literally had just 2 or 3 labs for soft tissue work.

Also, modalities such as heat, ice, exercise, electrotherapy are dependent on the PT. Depending on the evidence they look at, they may or may not use those modalities for your particular diagnosis or problem list. However, it should be noted therapeutic exercise is something that is integral for each therapy session.

Also, that friend of yours is insulting.

 

[unlikeall]

Although manual therapy is an integral part of practice, it is not the only part. There are many things that need to be considered when looking at a patient. May be manual therapy would do you more harm than good. May be ther ex is really all you need to improve. Some PTs rely heavy on manual therapy techniques, and some PTs rely heavily on ther ex. as long as you in improve and your quality of life improves all is good.

 

[_FNG_]

Some PTs rely heavy on manual therapy techniques, and some PTs rely heavily on ther ex. as long as you improve and your quality of life improves all is good.

I happen to disagree with this to a certain extent. As doctorate trained professionals, I think we owe it to our profession, our patients, and society to provide the best care. As we all know, this is done by bringing in personal experience, research findings, and patient input to decide on treatment interventions. Too often in this field people put personal experience above the evidence and say "US and estim gets them better so why change" when time and placebo may be doing more of the work than the magic wand. Manual therapy, combined with exercise, has been shown to be a beneficial intervention in a number of musculoskeletal issues and those PTs that chose not use this approach (not talking about rubbing on the person) are selling our profession short. Can you tell I'm one of the PTs that rely heavily on manual therapy??

 

[469738]

For one think, massage and manual therapy are entirely different things. My PT tells me this often. I do not know the exact differences because I am primarly just a patient (and now Pre-PT student) of manual therapy on a weekly or bi-monthly basis for the last two years. I receive manual therapy for a (primarly, but not entirely) women's health issue of Pelvic Floor Dysfunction. This specific PT speciality is 75% manual therapy along with stretching, postural / habit changes and eventually strengthening exercises if needed. Manual therapy, I think, should be taught in every DPT school and not just be an extra certification / class you can take later. For me, manual therapy has been a God sent for pelvic floor issues as well as any other muscle that feels restricted, tight, or has a muscle knot in it. When I become a PT, I will utilize it significantly.

 

[kerlanjobe]

Physical therapy can help with recovery after some surgeries. Your doctor may suggest physical therapy for injuries or long-term health problems. Physical therapy almost always includes exercise. It can include stretching, core exercises, weight lifting, and walking. Your physical therapist may teach you an exercise program so you can do it at home.

Your physical therapist also may use manual therapy, education, and techniques such as heat, cold, water, ultrasound, and electrical stimulation.

 

[ktrieu05]

This is interesting because working as an aide I also had a similar question as to when to use massage. I also felt like why do massage if its not needed. The PT basically believes on a very hands on approach because it helps build patient rapport and trust. Think of a patient in fear that she may have cancer seeing her physician. There is a difference when the physician is sitting back in his chair questioning the patient asking about her symptoms versus the physician standing in front of the patient w/ his hands on her forearm asking about her symptoms. Touch can make a difference as far as relationship between patient and clinician. Therefore, if there is no contraindications why not stm, of course along w/ the therex, modalities, etc needed. Just my two cent. What do you guys think