When you have a back pain and feel pain in your joints, you start looking for relief and solution. This is when the thought of seeing a chiropractor or osteopath comes to your mind. However, in many cases, people do not know the clear difference between osteopath and chiropractor.
Both of them consider your spine an important part of your body. Moreover, both doctors think your spine has a huge impact on the overall health and integrity of the body. Therefore, when you say, ‘ I am looking for a chiropractor or osteopath near me,’ you need to know who you actually need.
Osteopath vs. Chiropractor – What is the Debate?
Since most people are unfamiliar about the difference between osteopath and chiropractor, we have highlighted some of the key differences in our blog.
Chiropractors
The primary focus of chiropractic care lies around biomechanics. Chiropractors rely on the idea that the structure of a person’s spine, and how well it functions, play a huge part in governing the musculoskeletal and neurological system. They treat pain and other problems by adjusting and manipulating the spine so that it returns to its alignment. The thought process behind their practice is that the body is able to heal itself if the spine is properly aligned.
Osteopaths
Osteopaths basically focus on the connection between a person’s overall health and his musculoskeletal system. It believes in the notion that the systems in our body are interdependent for optimum health.
What Is Common Between Them?
- Both believe that spinal health boosts overall health
- Both adjust joints and massage tissues and muscles
- Both work to relieve pain in the body
- Both involve touching and examining the back
- Both believe that adjusting and manipulating the spine will improve blood flow and optimize the operation of the nervous system
Osteo vs. Chiro – The Differences
- Main Area of Focus – While osteopaths look at the whole body and its structure, chiropractors primarily focus on spine alignment. They believe this relieves pain and avoids any compromises on the nervous system by preventing pinched nerves.
- Treatment – While osteopaths treat a range of health concerns, chiropractors treat joint and muscle pain mainly.
- Kind of Examination – Chiropractors make use of MRI scans and x-rays, but osteopaths rely on physical examination.
- Techniques – Osteopaths rely on a greater number of techniques to trigger the body’s healing mechanism, but chiropractors just focus on aligning the spine.
- Duration of visits – Visits to the chiropractor are shorter but osteopaths spend more time on each patient as they have a broader approach.
Where Should You Ultimately Go: Chiropractor of Osteopath?
Now that you know the similarities and differences, it is totally up to you where you want to go. You must be clear about what you want to achieve out of your visits to decide between the two. It depends on what kind of a treatment you want and how you want to be treated.