Alternative Physical Therapy

In traditional Physical Therapy programs a student is taught 10-15 conventional approaches to be utilized in Hospitals and Medical Centers. These facilities have very strict rules regarding modalities permitted to be used for treatment. For this reason teachers and professors mostly teach traditional therapies and modalities which in turn are FDA approved for Hospitals. An interesting point to emphasize is that all machines used for physical therapy in a hospital need FDA approval. In turn the insurance companies have assigned codes to each therapy and they will only approve the treatment/machine with the proper code number. Most code numbers were done 30-40 years ago and it now takes 5 or more years to get a new code number which discourages a hospital or medical center to venture into new territory for physical therapy because they will not get paid for a long time.

In a private practice the physical therapist can use any modality that he or she thinks could work for the patient. A physical therapist that is working independently of medical centers, hospitals and insurance companies has the flexibility to utilize a variety of techniques and no limitation of time.

For example, in Europe laser has been used for 30 years and was only FDA approved 5 years ago and it will take another 5 years to create a billing code number. Even for the chiropractor it took 70 years of fighting in court to be established in the medical community. After another 25 years a chiropractor shares an office with a medical doctor.

A successful alternative physical therapist incorporates knowledge of chiropractic techniques, acupressure points from acupuncture and message therapy into a session for the patient. The alternative physical therapist is a practitioner, who is not encumbered by traditional physical therapy or insurance companies. They are not afraid to use different techniques with their hands and spend time with the patient. They look at the patient as a whole person and not just the body part with pain understanding that the whole body is related and design a treatment plan that includes all connections to the source of pain. The alternative physical therapist also needs to be a strong practitioner in manual modalities.

Alternative physical therapy works with the whole body knowing that modalities of Chinese medicine, such as acupuncture, tai chi, cupping, mosca, and tui-na are very good for preventative medicine. An alternative physical therapy session incorporates from each of these Chinese medicine modalities to treat the specific condition of the patient. We can use the points of acupuncture for laser, ultrasound, magnets and electro-vibrations and feel immediate relief of the pain. With a hands-on approach, the therapist can manipulate the vertebrae of the spine and the peripheral joints to correct the anatomical alignment within the body.

If you are in pain or discomfort and have tried different recommendations from the insurance companies, of which have none have given positive results and you truly want to get better you need to see an alternative psychical therapist than has a tool box of at least 10 different techniques to improve your condition and make you feel better.