I was recently asked this question by a physician colleague while discussing treatment of cervicogenic headaches (one sided headaches that arise from the back of the head and radiate to the front). He was inquiring about the most effective treatment for his wife, who has been suffering with neck pain and headaches for some time. My response was… Of course we can!!!!! We are highly trained and our licencing body in New Hampshire allows us to perform these techniques (and others like Dry Needling) when indicated. We are often asked if this is Chiropractic care… and the answer is unequivocally NO! Physical Therapy intervention is based on a totally different medically evidence based evaluation and treatment plan. We do not follow the same training or philosophy as a Chiropractic care. I will admit that other professions have done a better job at marketing their services and skills to the general public. Physical Therapists make the mistake in assuming that the world knows what services we provide. Of course there are different specialties in physical therapy and there are different philosophies among manual techniques with in physical therapy. Believe me not all of them are based in sound science or evidence, and if you’ve ever been to a practitioner that indicates they can feel the pulse of your spinal fluid pumping around in your spine by feeling your heels, they may need to review the current evidence on that philosophy.
At Portsmouth Physical Therapy we take what is shown to have the highest evidence for effectiveness in a given condition and apply these conservatively based on your diagnosis and what we find in our clinical exam. Yes we can apply spinal mobilization/ manipulation, yes we can apply evidence based soft tissue techniques like Graston, yes we can apply dry needling to neuromuscular structures, yes we can apply specific exercises and wellness, wake up with neck pain and want to be seen today… yes we do that too!
Published August 21, 2014 | Posted in Portsmouth PT Blog Posts.
