Osteopath or Chiropractor?

Question

I have had a musculoskeletal problem for about a year and a half; it is now becoming significantly annoying. I have spoken to several doctors about this, and they either prescribe drugs, or suggest I just find a way of stretching and coping with it. I was thinking either an osteopath or chiropractor could help, but I don't know which one is better, if at all, or what the major differences are between these professions.

Answer 1

Chiropractors and Osteopaths should both do manipulations, but I've never met an Osteopath who did them at all, much less did them very well.  Then again a lot of Chiropractors can't adjust that well either, so it often comes down to personal talent, rather that what certificate is on the wall.

Unfortunately many in both professions, especially in Europe, sidetrack you down a blind alley of supplements, diet advice and parlour tricks in my opinion.

For my money, see a Chiropractor - get one off a Blue Shield/Cross or Kaiser website.  Good luck.

Answer 2

USA trained osteopaths are trained more like traditional medical physicians and tend to dispense medications.  If that medication doesn't work then they dispense a different one.  The training of USA osteopaths are exactly identical to medical physicians so you would probably not tell much of a difference.  Very few, and I mean VERY few USA osteopaths practice manipulation and I have seen that they rather not anyways.  On the other hand, Osteopaths trained outside of the U.S. are similar to chiropractors.  Chiropractors use soft tissue massage to help relieve muscular spasms, tension and pain.  We also employ physical therapeutics such as ultrasound, electrical stimulation, heat/ice, cold laser, and acupuncture to help speed up the healing process and get you pain free.  We are also proficient in post-surgical rehab for injuries.  On top of that, chiropractors receive training on nutrition and counseling so don't be surprise when you see nutritional supplements sitting on the shelf at the chiropractor's office.  It sounds that maybe you just need to shop around for a good doctor, just as if you were shopping around for a good plastic surgeon.  You have good, bad, lazy, and hard working doctors.  You just have to sort through them.  

I think that if you live inside the U.S., and want excellent care for your human frame, a chiropractor would be the way to go.

Answer 3

lighting said most of what I was going to say.

Answer 4

I have had very good luck with osteopaths. Chiropractors always hurt me worse than I was.

Osteopathy seems gentler.

Answer 5

Which is better really does depend on the practitioner.

I am a UK trained Osteopath, i choose to do this rather than Chiropractic because I beleived in the treatment model and philosophy more than the Chiropractic (a chirporactor would probably say the same thing).

It also depends where you are. UK chiro's tend to do shorter  treatment times and concentrate on adjustments.

Us trained Chiro's work more like UK osteo's doing longer treatment times, soft tissue treatments and concentrating less on adjustments.

US Osteopaths are mostly no different from allopathic physicians. Only a minority do Musculosketal treatments.

I think the major difference is the type of adjustments. Chiro's tend to do short lever direct thrusts to joints which require more force (but some also do long lever thrusts just to confuse things.)

Australiasian practitioners tend to follow the british rather than american models.

Osteo's tend to do longer lever thrusts which require less force but again some do short lever teqniques).

However Osteo's do tend to be more inclined to do gentler techniques such as cranial sacral (more so than chiropractors).

It really does depend what you want. Do you want to be in and out in 10 minutes after lots of cracks or would you prefer a longer treatment with less manipulations and more articulations etc.

I like to do longer treatments with a combination of articulation, soft tissue, Manipulations and cranial as I find this minimises bad treatment reactions and helps the patient recover more quickley and generally have a more pleasant experience of the treatment.

I also don't have to mentally cope with writing notes for 30 - 40 people a day!

Personally I wouldn't see anyone who insists on you paying for a course of X number of treatments up front and wouldn't listen to anyone trying to put the fear of god in you.

The second lot are rare but do exist.

My best advice is to ask a friend or someone similar to you if they could recomend someone. Chances are if they liked their treatment you will probably enjoy it and get benefit from it as well.

Added:

'The treatment is not just "getting my back cracked" a few times a week'

JShu, Sorry if I gave that impression that isn't what i meant at all. Any good health care practitioner should employ entirely the kind of attitude and care towards patients you describe whatever their professions philosophy and training.

Added2: Basedoc where did you see these Osteopaths in the USA or elsewhere?

Answer 6

I have a LOT of musculoskeletal issues as well and I have been seeing a Chiropractor regularly for a while now. He took x-rays and showed me exactly what is wrong with my spine and how it affects the muscles around them. The treatment is not just "getting my back cracked" a few times a week, it is an individualized treatment for my problems. It is a slow process, but I'm seeing improvement. He is not a "relief care" chiropractor who adjusts you and sends you on your way. He adjusts me to get my vertebrae back to where they need to be and remind my muscles what things should feel like. Your muscles need to be retrained, it's called neuromuscular reeducation. In the same practice is a physical therapist who shows me how to work out my "kinks" on my own and re-wire my brain and body to improve my posture. I'm not really sure what the difference is between osteopath and chiropractor, but I know my chiropractor has been amazing and really opened my eyes to a lot of things. If you're having symptoms, pain and discomfort, that means there is already something not functioning properly. Good luck.