The Right Tool for the Job – A Common Question

The Right Tool for The Job

One of the questions my clients often ask me is, “What is better, Chiro, Physiotherapy, Acupuncture or Massage?”. My response is always the same, “It depends”.

What does it depend on? Well it depends on what needs to be treated? Obviously when I am asked this question, they are referring to musculoskeletal pain and injury. Each profession usually believes what (they) do is best, however a good practitioner can even recognize when something is outside their scope of practice. This does not mean they cannot help. Helping a client find a resolution to their problem is still helping them with their problem, even by referring. But in the interest of clarification, I will list the definitions of each field as described by Oxford languages.

Acupuncture – a system of complementary medicine in which fine needles are inserted in the skin at specific points along what are considered to be lines of energy (meridians), used in the treatment of various physical and mental conditions.

Chiropractor – a practitioner of the system of complementary medicine based on the diagnosis and manipulative treatment of misalignments of the joints.

Physiotherapist – a person qualified to treat disease, injury, or deformity by physical methods such as massage, heat treatment, and exercise.

Remedial Massage Therapist – the systematic assessment and treatment of the muscles, tendons, ligaments, and connective tissues of the body to assist in rehabilitation, pain and injury management.

I have no doubt that within each profession, there could be a lot more said and clarified, but to be fair, I sourced all from the same place.

At the end of the day, on top of identifying the cause of the issue, the choice of treatment can be as simple as preference or previous experience. Perhaps the treatment was a recommendation from your doctor. What matters most is that you are seeing progress. Sometimes you might find that one treatment isn’t working, but this does not mean that the modality is not good, but perhaps not suitable.

If I need to tighten up a loose screw, I won’t use a spanner, I”ll use a screw driver. This doesn’t mean that the spanner is not useful, just not the right tool. I work closely with a Chiropractor, I myself am an Acupuncturist and Remedial Massage Therapist, and sometimes I might refer a client to a Physiotherapist.  What’s most important to me, is the well being of my client. So whether it’s back pain, knee pain, sports injury, muscle pain, anxiety, headaches, depression or even insomnia, I will use the tools I have to help, even if that means referring.