Spinal Manipulation Institute

American Academy of Manipulative Therapy™

Spinal Manipulation Institute Newsletter

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Grow your practice by becoming an OSTEOPRACTOR™.

Being a “Manual Therapist” doesn’t mean you are a member of another profession; in fact, “Manual Therapist” is a credential or title, not a license, which various health professionals can attain through a variety of continuing education programs offered almost exclusively by private entities that are not regulated or accredited. Like “Manual Therapist”, osteopractor is not a new or separate profession, but simply represents “physical therapists or medical doctors that have completed an evidence-based post-graduate training program in the use of high-velocity low-amplitude thrust manipulation and dry needling for the diagnosis and treatment of neuromusculoskeletal conditions of the spine and extremities”.

Brand the services you offer directly to the public. Being a Physical Therapist represents licensure awarded by a State Board of Physical Therapy; however, Manual Therapist is a title that is not regulated or licensed that has been issued by a variety of post-graduate continuing education companies for many years (and currently still is).

Osteopractic Physical Therapy is an approach to care, a sub-specialty within physical therapy, and more accurately describes the kind of physical therapy services (rather than simply "physical therapy") offered so the public, and colleagues alike, can identify the appropriate practitioner of choice for the condition in question. When you break a bone, you look for an orthopedist, not just a general medical doctor. When you have a skin condition, you go to the dermatologist. Or when your child needs medical care, you look for a pediatrician. Likewise, when you have neck pain, low back pain, headaches, tennis elbow, heel pain, carpal tunnel syndrome, knee osteoarthritis, shoulder impingement, or joint pain etc., it makes sense to look for a specialist--an Osteopractic Physical Therapist or Osteopractor--not a generalist, within physical therapy that is specifically trained and has advanced post-graduate qualifications to treat those conditions.

Osteo- orginates from the Greek osteon (“bone”) and –practor orginates from the Greek praktikos (“to practice, do, or perform”).  Although the term osteopractor literally translates to “bone practitioner”, the most recent evidence-based practice guidelines for musculoskeletal disorders clearly supports a “multi-modal” approach; therefore, in addition to the joints (i.e. the bones), the direct treatment of myofascial trigger points, tendons, ligaments and fascia (all connected to the bones…) is certainly recognized within the osteopractic concept for optimal patient management. Likewise, a neurosurgeon doesn’t just operate on nerves during surgery, and osteopaths don’t just treat bone diseases.

The term osteopractor has nothing to do with the chiropractic or osteopathic professions; that is, the osteopractor concept is firmly focused on the management of neuromusculoskeletal disorders in an evidence-based fashion, not the treatment of other organ systems as the profession of chiropractic has traditionally engaged. More specifically, the osteopractic concept does not subscribe to the theory of the “Vertebral Subluxation Complex” as the primary cause of “dis-ease”. In short, osteopractic physical therapists do not diagnose or treat all 10-organ systems as chiropractic physicians are trained and licensed to do, and they do not utilize medicine or surgery as osteopathic physicians are trained and licensed to do. Lastly, spinal manipulation and dry needling are shared procedures between many healthcare professions [no one profession owns these--see the recent 2012 SUPREME COURT RULING: ALABAMA STATE BOARD OF CHIROPRACTIC V JAMES DUNNING]; however, the philosophy, the clinical reasoning, and the conditions treated with these procedures dramatically differs between professions.