Health Advice

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A PHYSIOTHERAPIST

DO YOU KNOW THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A PHYSIOTHERAPIST AND AN OSTEOPATH?

My name is Simon Ratcliffe and I am a licensed Physiotherapist and Certified Osteopath C.O.

Simon Radcliffe Physiotherapist and an Osteopath 

I began my Physiotherapy journey at the Miguel Hernández University in San Juan in 2004 and finished in 2008. During this time I learned all different types of applications this career can offer, from paediatric, respiratory, sports physiotherapy, etc. When I finished Physiotherapy in 2008 I then decided I was interested in treating pain disorders.

These vary from lower back or neck trouble, to nerve pain or even joint issues such as shoulder or knee problems. I soon realized that what I had learned during my university years wasn’t enough to treat these types of disorders, thus embarked on a mission to improve my skills and knowledge regarding these situations. I began to take various speciality courses that included things like dry needling therapy or neurodynamic treatment.

These where excellent tools for certain treatments but I needed something to help develop a correct diagnosis.

That’s when osteopathy came into the picture. In 2009 I embarked on a 5 year course in Osteopathy. I specialized in this discipline at the Madrid School of Osteopathy which was really an eye opener!  I couldn’t have imagined the amount of things that can influence the anatomy of the human body and how complex it was. During this spell I learned structural Osteopathy, cranial Osteopathy and visceral Osteopathy; all of these are different treatments but are linked together to create a complete diagnosis and treatment guide.

Over the years I have seen many different cases and thankfully been able to treat and cure many disorders due to the unique blend of physiotherapy and osteopathic treatments that I can combine. I will give an example of how my treatments have evolved over the years, especially since starting osteopathy:

In the case of a person with lower back pain or even sciatica, my treatments use to consist of only treating the affected area with trigger point treatment and maybe some home stretching exercises. The patient would improve but their pain would either come back or not fully go away. I now combine several osteopathic tests that indicate any vertebral blockage that may be present, and also think of the person as a whole and not just think of the area that is painful. In some lower back problems the cause can be because of a foot problem, in others a shorter leg may be the cause, or even an intestinal or gynaecological issue is the reason for their lower back pain.

This is only a simple example of some of the things that I examine and look for when I am with a patient.

Simon Ratcliffe Physiotherapist and Certified Osteopath C.O.

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