PT vs. OT

We get a lot of questions about the difference between physical and occupational therapy, many people think they are the same thing but actually they are very different!

Physical Therapy is the treatment of disease, injury, or deformity by physical methods such as exercise (strengthening, stretching, neuromuscular training, etc), hands-on treatment, massage, and other modalities (heat, electrical stimulation), rather than by drugs or surgery.

Occupational Therapy: a form of therapy for those recuperating from physical or mental illness that encourages rehabilitation through the performance of activities required in daily life.

To put it very simply, physical therapy is getting you back from an injury or surgery, occupational therapy is learning or relearning to perform daily tasks efficiently.

We focus on physical therapy here and have three physical therapists here that have over 20 years of experience each and specialize in many different areas, including back, neck, knee and shoulder injury or post-operative rehab. In January we added an occupational therapist, Laurie, to our team, and we are excited to accept new patients for occupational therapy.

Although PT and OT are very different, they do overlap in many areas:
•    Teach people how to prevent and avoid injuries
•    Both educate people about the healing process
•    Both assist people with improving their ability to perform daily activities through training and education

Call us or your doctor if you have questions regarding which is right for you!

By: Becca Popma

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