Difference Between Physical Therapy and Massage

Many people are confused as to whether they should go in for massages or have a physical therapy session. Physical therapy is a vast field when compared to massages but massages have their own advantages. It is firstly important to understand what you mean by physical therapy. It involves an enduring and holistic treatment of all the soft tissues in the body like ligaments, tendons, fascia and various types of muscles. People have to undergo strict training to learn this art. They are told ways to diagnose, treat and prevent various kinds of problems and conditions that can come up in the body. This therapy uses the basic principles of science as its base. The therapist uses various kinds of apparatus and equipments to treat people suffering from some injury or any other kind of problem.

Uses of Physical Therapy

This therapy basically uses the art of touching the right areas in the body in a particular way so as to improve the condition of the body. People have been practicing it for more than a thousand years. The best part about it is that it does not require cutting open parts of body to treat them. Another great advantage is that the patients are given personal attention each time they visit the therapist. The first thing the therapist will do when you visit for any sort of treatment is ask you about your eating habits, your daily routine, environmental, social and psychological factors. Then the therapist will suggest certain exercises and practices to make you healthy again.

Uses of a Massage

A massage is very different when compared with physical therapy. The specialist will concentrate on the management of tissues of the body by using some physical stimulants like oil to bring the body back to its normal condition and thereby reducing any pain being felt by the patient. Massages can do wonders in the areas of stress reduction, trauma healing, proper working of all parts of the body and the general well being of the body. Massage will help in creating proper co ordination between various parts of the body and thus will help in keeping your body in perfectly healthy condition.

Advantage of massage courses over physical therapy

As you can see above, physical therapy is a lot different when compared to massage therapy. The people who professionally want to offer massages have to learn a few basic principles which can be understood by anyone very easily and with the right marketing can mint a lot of money through it. Physical therapy requires a person to have a deep knowledge of a lot more things compared to the former. Massages give you a better chance of healing and sometimes take you to a condition better than even you were in before you had your problems. Massage can be given to all kinds of people irrespective of the fact that they are injured or ill unlike in physical therapy where a therapist is hired only in case of an injury or some other problem to the patient. This way you can see that giving massages is a more profitable venture.