Physical therapist or Witch Doctor??!


Question: I see a pt 3x a week for chronic back pain. This pt was recommended by my MD and works at a reputable clinic. The problem is it is not helping and her treatments for me seem really off the wall. I think she calls it manipulative something-or-other and it consists mainly of her touching my back (think Mr. Miagi from Karate Kid) for 20-30 minutes at a time. Has anybody else had these types of treatments and did they help you? I should add that one time she had me pinch the bridge of my nose with one hand and lay the other hand over my heart for 20 mins. I felt really silly...


Answers: I see a pt 3x a week for chronic back pain. This pt was recommended by my MD and works at a reputable clinic. The problem is it is not helping and her treatments for me seem really off the wall. I think she calls it manipulative something-or-other and it consists mainly of her touching my back (think Mr. Miagi from Karate Kid) for 20-30 minutes at a time. Has anybody else had these types of treatments and did they help you? I should add that one time she had me pinch the bridge of my nose with one hand and lay the other hand over my heart for 20 mins. I felt really silly...

I would not say that this type of treatment approach was something that was part of his/her entry level education. It was probably a treatment approach he/she chose to persue on her own. It might be some type of cranio-sacral therapy which has yet to be proven to have any validity. It's therapists like these who give the profession a bad name...if it would work for you, great, but it's obviously not and it's time to move on.

No, I've never had this type of treatment. I would recommend letting the doctor know that you don't feel the treatments she's doing are helping and then let him know how uncomfortable you were with what she was doing.

I one time had a massage therapist try to give me an exercise to do (usually left to an actual physical therapist) for my ribcage but couldn't do it because of how much it hurt. It also made me a bit uncomfortable for her to suggest this kind of exercise. I later told my doctor about it. She told me if I wasn't comfortable doing it that I didn't have to.

Use biomagnetic therapy The body's energy is thought to flow through channels known as Energy Meridians. These can be compared with the currents that exist in a magnetic field. The meridians can be accessed through classic acupuncture points (acupoints) on the skin surface, and form the basis of ancient therapies such as acupuncture and acupressure.
In good health, energy flows through the meridians in a balanced way. Ill health is thought o be associated with imbalances or blockages in energy flow through the body. Many illnesses affect the bioenergetic functions of cells.

When energy flow becomes abnormal, acupoints on the surrounding skin become tender and painful to touch. These are known as tsubos. In acupuncture, these points are stimulated with fine needles to generate electrical impulses and restore energy balance. In magnetic therapy, the acupoints are stimulated by tiny pulses of electromagnetic energy. Our bodies today have been developed in an environment enriched in oxygen water, nutrients and MAGNETISM. All of the natural human systems in our bodies are electro-magnetic in nature and respond to the earth's natural magnetism.

Our bodies' natural magnetic field is created by the flow of electrically charged ions in and out of cells, and the transmission of electric impulses through cell membranes. Due to the fast pace of modern living and the continual development in technology and society, the earth's geomagnetic field has grown very much weaker in the recent past. This field is constantly being shielded from us by everyday items we take for granted such as: steel cars, trains, airplanes, ships and metal framed buildings.

The measurement now used for magnets is called



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