Balance Physical Therapy

What's the difference between Occupational Therapy and Physiotherapy?

Public Comments

1. oc deals with the motor skills,i.e.hands.pe,deals with everything else,i.e.legs .
2. PT is for the rehabiitation of damaged or bruised muscles, trendons and ligaments....usually after fractuires that have healed. IT can also be for the rehab of stroke victims who have paralysis. OT is for those people who need cognitive therapy...that means they have had some damage to their brain and the individual needs one on one therapy to guide the brain back into it's former normal patterns. It is also for those who have a stroke...grasping small objects and putting them in spaces designed for them...it takes practice and work.
3. To sum this up generally... Physical Therapy and Occupational Therapy and Speech Therapy work together with a patient to focus on getting that patient back to their previous level of functioning. This always depends on the age and problem that the patient are experiencing. Physical Therapy in general is going to focus on the lower body muscles, balance issues for mobility, use of durable medical eqipment, and wound care (in certain settings). Occupational Therapy in general is going to work on the upper body muscles, activities of daily living (dressing, toileting, household tasks), use of adaptive equipment, and safety in those activities of daily living. Speech Therapy is going to address speech disprders, swallowing disorders, and cognitive disorders. Depending on the type of facility and the problem that the patient is experiencing these can overlap or one discipline would cover some of the other discipline. For example 1. A Certified Hand Therapist (CHT) can be either an OT or a PT and then would handle a patient experiencing problems with an upper limb issue. 2. Home health patient receiving only OT. The OT would address mobility issues, lower body exercises, balance issues, and cognitive issues that would effect the patients safety/ability in the house. 3. Home health patient receiving only PT. The Pt would then also cover upper body exercises and functional transfers with activities of daily living. 4. Rehab patient receiving only OT and PT. The Pt would cover lower body, mobility, and balance. The Ot would cover upper body, activities of daily living, safety, and feeding issues. There are a million different things that each discipline do depending on the patient and the circumstances. I hope that this helped :)