Osteopractor

What is an Osteopractor?

An osteopractor is medical professional (PT, MD, DO) that has completed an evidenced-based post-graduate training in the use of spinal and extremity thrust manipulation, ultrasound-guided dry needling, instrument-assisted manual therapies, and differential diagnostics for the diagnosis and treatment of neuromusculoskeletal conditions.

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Osteopractic Physical Therapy is an approach to care; it's a sub-specialty within physical therapy. It identifies a medical professional as a specialist within the field of orthopedics best equipped to treat conditions such as neck pain, low back pain, headaches, tennis elbow, heel pain, carpal tunnel syndrome, knee osteoarthritis, plantar fasciitis, shoulder impingement, joint pain, etc. Osteopractors are specifically trained with advanced qualifications to treat neuromusculoskeletal conditions.

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The term osteopractor has nothing to do with the chiropractic or osteopathic professions. The osteopractic concept is firmly focused on the management of neuromusculoskeletal disorders in an evidence-based fashion. Spinal manipulation and dry needling are shared procedures between many healthcare professions (i.e. no one profession owns these procedures, e.g. 2012 Supreme Court Ruling: Alabama State Board of Chiropractic vs. James Dunning); however, the philosophy, clinical reasoning, and conditions treated with these procedures dramatically differs between professions.