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Deciding which practitioner to visit when you need relief from pain can be confusing. Physical therapy and massage therapy ultimately have the same goal which is to help relieve pain and restore function to the body. However, there are a few key differences that separate these therapies from one another. Your needs might be met best at one type of therapy more than the other.
Physical therapy is a branch of rehabilitative healthcare that uses specially designed exercises and equipment to help patients regain or improve their physical abilities.1 Physical therapists (PTs) improve a patient's quality of life through prescribed exercise, hands-on care, and patient education. They record the patient's progress while simultaneously guiding them through exercises to provide lasting results.1 Some of the most common reasons why people go to physical therapy are:
People who seek out physical therapy usually do so because they have difficulty completing tasks in their daily lives due to physical pain or impairments.
Massage therapy is used to help manage a health condition or enhance wellness. It involves manipulating the muscles and soft tissues of the body. Massage therapists can treat a variety of conditions, but they mainly soothe any muscle firmness.2 Other benefits of this treatment include:
Massage therapy focuses on relieving pain and stress, as well as promoting the general well-being of a person.
Physical therapy and massage therapy both aim to relieve pain and aid healing. However, the main difference is that physical therapy usually focuses on specific body parts (injured or impaired) and works towards rehabilitation and improved strength. Physical therapy can also be used as a preventative measure by providing patient education and daily exercises for injury prevention.3 Massage therapy mainly focuses on manipulating the muscles and soft tissues of the body (which include muscles, ligaments, joints, tendons, and connective tissue) in order to provide relaxation, pain relief, and stress reduction.2, 3
Both PTs and massage therapists utilize hands-on soft tissue mobilization techniques. However, PTs will not only look at soft tissue, but also joint mobility and strength and how it affects the patient's overall function.4 Their primary goal is to decrease pain and improve daily function, which they achieve through a treatment plan. This plan can include corrective exercises, patient education, and more. The ultimate hope is that the patient can improve their mobility, recover from injury, and return to daily life. For example, if you had an injured knee a PT might prescribe a treatment plan involving different exercises to improve that knee's mobility and eventual recovery.
A massage therapist mainly aims for relaxation and pain relief. This is accomplished by mobilizing soft tissue.4 For example, if you had tightness in your back, a massage therapist would address that specific area to help you move and feel better. They will use their hands and other possible tools such as hot stones, hot towels, bamboo rods, oil, etc. Massage therapists can also work with a patient for life, while a PT aims to resolve the patient's problem within a certain amount of time and hopefully have the problem remain resolved for the rest of their life.5 It is also worth noting that massage therapy does not require the patient to do any of the work themselves. They can just lay on the massage table while the massage therapist does all the work. Patients can even fall asleep during treatment!
When deciding how to find treatment for your pain, think about your goal and what focus would help you achieve it. PTs are taught how to fix a particular problem in a specific part of the body. Their focus is on restoring function: to get a neck turning again, to get a patient walking again, or to get an athlete back in the game as fast and safe as possible. Massage therapists work in a more general or whole-body way. They may specialize in specific treatments, but they generally focus on the surface level of the entire body with hopes that relaxing the body relaxes the mind. They may also give advice on posture, ergonomics, and ways to stay healthy and prevent stress. Most of their clients are seeking to improve wellness and relieve stress but tend to be relatively healthy.5
One option to consider is to do both! Yes, you can do both physical therapy and massage therapy. Going to physical therapy will help you treat any movement difficulties or challenges with your function that you might have and going to massage therapy might help you relax. If you have the time and money, the two treatments can complement each other very well. Where we have seen patients get into trouble is when they expect massage therapy to get rid of pain. Massage therapy is a complementary treatment and is great for general relaxation. Sometimes it can also help with pain. However, if your pain is more chronic then massage therapy might only give temporary relief. If you focus on massage therapy helping to give general relaxation and come to PT to treat your pain then you can have the best of both worlds!
