Physical Therapy vs. Occupational Therapy: The Differences

Both physical therapy and occupational therapy can greatly benefit the patient who needs it. In their own respect, each one focuses on some aspect of their patient’s life, improving it and making their patient well again. But for someone to know which one will give them their best chance at an improved life, they first need to understand the differences between them.  

Physical Therapists and Occupational Therapists at Fed Help Medical Center in Miami work with both injured federal employees and victims of personal injury auto accidents.

So in this article, we will explore the differences, similarities, and everything in-between for both physical therapy and occupational therapy. 

The Main Difference Between Physical Therapy & Occupational Therapy

There is one basic difference between physical therapy and occupational therapy, and that’s their focus. Physical therapy focuses on the movement of the human body and how they can use that to improve a client’s ability to move. Occupational therapy focuses on daily life activities and how they can improve their client’s ability to do those activities. 

So as you can see, both focus on improving their client’s quality of life, just in very different ways. But despite their different approaches to helping their patients, they share some of the same methods. 

The Similarities Between Physical Therapy & Occupational Therapy

Though these two forms of therapy play have different roles in health care, there are a few similarities between them. Those similarities are: 

• Both play important roles in their area of expertise
• Educating people on ways to avoid and prevent injuries.
• Educating people on the healing process.
• Offering people ways to improve the performance of their daily activities through education and training

 But to truly understand what each one can do for their client’s, we must examine them separately and in-depth. So let’s start with physical therapy.

Physical Therapy

The American Physical Therapy Association defines physical therapy as “movement experts who optimize quality of life through prescribed exercise, hands-on care, and patient education.” The primary goal of physical therapy is to get the patient back to regular motion through a series of exercises, physical modalities, and other techniques. 

At Fed Help Medical our physical therapists work side by side with our other physicians such as our Orthopedic Surgeon to deliver a proper medical diagnosis for the injured federal employee.  In order to guarantee that the federal employee treatment is effective, efficient, and of the highest quality possible it is important for all of the medical specialists to work together.  

A physical therapist works with a person to help them feel and move better after illness, injury, or surgery. Through a biomechanical perspective, physical therapists treat the actual impairment their patient is suffering from. Their focus is to help their patients regain their endurance, mobility, and strength, allowing them to resume their daily activities. They also work with patients to help them avoid medication dependency and surgery while working with them to prevent recurring or future injuries.  

When trying to decide if physical therapy is the right treatment for you, consider the type of condition or injury you have. Most times a doctor will recommend physical therapy to help you through your condition or injury, but there might be times when you decide to the step of additional treatment on your own. 

Here are just some of the many conditions and injuries that physical therapy can help with:

Occupational Therapy

The American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA) describes occupational therapists as healthcare practitioners who “help people across the lifespan to do the things they want and need to do through the therapeutic use of everyday activities.” The primary goal of occupational therapy is to give the patient the ability to perform daily activities with as much independence as possible. 

An occupational therapist works to treat the whole person, not just the area where their injury is. No matter the type of injury that occurred, occupational therapists help people get back to living their daily lives at their fullest. They approach this by looking at their patient’s participation in activities as well as their environment and roles. With this approach, they can include habilitation, rehabilitation, and wellness promotion in their therapy plan.

When trying to decide if occupational therapy is the right treatment for you, consider the needs you have after your injury. Occupational therapy sometimes comes after physical therapy, so it’s important to keep that in mind. Although you want to get better and resume your life as normal as quickly as possible, overdoing it can possibly cause reinjury, which would put you back at square one. So consult with your physical therapist on whether or not you should pursue occupational therapy.

Check out this article about treatments that occupational therapy offer and others from our Blog section.

Occupational Therapy for Injured Federal Employees

Here are just some of the many conditions and injuries that an occupational therapist can help with.

Whichever treatment you decide to pursue, make sure it’s the one that benefits you the most. After all, your health and well-being are what truly matters. If you are a federal worker in need of physical or occupational therapy, contact the team at FedHelp and they will assist you with all your therapy needs.