“If I only had a dollar for every time someone asked: What’s the difference between Occupational Therapy (OT) and Physical Therapy (PT)”
If you’ve ever injured yourself or had surgery, chances are you were referred to a therapist for rehab. But was it an occupational therapist (OT) or a physical therapist (PT?) Can you even remember? What’s the difference between the two?
Though OT and PTs often work side-by-side (and frequently collaborate on patient care), Occupational and Physical Therapy are distinct professions with unique goals, training, and methods. In a rehabilitation setting, especially for orthopedic care, you will see overlap of the two professions and depending on the advanced specialty training area of practice, the OT or PT services you receive may appear similar.
Let’s dive into the specifics of the two professions.
What is Physical Therapy (PT)?
Physical therapy focuses primarily on restoring physical function, strength, and mobility. Physical therapists work with patients to help them recover from injuries, surgeries, or chronic conditions that affect their muscles, joints, bones, or nervous system. Their main aim is to get your body moving properly again, whether that’s walking after a stroke, regaining knee flexibility after ACL surgery, or improving posture to reduce back pain.
Typical PT treatments might include:
- Strengthening exercises
- Stretching programs
- Balance training
- Manual therapy (hands-on techniques to mobilize soft tissue or joints)
- Pain management strategies
- Gait training (improving how you walk)
Bottom line: PT is about improving movement, strength, and pain levels to help you physically function better. Not all, but many PTs enjoy working helping you rebuild fitness from a gross motor perspective and focus on the large joints in the body.
What is Occupational Therapy (OT)?
Occupational therapy is about helping you do the things you need or want to do in daily life. OTs consider the things you do during the course of the day your “occupations.” The “Occupational” part of the therapy is not concerned with only your work/job tasks, rather all of the things that OCCUPY your time.
In fact, many OTs treat with children or people who have retired and do not “work.” In these cases, the “work” or occupations involve the tasks of daily life such as dressing, bathing, cooking, going to school, socializing or participating in hobbies. OTs address not just physical challenges but also cognitive, sensory, and emotional barriers that impact daily living.
After a hand injury, surgery or cancer treatment, OTs aim to get you back to doing the things you need to do.
Typical OT treatments might include:
- Strengthening exercises
- Stretching programs
- Manual therapy (hands-on techniques to mobilize soft tissue or joints)
- Pain management strategies
- Fine motor and visual motor functioning
- Training in self-care tasks (perhaps suggesting foam handles on a fork to eat if you have a stiff hand after a broken wrist)
- Instructing in lifestyle balance to promote health, well-being and optimal energy resources
- Adapting home environments for safety and efficiency
- Customizing orthotics or recommending supports for hand, wrist or elbow injuries
Helping manage conditions like pain, arthritis, tendinitis or post-op recovery, while giving tips to participate in activities you enjoy.
Bottom line: OT is about enabling independence, participation, and quality of life in everyday activities. OT’s are really into how the hands work and allow us to engage in our daily activities–we know a lot about the small joints and fine motor or visual motor functioning.
In orthopedic rehab, post-op breast cancer care and lymphatic care, OT and PT share a lot of similar interventions advanced training needed in these areas. But, we tend to view people through the different lens of of training background and offer unique perspectives on rehab outcomes. When we work together, we collaborate to determine unique ways to solve problems and maximize outcomes for individual needs.
Different Focus, Shared Goal: Helping You Move Better & Live Fully
If you need an Occupational Therapy Evanston, IL, click the link below for my website:
If you need a Physical Therapist in Evanston, IL, click the link below to reach the fabulous therapists in my clinic space:
Flourish Recovery & Wellness 