Manual Therapy VS Electrotherapy

Manual therapy has been said to be skills that are more hands on whereas electrotherapy often involve having the patient positioned in a certain manner and be provided with a particular electrotherapeutic modality for specific purposes.

Joint Mobilisation

I have discussed with many physiotherapists about their stand of preferring to perform manual therapy or electrotherapy or a combination of both. One physiotherapist who is very experienced and plays a major role in the MPA has said that he is a strong believer of electrotherapy as it is effective in reducing the impairments patients have especially those concerning pain. He is also trying to revive the usage of electrotherapeutic modalities through a particular electrotherapeutic modality international association (I'm not able to recall the name of the association).

Therapeutic Ultrasound (US)

Shortwave Diathermy (SWD)

Another experience therapist I talked to feels that as physiotherapists, being able to perform manual therapy skillfully is vital to be an effective physiotherapist. He also mentions that patients are mainly cured by performing manual skills instead of the usage of electrotherapeutic modalities.

I agree with both to a certain extent. I believe that electrotherapeutic modalities is useful to reduce the impairments of patients ONLY FOR SHORT TERM. I did a research on the effects of SWD on knee OA and found that the group receiving SWD + exercises has no significant reduction in pain compared to the group performing only exercises. This too has been supported by abundance of literature.

I believe that being able to perform great manual skills sets apart a good physio from a great physio. Also, these electrotherapeutic modalities can be used by various other health personnel, such as the OTs now uses wax, the chiropractors uses SWD and US. So what sets us apart from them and what they can't steal from us is the usage of manual skills. Even simple manual skills like strengthening exercises could be performed by nurses. Therefore it is our duty to always protray the ability of performing ADVANCE manual skills to show that we are physios.

Also, in some clinical conditions, the usage of electrotherapy does not produce significant effects, therefore would consume extra finances and time for its application. Perhaps in some cases, these modalities can be omitted from being applied.

Myofascial Release

However I'm not here to deny the benefits of electrotherapeutic modalities. I'm here to say that electrotherapy is effective only for short term. I'm also here to say that to be a truly great physiotherapist, one is often judge by how one performs manual skills but not by how one sits and give ultrasound to a trigger finger patient.