The edge of a licence, named
What we do not treat
Physical therapy is not chiropractic, not massage therapy and not medicine. Naming the edge of a scope of practice is not modesty; it is the part of the licence that protects you.
Physical therapy is not chiropractic, massage or medicine. Physical therapy is not chiropractic, not massage therapy and not medicine. We do not adjust or manipulate the spine as a chiropractor does, we do not prescribe, we do not inject, and we do not diagnose disease. We assess how you move, we treat what movement can change, and we say plainly when your problem is not one of those. Naming the edge of a scope of practice is not modesty; it is the part of the licence that protects you.
A clinic's list of services is usually written to be as long as possible, on the theory that somebody searching for a thing you do not do might book anyway and be persuaded into something else. The cost of that is people arriving for an appointment to be told no, having taken a morning off work.
So this page is the other list. Some of it is scope of practice, which is a matter of law. Some of it is judgement about what we are good at. And one item is simply a fact about this building.
What the licence does not cover
We do not diagnose disease. A physical therapist in New York arrives at a physical therapy diagnosis — a description of a movement problem — and that is a different thing from a medical diagnosis. If your problem is a disease, you need a physician, and our job is to recognise that and say so.
We do not prescribe medication and we do not inject anything. No cortisone, no anaesthetic, no platelet-rich plasma. Those are medical procedures and they belong to physicians.
We do not order imaging or blood tests. We read your reports and we recognise the presentations that need them, and then we send you to somebody who can order them.
We do not perform dry needling, because in New York a physical therapist may not — the State Board has held it outside the scope of practice, and acupuncture needles are restricted to licensed acupuncturists and to certified physicians and dentists.
We do not perform chiropractic adjustment. Physical therapists do use joint mobilisation and some use manipulation, but the high-velocity spinal adjustment that defines chiropractic practice is not what happens here, and describing what we do as an adjustment would be misleading.
What we could do and choose not to
We do not offer weight-loss programmes, nutritional supplements, or any product sold from a shelf behind the desk. A clinic with a retail line has a reason to recommend the retail line, and we would rather not have one.
We do not offer maintenance appointments to people who no longer need treatment. If what you want is supervised training — which is a good thing to want — a gym or a coach is the right place, and we will write the programme and tell them what to avoid.
We do not treat adolescent idiopathic scoliosis as a curve-correction programme. That is a bracing and orthopaedic question with a specific evidence base, and a general physical therapy practice is not where it should be managed. We do treat adults with a known curve and mechanical pain, which is a different problem.
What this building does not have
There is no pool here, so we do not offer aquatic therapy. Where water-based work is genuinely the right answer — certain post-operative loading restrictions, some inflammatory arthritis — we will say so and tell you where to find it.
That sentence exists because listing a service a clinic cannot provide is how somebody ends up booking an appointment to be told no on arrival. If a facility appears in the description of this practice, it is in the building.
Where to go instead
For medical diagnosis, medication, injection or imaging: your physician, or an orthopaedic or sports medicine specialist. We will telephone them with your consent rather than sending you off with a note.
For dry needling or acupuncture: a licensed acupuncturist, or a physician or dentist certified to practise acupuncture. We will tell you how to check the licence.
For chiropractic adjustment: a licensed chiropractor. We are not going to tell you the profession does not work — plenty of people get good results — only that it is not what we do.
For massage: a licensed massage therapist. We use soft tissue work as a means to loading, which is a narrower thing than a massage and is not a substitute for one if what you want is a massage.
In order
How this works in practice
We tell you at the first appointment
Where possible. Six weeks of treatment to reach a conclusion available in the first hour is billing, not thoroughness.
We name the profession you need
Not a vague suggestion to see somebody. The specific kind of clinician, and how to check their licence.
We telephone, with your consent
Rather than handing you a note and hoping. The person who sees you next should not be starting from nothing.
We do not bill a visit that turns into a referral
Being assessed and redirected is not treatment.
We stay available
Plenty of people need the physician first and physical therapy afterwards. Coming back is not starting again.
Questions we are actually asked
What we do not treat — frequently asked
Is physical therapy the same as chiropractic?
No. Different licences, different training and a different theory of what is wrong. We do not perform the high-velocity spinal adjustment that defines chiropractic practice; we assess how you move, load the tissue that needs loading, and build capacity. Both professions treat back pain and both have people who do it well.
Can a physical therapist diagnose my condition?
We arrive at a physical therapy diagnosis, which describes a movement problem. That is not a medical diagnosis and it does not cover disease. If your problem is medical you need a physician, and recognising that quickly is one of the more important parts of this job — particularly under direct access, where we may be the first clinician you see.
Do you offer massage?
We use hands-on soft tissue work where it buys range or reduces guarding, as a means to the loading rather than as the treatment. If what you want is a massage, a licensed massage therapist is the right person and we will say so rather than sell you an hour of something adjacent.
Do you have a pool?
No. There is no pool in this building and we are not going to describe one. Where aquatic therapy is genuinely the right answer we will tell you where to find it.
Can you prescribe me something for the pain?
No. Physical therapists do not prescribe medication and do not inject. Those belong to physicians. What we can do is tell you honestly whether we think an injection is worth asking about, which for some conditions it genuinely is.
Read next
Related reading
Sixty minutes, one to one, with the therapist you chose
Book an appointment
The booking page shows each therapist's own diary rather than a generic grid, so a slot you can see is a slot that is genuinely free. Most people do not need a doctor's referral to start — New York's direct access law runs to ten visits or thirty days — though Workers' Compensation, No-Fault and Medicare each need one from the first visit. If you are not sure which of those you are, telephone and we will work it out before you book.