What is Holistic Physical Therapy? A Whole Person Approach to Lasting Pain Relief
- Dr. Patrick Thompson, DPT, OCS, Dip. Osteopractic, FAAOMPT
- Sep 18
- 6 min read
People are tired of quick fixes and are becoming more frustrated than ever when their injury repeatedly flares up every time you start a new exercise program or when you go on vacation.
You are growing tired of the traditional healthcare model where you are treated like a single body part and offered reactionary treatment approaches to temporarily address your pain and simply bridge the gap while you unknowingly wait for your next pain flare up.
If this is you, then the truth is, you’re not alone.
This is where Holistic Physical Therapy enters the healthcare picture, right here in Lafayette, LA. Holistic PT treats you and your injury/pain as one component of the whole person. Holistic PT addresses the unique qualities and characteristics interacting with your chronic pain or recurrent injury - while also diving deeper than surface presentation to uncover both the source of your symptoms and (more importantly) why you are predisposed for a certain injury to occur time and time again.
To put Holistic Physical Therapy in other terms, it does not ignore the multifactorial causes of your pain and injuries, and uses a variety of approaches to treat the whole person without being tunnel visioned on symptoms at one body part.
Analogy Time: If a leaky pipe is causing a puddle on the floor, reactionary and traditional Physical Therapy will mop up the puddle, call the problem fixed, and move on. On the other hand, Holistic Physical Therapy will mop up the puddle, then address the leaky pipe above so the puddle doesn’t come right back and force additional reactionary treatments while also preventing future issues like mold caused from a leaky pipe.
Real Patient Example: If you go to traditional healthcare/Physical Therapy for pain on the inner portion of your knee, due to insurance or time restrictions, your provider may not have time to explore beyond the knee pain. This can lead to short sighted treatment plans consisting of knee exercises/stretches, ice, heat, and maybe even TENS.
But Holistic Physical Therapy will look beyond the pain location and also address what is causing the pain. The actual problem may be a stiff ankle joint, a weak hip causing compensation at the knee, or even a Saphenous Nerve Entrapment or other neural system dysfunction at the lower back manifesting as knee pain.
As you can already see, Holistic Physical Therapy is more than one body part treatment, it is made up of many components to comprehensively address the whole body as a unique individual.
Core Components of Holistic Physical Therapy
Whole Body Movement Approach
Holistic Physical Therapy is not tunnel visioned on one single body part.
Movement patterns need to be assessed and addressed to fix biomechanical dysfunctions, muscle imbalances, or motor pattern issues at a neighboring joint.
Differential Diagnosis is a powerful evaluation tool that is utilized by a Holistic Physical Therapist to rule in and/or rule out multiple causes of your symptoms.
Proactive & Preventative Treatment
As I always say, you shouldn’t wait to have Diabetes to treat Diabetes. You can proactively address diet and exercise concerns to lower the risk and improve your quality of life. The same can be said for orthopedic and musculoskeletal injuries such as chronic lower back pain, neck pain, and headaches.
When you prevent injuries proactively, then you aren’t tempted to play catch up with your symptoms with the overuse of pharmacological interventions such as anti-inflammatories and pain medications.
Lifestyle Factors
This is a broad yet important area that a Holistic Physical Therapist will incorporate into their treatment approach.
Stress Management - Increased life stress can increase your pain response to otherwise minor stimuli.
Nutrition - Poor Nutritional habits or not being aware of foods that increase your gut inflammation can slow healing and recovery.
Sleep - Poor sleeping patterns can negatively affect chronic pain.
Hydration - Poor Hydration directly affects our musculoskeletal system (and more) and its ability to move effectively and heal.
Mind-Body Connection
Being aware of your Nervous System response to daily activities, triggers, and pain. Many times when addressing chronic injuries, we are stuck in a negative feedback loop of pain, flare-up, pain, flare-up due to our sympathetic nervous system being stuck in our protective, “fight or flight” mode.
Simply being aware of this and addressing your nervous system with proactive techniques such as diaphragmatic breathing or meditation can positively impact chronic pain.
Personalized and Collaborative Care
Lastly, and quite honestly this one should be standardized across all of healthcare (but unfortunately it is not), is including your thoughts, opinions, and beliefs into the treatment approach - with your specific goals in mind.
For example, if your goal is to run a 5k/10k then the program should include treatment approaches that work towards your goal. This is unfortunately missing in many traditional settings due to insurance denials and barriers to personalized care.
Common Holistic Physical Therapy Techniques
Holistic Physical Therapy techniques may be shared amongst other healthcare providers and, specifically, Orthopedic Physical Therapists in traditional settings; however, the thought process behind performing each technique may differ significantly.
For example, the technique, logic, and philosophy of Dry Needling varies amongst providers, but a Holistic Physical Therapist - especially a Fellowship-trained Osteopractic PT - won’t waste your time by chasing trigger points and performing poor techniques such as pistoning (repeatedly moving the needles in and out). Holistic PTs will address your localized area of pain, but may pair needles with additional needle points along the neural chain to treat the source.
Other techniques utilized differently by a Holistic Physical Therapist may include: Manual Therapy (Spinal Manipulation/Adjustments, Cupping/Scraping/Massage, Joint Mobilization, Stretching), Corrective Exercise, Biomechanical Corrections, and Education and Lifestyle coaching (Daily Habits, Nutrition and Postural Awareness, and self-care strategies such as sleep and stress management).
Who can Benefit from Holistic Physical Therapy?
Other than everyone, patients who are tired of the constant quick fixes, “patch up” jobs, and temporary relief included with traditional healthcare. Patients who are tired of waiting for the next flare-up so you can knock down the pain again. Patients who expect more from their healthcare providers and don’t accept being quickly shuttled through appointments without feeling heard or understood. And Physical Therapy patients who refuse to share appointments with 3-4 other patients at the same time - limiting direct interaction with their Physical Therapist.
We are talking about busy professionals that don’t have time for never-ending reactionary treatments, weekend warrior athletes who can’t afford to miss the next tournament or time away from work due to an injury, active adults who have to cut their grass regardless of pain, and parents who need to improve body mechanics with picking up and putting down their kids.
Holistic Physical Therapy in Lafayette, LA: Flow Physical Therapy and Wellness
Flow Physical Therapy and Wellness, right here in the heart of Acadiana, has built a completely different model of Physical Therapy, which pushes against the reactionary, quick fix approach of traditional physical therapy.
At Flow Physical Therapy, our Osteopractic Physical Therapist is focused on all aspects of your unique story and the characteristics/patterns that lead to your injury or chronic pain. We only offer uninterrupted 60 minute sessions to allow for you to be heard and an active member of your own healthcare team. And most importantly, we provide programs that last well beyond the traditional quick fix model.
Once you are out of pain - what next? And at Flow PT, we answer that with a structured plan.
We have helped countless active adults, busy professionals, weekend warriors, youth athletes, and stressed parents just like you right here in Lafayette - and all throughout Acadiana.
To finally hammer this home - one last time:
Holistic PT is treating the whole person for long-term health benefits, not just reactionary quick fixes to temporarily address your pain.
If you are frustrated with quick fix after quick fix without a clear plan for long term relief from the traditional healthcare model, Holistic PT is the solution to help you move better, feel better, and stay better.
Click the button below to finally get out of the cycle of quick fixes and get a plan that lasts. Start with a free phone consultation to see t if Holistic Physical Therapy is right for you, and take the first step toward lasting relief this week.
Dr. Patrick Thompson, PT, DPT, OCS, Dip. Osteopractic, FAAOMPT
Owner of Flow Physical Therapy and Wellness
337-366-1703
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