Should I see a chiro or physio? Choosing between chiropractic, physiotherapy and exercise physiology in Bassendean

Should I see a chiro or physio? Choosing between chiropractic, physiotherapy and exercise physiology in Bassendean

Most people asking themselves should I see a chiro or physio aren’t after an anatomy lesson. They want to know which appointment to book, and who pays. Here’s the practical version.

The honest short answer: should I see a chiro or physio, and who pays for it

The most common mistake isn’t picking the wrong practitioner. It’s seeing the wrong one for months, or seeing nobody at all.

Both versions get expensive, because a joint that needed unloading gets treated like a tendon for six weeks and a tendon that needed loading gets adjusted twice a week.

Funding usually decides this, and that’s fair.

A chiropractor is trained in spinal and joint adjustment, with hands-on treatment at the centre of the session. A physiotherapist works the same joints but leans on movement and loading. An exercise physiologist uses no hands, building a program you’ll stick to.

Three doors, one building

The chiropractic appointment focuses on the spine and joints, and treatment is usually manual. Physiotherapy adds soft tissue work and the graded plan that gets you running again. Exercise physiology comes later, when the job is strength and consistency.

All three in one building matters more than it sounds. A second practitioner can re-test findings without a fresh referral, and whoever saw you on Monday can brief a colleague on Wednesday.

Private patients need no GP at all. With a Medicare care plan, one referral can cover a mix of professions, so five sessions can be spread across two of them.

What changes if you use Medicare, NDIS, DVA or private health

Medicare doesn’t cover ordinary visits to a chiropractor, physiotherapist or exercise physiologist. No rebate, no walk-in claim.

The way in is a chronic condition plan from your GP. The old GP Management Plan and Team Care Arrangement were merged into a single plan on 1 July 2025, and it’s that plan’s referral that opens the door. Your GP writes it for a condition lasting six months or more, and it covers up to five Medicare-rebated allied health sessions a year, shared across every profession you’re referred to. Chiropractors, physiotherapists, exercise physiologists and podiatrists qualify; massage and clinical Pilates don’t.

You get back $63.40 a session, the 85% Medicare benefit on a $74.55 schedule fee as at July 2026. Sessions must run 20 minutes or more, in person and one-on-one.

If you held a plan or a Team Care Arrangement before that change, it stays valid until 30 June 2027.

Private health extras work differently: your fund pays a set benefit per visit against an annual limit it sets. You can’t claim Medicare and your fund for the same appointment.

NDIS participants can use plan funding for support that’s reasonable and necessary and tied to a goal in their plan, usually without a GP referral. NDIS won’t fund anything unrelated to your disability.

For veterans, a DVA referral comes from your GP and runs for a treatment cycle of up to 12 sessions or one year, whichever ends first. There’s no gap, because accepting a Veteran Card means accepting the DVA fee as full payment. One restriction matters: in a referral period you can be treated for the same condition by a chiropractor, a physiotherapist or an osteopath, but not two of them.

Why we often combine two of them for one problem

A runner books with heel pain that’s been building for four months and has already cost her a half marathon and most of her Saturday runs.

Our podiatrist checks how the foot loads and what her shoes are doing, and may fit orthoses. The physiotherapist treats the plantar fascia and the calf, then loads that tissue to build capacity. Our exercise physiologist handles graded strength work and running volume that climbs rather than spikes.

Three appointments, one problem, and under a care plan those sessions come out of the same five-session allowance, provided your GP referred you across those professions.

Two is the usual number, not three. If one practitioner and a home program will solve it, that’s the better plan.

How to choose when you are still not sure

Ring and ask. A phone call before booking costs nothing and can save you weeks.

Plenty of people ring us with the same question: “should I see a chiro or physio, or neither”. Describe what’s happening, then ask who they’d see first, and why.

A vague answer tells you something useful.

Also worth asking: the fee, the gap under a Medicare care plan, and whether they’d refer you on. We won’t pretend every problem needs a practitioner, because some settle with load management alone.

What the first appointment looks like at Bassendean

The first appointment runs longer than the ones after it.

History comes first, covering what happened, when it started, what makes it better or worse, and what you need to get back to, whether that’s a shift at work or a full night’s sleep. Then the examination: joint movement, strength, how you walk, sometimes how you squat or lift. Then the explanation, because you should leave knowing what we think is going on.

Last comes the plan. How many sessions, what each one is for, and what you’ll do between them. What improvement should look like by the next visit, and when we’d change approach.

Bring your GP referral and any recent scans. Wear something you can move in.

Book in Bassendean. The Wellness Place is at 103 Old Perth Road, a 12-minute walk from Bassendean Train Station, open Monday to Friday 8:00am to 6:30pm and Saturday mornings. Chiropractic, physiotherapy and exercise physiology sit under the one roof alongside our wider multidisciplinary team, so you’re pointed to the right door instead of sent elsewhere. Book online or call The Wellness Place in Bassendean on (08) 9379 3838.

References

• Services Australia
• Medicare Benefits Schedule: item 10960
• Department of Veterans’ Affairs