What’s the difference between Myotherapy and Physiotherapy? (And why you might need both)

So what actually is Myotherapy?

Myotherapy is an evidence informed healthcare profession focused specifically on musculoskeletal pain and soft tissue dysfunction. Think muscles, tendons, ligaments and the fascial connective tissue that ties it all together. A Myotherapist’s job is to assess what’s driving your pain, not just settle the symptoms, using clinical reasoning, orthopaedic testing, and a genuinely broad toolkit that includes dry needling, trigger point therapy, joint mobilisation, and structured exercise rehabilitation alongside hands-on treatment.

In practice, this means a Myotherapist is often the person you see for things like persistent neck and shoulder tightness, tension headaches, tennis elbow, Achilles tendinopathy, jaw pain and clicking, or recovery work before and after orthopaedic surgery. It’s also common ground for people managing fibromyalgia or chronic, ongoing back and shoulder pain that hasn’t fully resolved with other treatment.

Isn’t that just remedial massage?

Not quite, and this is where a lot of the confusion comes from. Remedial massage is really about easing tension and general soreness through soft tissue work. It’s valuable, but it’s narrower in scope. Myotherapy goes further, with more in-depth assessment, orthopaedic testing, and treatment planning aimed at finding the actual root cause of the problem, not just the sore spot. A Myotherapist isn’t just working on where it hurts, they’re working out why it hurts there in the first place.

And how is that different from seeing a Physiotherapist?

Physiotherapy has a much wider scope. It covers musculoskeletal, neurological and respiratory conditions, and centres on movement, diagnosis and medical rehabilitation. If you’ve had a joint injury, a neurological condition affecting movement, or need a broader rehab plan, Physiotherapy is usually the starting point.

Where Myotherapy comes in is often alongside that. If you’re doing active rehab with a Physiotherapist but also carrying significant muscle overload or soft tissue restriction that’s slowing your progress, that’s exactly the kind of case where a Physio might bring in a Myotherapist to work in parallel, more intensive hands-on soft tissue treatment supporting the active rehabilitation happening elsewhere.

Why it matters that we do both under one roof

At Surrey Hills Physiotherapy, we’re a multidisciplinary clinic, and our Physiotherapists and Myotherapists regularly share care for the same patients. For anyone managing a chronic or complex condition, that collaboration means your soft tissue work and your active rehab plan are actually talking to each other, rather than happening in isolation with two practitioners who’ve never compared notes.

So if you’re not sure which one you need, that’s a completely normal place to start. Come in, tell us what’s going on, and we’ll help you figure out whether you need Physiotherapy, Myotherapy, or both working together to get you back to moving well.