The Benefits of Combined Chiropractic and Massage Treatments
Back pain, neck pain and headaches are just a few of the painful and distressing conditions that affect many of us at some time. Chiropractic and massage therapy used in combination, from a powerful healing approach that addresses your pain on many levels. Whether your pain is the result of traumatic injury, orveruse or illness, chiropractic and massage combined can greatly speed your return to a pain-free productive life.
What is Chiropractic Care?
Chiropractic is based on a simple but powerful premise: With a healthy lifestyle and normally functioning spinal joints and nerves, your body is better able to heal itself. That's because the spinal cord, which is protected by the spine, is the main pathway of the nervous system. It controls movement, feeling and function throughout your body. Chiropractic care focuses on treating joint dysfunction of the spine, known as subluxations. This joint dysfunction can put pressure on the spinal cord or on the nerves that exit through the spinal cord. The weight of a dime's pressure can inhibit nerve function of up to 60%. The result is pain or other symptoms, such as numbness or tingling, both at the site of the misalignment and frequently related sites elsewhere in the body. Chiropractors use adjustments to return the bone to a more normal position or motion, removing the nerve interference.
Nervous System Physiology
Virtually every cell, tissue, organ and system of your body is controlled and regulated by your nervous system. And while the chemical and electrical nature of this vast network is best left to specialists, here are four key things you should know:
When spinal vertebrae pinch or choke nerves, affected organs and tissues don’t work the way they should and ill-health results.
When the neurological circuits have integrity, your body works as it was designed.
Efferent Communications
Nerve impulses are sent from the brain out to the organs and tissues of your body.
Afferent Communications
Nerve impulses are sent back to the brain to make sure everything is working correctly.
Compressive Lesions
If spinal vertebrae pinch or choke nerve tissue, signals going from or to the affected organ or tissue can be diminished. (i.e., constipation.)
Facilitative Lesions
If spinal vertebrae chafe or irritate nerve tissue, signals going from or to the affected organ or tissue can be excited. (i.e., diarrhea.)
The nervous system is vulnerable where delicate nerve tissue comes into proximity with the moving bones of your spine. That’s why chiropractors are interested in your spine!
Why is Massage Important?
To understand the importance of massage, it helps us to understand stress. Stress is an automatic reaction to anything we perceive as a threat. In a stressful situation, our response is fight of flight. It doesn't matter if it's danger or the stress of everyday living. Our body responds with tensing of the muscles, shallow and more rapid breathing, increased adrenaline, heart rate and blood pressure. Hopefully, once removed from the stressful situation, things return to normal. However if you find yourself consistently under a great deal of stress, it becomes more difficult to let go and relax.
Therapeutic massage and stretching can help you regain and maintain proper alignment. When muscles are relaxed and restored to their optimal length, correct posture and alignment are more easily sustained.
Massage can trigger the relaxation response, relieving the negative effects of stress and restoring balance in the body. Some positive effects of the relaxation response include slower heart rate, deeper breathing more relaxed muscles, and better internal circulation and digestion.
Complimentary Health Care
Therapeutic massage is an age-old remedy, which has proven to be an effective complement to chiropractic care. Both are based on belief in the innate power of the body. Together chiropractic and massage facilitate the natural healing process by keeping the body in proper alignment and ensuring a free flow of nerve impulses and circulation of fluids.
Problems in the musculo-skeletal system can impede the natural healing process, and often cause dysfunction and pain. Most chiropractic doctors would agree that it is important to treat soft tissues such as muscles and tendons to help prevent and correct subluxations, and lessen the accompanying pain. Together, chiropractic and massage provide you with a more complete and effective system of health care.
Massage and Adjustments
Local massage is often used in preparation for adjustments. Massage relieves the muscle tension and warms up the soft tissues in the area, making joints more pliable and more easily adjusted.
A therapeutic massage can also be good preparation for an adjustment. In addition to preparing the immediate area of concern, it helps you relax.
Supporting Your Home Care
To the extent that both chiropractic and massage therapy help resolve your pain and improve mobility, you may find it easier to stretch and exercise. This can help you maintain and even improve the flexibility, strength, and balance needed to prevent tension, injury and new subluxation.
Massage is also a powerful tool for helping you to become aware of areas of chronic tension or postural problems, and to understand how these affect your body mechanics. You can take preventive measures on your own before pain develops.
Massage Supports Chiropractic...
♦ Recovery is normally faster and more complete when
you address multiple components of your pain.
♦ Chiropractic treatment often proceeds more easily, with
less discomfort, when soft tissue has been relaxed with massage.
♦ You may be less anxious and more ready to receive
chiropractic adjustment after a relaxing massage.
♦ Adjustments frequently last longer when muscle tension is
released that might otherwise pull your joints out of alignment again.
And Chiropractic Supports Massage
If you are seeking massage therapy for pain but find your pain persists,
recurs or even worsens after your massage, chiropractic could help in these ways:
♦ If your pain involves subluxation, chiropractic adjustments may give
immediate relief as your joint is restored to alignment and mobility.
♦ You may find that surrounding soft tissue heals quickly once
it is no longer subjected to the stress of misaligned joints.
♦ The joint movement in chiropractic adjustments can sometimes relax
deep layers of soft tissue that can be difficult to reach with massage.
♦ Your chiropractor can use x-rays and manual diagnostic techniques to
elevate other possible causes for your pain and can make appropriate referrals if necessary.
Your Total well-being is the Goal
Massage and chiropractic are compatible natural therapies that share the goal of your total well-being, not simply an absence of illness. Both offer natural, effective, safe and drug-free techniques. they can be used as preventive as wall as restorative therapies. Both work to resolve the cause of your pain rather than treat isolated symptoms. Used in combination, they can help you maintain your optimum health and enjoy life to the fullest.
I maintain many professional relationships with area chiropractors.
Please allow me to refer you to one that would be most beneficial for your needs.