Recovery with Synergic Therapies
Body aches and pains have many causes ranging from accident or sports injuries to a ‘twinge’ in the neck or back that appears overnight for no apparent reason—or just appears gradually until it is too painful to ignore.
To relieve pain and improve the quality of life, there are many options available. Deciding which one is right for you can be difficult. Looking at complementary therapies that treat your pain or injury from a holistic approach may be just the ticket to fast-track healing.
Chiropractic adjustments and massage are treatment options that are beneficial on their own, but work even better together. Because each one focuses on a different aspect of the body, combined they have been shown to improve treatment outcome compared to when used individually.
Chiropractic adjustments focus on the alignment of bones in the spine, which is crucial to allow the body to move without pain through the full range of motion. When a patient has pain and limited or reduced movement, a chiropractor looks for misalignment in the spine and corrects it. For some people, this may be all it takes to feel better and be pain-free. However, in many cases tight muscles or scar tissue interferes with healing and needs to also be treated. This is where massage therapy plays a crucial role.
“When I adjust a patient who has hypertonic muscle spasms, either from scar tissue or just tight muscles, it can interfere with the adjustment,” says Dr. Nicholas Wells, DC, of Wells Chiropractic, Rockford, Illinois. “It is easier for me to adjust a patient whose muscles are relaxed. The two together create greater results. It is like one plus one equals three.”
Should you consider combining massage with chiropractic care?
• Is one side of your body stronger than the other? If so you could benefit from massage before a chiropractic treatment to loosen the stronger side that tends to be tight.
• Are you active in sports and plagued by low back pain? If so, you may have tight hamstrings, which can lead to weaker quadriceps and trigger low back pain.
• Have you tried chiropractic treatment yet have not achieved the desired results or had your pain return? If so, the synergies of the combined treatments can help you feel and stay better.
Dr. Wells added massage therapy to his clinic about a year ago to make it more convenient for his patients. To experience the healing benefits of combining massage with chiropractic treatments, existing or new patients can receive a one-hour massage for $45.00.