Whenever you visit your chiropractor with symptoms of discomfort in a body part, there may be a muscular or bone problem. Ideally, you’ll pick a treatment option that best handles your condition. Chiropractic care focuses on hard tissues such as joints and bones, while massage therapy targets soft tissues like muscles and tendons. 

Choosing one treatment option and excluding the other means you miss out on some health benefits. The combined effort of a massage and chiropractor therapist provides the best possible outcome for your health condition. Here is further insight into how you can benefit from these complementary alternative medicines.

The Power of Massage and a Chiropractor 

Chiropractic care and massage therapy are drug-free, non-invasive forms of treatment used to treat different conditions and injuries. Combining these manipulative therapies produces optimum health outcomes. A chiropractor can recommend massage therapy in a holistic treatment plan before or after the chiropractic session. 

Massage therapy before any chiropractic adjustment helps you relax by reducing your anxiety about that session. In addition, the massage helps to loosen tense muscles, tendons, and ligaments, allowing the chiropractor to manipulate your spine and joints better. This preparation allows for sustained benefits after the chiropractic treatment with long-lasting pain relief. 

After the chiropractic session, a follow-up massage provides unique benefits. For instance, the adjusted joints and spine remain in place since the surrounding soft tissue provides the right tension. Also, massage therapy helps reduce muscle soreness you may experience after a chiropractic session. 

What’s the Difference Between a Chiropractor and a Massage Therapist?

Chiropractors and massage therapists are medical professionals with different roles in patient care. Chiropractors focus on diagnosing and treating conditions affecting the musculoskeletal and nervous systems. Using various techniques, such as spine manipulation, the chiropractor’s main goal is to achieve pain relief, increase strength, and enhance mobility of the affected body parts. einhardt Chiropractic Care in Denver, CO, also recommends exercise regimens as part of a holistic approach to patient management. 

Massage therapists manipulate the body’s soft tissues using deep-tissue massage to relieve muscle pain and tension. Therapeutic massages also:

  • Increase blood flow
  • Increase lymphatic drainage
  • Reduce headaches
  • Boost the immune system
  • Reduce anxiety

Often, a massage therapist and chiropractor collaborate in patient care to improve your overall health and well-being despite having different areas of expertise. 

Treatable Injuries/Conditions

You can expect treatment for several conditions once you visit a chiropractor or massage therapist. 

Chiropractic care can treat health issues such as:

  • Slipped/herniated disc
  • Neck pain
  • Sports injuries
  • Plantar fasciitis
  • Whiplash injuries
  • Arthritis
  • Sciatica
  • Stenosis 

Massage therapy can treat health conditions such as:

  • Anxiety and depression
  • Fatigue
  • Headaches
  • Muscle tension-related pain

Common Symptoms 

The conditions treatable by chiropractic care and massage therapy may present with physical or mental symptoms. Ignoring these acute or chronic symptoms can lower your quality of life. To alleviate recurring symptoms, seek medical attention from our Denver Chiropractic and Wellness Care team. 

Some common symptoms requiring chiropractic care or massage therapy include:

  • Back pain 
  • Neck pain/stiffness
  • Headache
  • Numbness/tingling 
  • Muscle weakness

Examples of Massage and Chiropractic Care 

A few scenarios that can benefit from combining massage therapy and chiropractic care include:

Car Wreck 

Car crashes are common and sometimes fatal, with about 1.3 million deaths reported annually. A further 20 to 50 million road users suffer non-fatal and possibly disabling injuries due to road traffic accidents. The stress, anxiety, and adrenaline rush experienced during accidents may distract you from noticing these injuries in the early stages.

While you can manage the lingering car wreck pain using medications, identifying and treating the source of the pain may be wiser. Massage and chiropractic therapy can help deal with these accident-related injuries, as most involve the hip, spine, neck, and head.

Your chiropractor can use different techniques to manipulate the spine and neck to alleviate tension, pain, and discomfort from whiplash or herniated discs. Meanwhile, a massage therapist can complement chiropractic care by working on injured soft tissues. Massages and chiropractic care also promote post-traumatic incident recovery by soothing your mind and emotions.

Sports Injury

About 20% of Americans engage in regular exercise, sports, or recreational activities. Leading an active lifestyle strengthens your bones and muscles, prevents heart disease, and boosts your mood. Unfortunately, you may pick up an exercise-related injury that hampers you from participating in your favorite sport.

Getting a sports massage and chiropractic treatment can help prevent and manage injuries. Injured muscles tend to develop scar tissue and adhesions that limit their effective contraction and relaxation. Sports massage helps to stimulate and stretch the inactive or stiff muscles, promoting blood flow to the injured tissue. This therapy allows the body to break down scar tissue quickly and accelerate healing.

Active release treatment, a chiropractic method, can complement sports massage to manage soft tissue pain and reduce scar tissue. The procedure involves isolation and mobilization of built muscle or fascial injury, then using specific pressure points to restore normal movement and motion of these structures. 

This technique works on some common sports injuries like:

  • Tennis elbow
  • Frozen shoulder
  • Shin splits
  • Bursitis
  • Carpal tunnel syndrome
  • Plantar fasciitis

Arthritis 

Arthritis is a leading cause of disability and reduced quality of life, with over 58.5 million U.S. adults suffering from its effects. Morning stiffness, joint pain, reduced range of motion, and joint swelling are common symptoms in people with arthritis. Massage and chiropractic care are effective, non-invasive, and complementary modes of therapy you can rely on to manage arthritis.

Regularly manipulating the affected joint during therapeutic sessions helps to replenish lubrication to the joint cartilage. This activity alleviates joint stiffness, inflammation, and pain. The professionals at Reinhardt Chiropractic can provide a customized treatment plant to restore your range of motion and strength.

Top Massage and Chiropractic Care at Reinhardt

Are you ready to maximize the health benefits of both chiropractic care and massage therapy? Come experience these excellent treatment options at At Reinhardt Chiropractic. Our team combines massage therapy and chiropractic care to speed up your body’s healing and recovery. We advocate you include massage therapy in your chiropractic care plan for a comprehensive treatment. Schedule an appointment with us today to start living a pain-free life.