Massage Therapy vs Chiropractic – Do They Work Together?

I get asked a lot how I feel about chiropractic care. A couple of years ago my spine was pushed out of alignment and it was difficult to walk. I went to a chiropractor that gave me some relief after a couple of sessions. After that I felt soreness and pain but I could function much better. I continued rehab with stretch therapy and designed gym workouts. I believe chiropractic care has it’s place in the wellness mix, so here’s my breakdown. Although massage and chiropractic are two separate disciplines, both needing a lot of training, there are many similarities between them both, and they work really well when you use them in combination in some instances.

If you’re feeling pain or discomfort, you could have an underlying problem with your spinal alignment, or tension in your muscles that’s impacting on your nerve function. Chiropractic is really helpful for dealing with functional issues like these, but if you’ve been experiencing the symptoms for a while, you can sometimes find that your body stubbornly resists the adjustments a chiropractor makes, which can result in frustration and even pain.

Chiropractic care focuses on the skeletal system to relieve pain, while massage focuses on soft tissue. If you’re finding chiropractic hard going, you could benefit from massage to help relieve some of the tension and tightness your body is holding onto, allowing the chiropractor to do their work much more effectively. 

If you’re experiencing problems with stiffness in your spine and there’s a build-up of tension in the muscles supporting and surrounding it, trying to adjust the spine without working on the muscle tightness can pull on the spinal joints. This can make them even stiffer and means that it’s quite likely your pain will return, even if the chiropractic relieves it initially.

As with any health practitioner a chiropractor should be educating you on what’s happening with your body and the goal should be to get you back to functionality. Much like my therapeutic clients (those not dealing with chronic pain), chiropractic should aim to not have you as a client. Meaning, if you find yourself seeing any practitioner for a specific problem that you are not seeing any results over a period of time, you should be seeking other methods of healing

Using the two together is really helpful after an accident or sporting injury, even the aches and pains that you might get from DIY or gardening. Injuries treated with massage and chiropractic can often heal faster because the two treatments help to stimulate blood flow, boosting your body’s natural energy to heal.

Chiropractic and massage therapy are also, importantly, natural, drug free, hands on therapies and they don’t have to be restricted just to after injury or when you’re in pain, it can be beneficial to have a session of chiropractic or a regular massage just to maintain your muscular and spinal health and stop problems from occurring in the first place.

1. What is your Philosophy? The chiropractic philosophy believes your spine’s health and your overall health intertwine. Your body heals itself once the musculoskeletal system achieves proper alignment. Chiropractic care is a healing health intervention that relies on the body’s natural systems and avoids drugs or invasive surgery.  Find out how your chiro puts this to use in their practice.
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2. What is your Technique? Chiropractors use a variety of techniques and we won’t name them all here, but ask the chiro to explain it to you so that you can feel comfortable with what will be happening in your sessions.
3. What post-Chiropractic school training have you had? Like with any practitioner you want to be sure your chiropractor is up to date on the latest scientific research and techniques.
4. What is your  Diagnostic process? Chiropractors have the ability to use not only hands-on but X-rays and other  tools to diagnose your underlying problems and create a plan specifically for you.
5. What is your visit criteria? Seeking chiropractic care for pain relief shouldn’t be a a lifetime commitment.  Work with your chiro to determine a plan and how you will measure progress along the way.