Many chiropractors offer massage therapy and chiropractic care as a combined service, but is it an effective practice and more beneficial than each of them alone? That’s exactly what we will cover in this article, exploring the benefits and the research to support them.
Does Massage Therapy Help With Chiropractic Adjustments?
Massage therapy is a helpful technique that can help prime your muscles, loosen connective tissues, and facilitate a full range of motion throughout your joints.
Deep tissue massage allows the massage therapist to help the client with pain relief, effective chiropractic adjustments, and restoring the correct muscular tension to a specific region.
How Massage Therapy Helps Chiropractic Treatments
Massage therapy is a helpful tool that therapists can use in tandem with chiropractic therapy. Combining both methodologies into chiropractic massage therapy can help patients with joint mobility, muscle tension, spinal alignment, and chronic pain.
Benefits of Therapeutic Massage Techniques for Chiropractic Treatments
There are numerous benefits of therapeutic massage when used simultaneously with chiropractic therapy.
Reduced Chronic Pain
One of the most significant benefits of therapeutic massage is a lower level of chronic pain. Studies have shown that patients with cancer, neck, or back pain experience alleviation when using massage and chiropractic adjustments.
Furthermore, additional studies have proven that therapeutic massage patients have less anxiety and pain. The results show that massage therapy can treat pain, reduce chronic pain, and increase a patient’s quality of life.
Better Management of Chronic Conditions
Patients who suffer from chronic illnesses, such as asthma, multiple sclerosis, autoimmune conditions, arthritis, fibromyalgia, prenatal depression, autism, and dementia, can all benefit from using massage therapy and chiropractic work.
A study was recently performed, which demonstrated how massage therapy could increase vagal stimulation and boost cortisol levels. Therefore, results show how chiropractic massage can help those who have long-term illnesses or conditions.
Faster Blood Flow Circulation
Massage therapy before a chiropractic adjustment can help patients with better circulation and blood flow. Manual manipulation helps increase your range of motion, joint flexibility, tendon elasticity, and tissue health. A massage before a spinal adjustment can aid in lymphatic drainage and bodily blood flow.
Increased Range of Motion
Studies have shown that chiropractic care can help individuals with neck immobility, neck pain, shoulder pain, and sports injuries. Furthermore, chiropractic therapy is one of the most common tools for patients suffering from neck pain, back pain, or chronic headaches.
Another significant benefit of massage therapy before chiropractic care is an increased range of motion for stiff joints and muscles.
Reduced Spinal Pain
Studies have shown that spinal manipulation therapy, a crucial part of chiropractic care, is a universally recommended chiropractic treatment for those suffering from neck or back pain. Like Swedish massage, a light massage can help prime the spinal area and back muscles for manipulation therapy.
The Benefits of Chiropractic Care With Massage Therapy
Massage therapy is a helpful way for patients to achieve better results from chiropractic care. Patients can benefit from their chiropractic therapy sessions by gaining help with pain prevention, chronic pain relief, improved blood flow and circulation, reduced muscular tightness, and quick treatment recovery.
Let’s see the main benefits of chiropractic care when combined with massage therapy.
Pre Adjustment Massage Therapy
One of the main benefits of pre-adjustment massage therapy is “priming” the muscles to begin working on them with chiropractic treatments. Massage, like a sports massage, is an effective way to loosen tight muscles, correct muscle trauma, relieve tension, and break up any knots that can hinder manual adjustments.
Furthermore, pre-adjustment massage therapy helps therapists loosen the muscles directly connected to the bones and joints. Since chiropractors must manipulate certain bones and joints, such as the shoulders or spinal column, relaxing muscles attached to these target areas can reduce extremity pain relief and muscle pain.
Post-Adjustment Massage Therapy
Massage therapy post-adjustment can also be a helpful way to quicken recovery, see faster results, and achieve better pain relief than chiropractic care alone.
Massage therapy helps the muscles, especially those directly connected to the adjusted joints and bones, with a new adaptation. Loosening the muscles and improving blood flow to the specific area can help the body resign to the correct position.
Furthermore, massage therapy helps loosen the surrounding muscular tissues and tendons to get the perfect tension balance. Muscles, joints, and bones need the correct level of tension to achieve alignment without being too tight or pulled into uncomfortable positions.
Lastly, post-adjustment massage therapy can aid in pain relief and alleviation. Massage therapists can help prevent the joint from returning to the incorrect position, which aids in chronic pain relief and quicker healing times.
If you are pain-free, you have a higher chance of improved mood!
What Equipment Does Chiropractic Massage Therapy Use?
Chiropractic adjustments and massage therapy utilize various tools and equipment to aid correction and rehabilitation.
- Chiropractic table: The chiropractic table is one of the most common massage therapy tools. This table helps practitioners position a patient, decompress the spine and add more force to the adjustments.
- Activators: Activators are handheld tools that emit low physical force and can pinpoint specific areas of connective tissue.
- X-ray machine: Chiropractors may use X-ray machines to analyze a person’s innumerable symptoms and assess the problem areas.
- Interferential current: Interferential current uses electrical therapy to alleviate acute pain.
- Ultrasound: Ultrasound can diagnose an injury, like a sports injury, and for deep heat therapy to localized areas.
- Diagnostic thermal imaging: Diagnostic thermal imaging helps the chiropractor determine any problems with a patient’s central nervous system and evaluate the progress of a patient’s condition.
- Traction: Traction is a helpful tool for chiropractors to decompress a person’s spine, alleviate pain caused by herniated discs, and return the spine to the correct position.
- Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation: Similar to interferential current therapy, ‘TENS’ electrodes help to control a patient’s pain or discomfort during and after sessions.
- Cold laser: Using light without heat allows chiropractors to regenerate cell growth and reduce chronic pain in soft tissue.
- Trigger point tools: Therapists can use trigger point tools, such as T-shaped balls, that can loosen tight muscles, reduce leg pain, increase joint range of motion, and ease the stress on the therapist’s hands and wrists.
- Vibration tools: Electric massage equipment and vibration tools are helpful for chiropractic massage to stimulate the central nervous system, work out tight muscle knots, and prevent muscle spasms.
Massage Therapy & Chiropractic Care in Ventura County
Are you in need of spinal adjustments? If so, receiving high-quality massage therapy beforehand can help with the treatments and recovery process.
Luckily, Dr. Osland offers massage treatment and chiropractic combination therapy in Ventura and Oxnard that can help patients with varying needs.
Talk with our massage therapist today at our chiropractic clinic to see how these excellent treatments can aid your heart health, lower stress levels, relieve pain, and reduce muscle imbalances.
