Should I See a Massage Therapist or Chiropractor in Stone Oak?
Massage Therapist or Chiropractor? Which is Best?
The simple answer to this question is that it depends. Both the roles of the massage therapist and chiropractor can blend in extremely well with helping patients out of pain and back to full health. Indeed, having a massage prior to a chiropractic adjustment has significant advantages as it helps to relax the patient making the adjustment much more profitable.
Let's take a look at the different roles of each and how they can dovetail.
Massage Therapy Benefits
Massage therapy is great for some of the conditions listed:
- stress
- anxiety
- low back pain
- muscle soreness
- soft tissue injuries
- high blood pressure
There are plenty more conditions that it can treat and help patient to recovery. Some simple injuries also include minor sports injuries, poor posture, aches from desk work, pain from repetitive tasks and more.
Massage is mostly seen as a way to become more relaxed and to reduce stress, and this is very true. Being more relaxed and stress free does help loosen muscles which may be tight or tense due to an injury. Following a massage with chiropractic care is a good way to take advantage of this increased relaxed state in order to realign problem joints and to allow better function.
Massage therapy also helps with:
- increased circulation
- stimulation of the lymphatic system
- reduction of stress hormones
- relaxation
- improved function and mobility
So it's pretty clear to see how massage is of benefit to a person's wellbeing.
Now let's take a look at chiropractic.
Chiropractic Adjustment Benefits
Chiropractic deals with the issue of decompression. Back and neck pain is generally formed due to compression in the joints which can infringe on nerves or simply cause dysfunction and ultimately inflammation and pain.
What happens is a joint (or joints) become afflicted. So perhaps the patient's posture is poor and the low back is thrown out. Muscles begin to become tight in order to support the afflicted area. This tightness is not natural and the patient's movement is reduced and the area falls into dysfunction.
As the dysfunction increases, inflammation is generated due to increased scar tissue or adhesions inside the joint. This generates friction and heat and pain is the result. If it is not treated, then it is possible for the pain to increase and the problem may get worse.
As an analogy, think about what happens if you rub your hands together. After a while, they get hotter. If the action is repeated, then callouses may form and thus pain is experienced.
This is basically what happens inside your body where callouses are known as scar tissue or adhesions.
What chiropractic care does is to break up this scar tissue and helps to adjust the joint back to where it should be. With the scar tissue broken down and joint realigned, proper function is reintroduced to the body and pain reduces.
If the adjustment is repeated every few days then it is possible for the patient to be pain free with proper movement again.
So Should I See a Massage Therapist or Chiropractor?
The good news is that at Dr Golab's Chiropractic & Massage you have our help to decide what is best for you. It could be massage, it could be chiropractic, or it could be both! As previously discussed above, a massage to relax you followed by a chiropractic adjustment may help considerably.
What we would do is to sit down with you, listen to your concerns, your injury and your pain, we would examine you, take an X-ray if necessary and then determine the cause of your problem.
From there we can determine the best plan of attack to reduce your pain and help you back to normal again.
We offer walk in chiropractic care while massage therapy is by appointment. We also offer cryotherapy as another option.
Insurances are accepted and we will determine your coverage prior to treatment.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate in calling us on (210) 764-8888.
Posted In:
Chiropractic
Massage
