Self care is how you take your power back. That’s exactly what Chiropractic and Massage helps you do. Release the spinal, muscular and nervous system tension that’s heating up under the surface, slowing approaching boiling point getting ready to erupt in a spurt of pain, tension and disability.
So why do Chiropractic and Massage work so well together? To start with, they both help you feel awesome! But there’s more. There’s 3 great reasons we discuss below. If you’re like me, more kinaesthetic and want to feel the difference, make an appointment and find out first hand.
Turn Down The Noise
Chiropractic and Massage work synergistically on the stress receptors located throughout the body. Often the target of physical, chemical, emotional and technological stimuli. These receptors are located throughout the muscles, tendons, disc and ligaments. There’s a myriad of different therapies based on helping the stress response and usually each therapy targets one version of stress stimuli. For example, talk based therapy like psychology targets emotional receptors and dietary modifications target chemical stimuli. As Chiropractors and Massage Therapists, we target the physical side of stress receptors.
The physical stress receptors we focus on go by technical names like mechanoreceptors and nociceptors. They’re located throughout your body and spine, particularly in the upper neck and sacral region of your spine. You may have noticed first hand, working on one type of stress receptor can have a significant flow on effect through all types of stress. Mechanical stress relief from Chiropractic and Massage is far more than just physical. The physical stress relief can substantially improve emotional and chemical stress too.
After your visit to your Chiropractor or Massage Therapist, stress receptors are brought back into balance. Michelle (Transitions Chiropractic massage therapist) and I have noticed after working together for 16 years that most people respond very well when receiving Chiropractic and Massage together. These techniques work together, on similar systems of the body and both help to modulate stress.
Prime Muscles For Relaxation
Life’s busy. Sometimes our defences can be so high on alert they can forget to calm down and relax. This is where we come in. Working with the body physically is a great way to help find a balance between attentive & high wired to relaxed & recharged.
One of the questions we often get though is which comes first. Chiropractic or Massage? If your asking, there is a clinically perfect situation. Clinically, best practice would have you visiting your Chiropractor prior to the Massage.
It’s not just in the alphabet, it’s also for your body that Chiropractic comes before Massage. This might sound controversial for those thinking Massage is required to loosen up to get adjusted. However, by having Chiropractic first, the body and nervous system receives a massive neurological input to relax and calm down. This takes a lot of the fight out of the muscles and nervous system promoting a relaxed and calm state. The massage therapist can then work through the muscles without having to break down any extra defences and unnecessary spasm first.
In saying that however, you will absolutely get a great positive response if you have Massage before Chiropractic. There’s that famous N+ 1 equation. What works best for you, is what works best for you!
Reduce Inflammation
Massage and Chiropractic both offer tremendous relief from many causes of inflammation. The pain, swelling, tenderness, stiffness and heat that can be associated with inflammation can affect different areas of the body from joints, tendons, muscles, discs and ligaments.
Chiropractic is good for inflammation by two different avenues. First, it helps reset the inflamed tissues mentioned above. The reset is the reason why initially, straight after an adjustment you can begin to feel and move better. The second is that inflammation is a chemical reaction caused by the brain releasing stress hormone in response to potential damaging stimuli. A targeted, specific adjustment helps to normalise the chemical cascade in the brain, calming the release of cortisol and other stress hormones responsible for inflammation. However, there’s often some lingering pain.
This is where massage and inflammation come in. Massage helps promote the movement of lymph tissue around the body while at the same time promoting blood flow. It’s this blood flow and lymph drainage that helps to flush the inflammation out of the irritated areas.
If keen to find out more or to experience first hand, give us a call. Likewise, why do you think Massage & Chiropractic are a great fit? Let us know below.