As a chiropractor, one of your core goals is to treat the person, not the symptoms. You accomplish this through natural, hands-on, drug- and surgery-free techniques.
Massage therapy also follows the same set of principles.
When combined, massage therapy and chiropractic can offer a greater power to be preventative and restorative — helping to address the source of stress and pain in order to help patients achieve optimal health.
Show me the benefits
Incorporating massage therapy into your practice can have many benefits to your patients and the growth of your practice. Some of the benefits include:
Improved patient outcomes. You want the best outcomes for your patients. When massage therapy is used as an adjunct therapy to chiropractic, patients often experience quicker pain relief because multiple components of the pain are being addressed simultaneously in similar, as well as different, ways.
For example: Massage can make chiropractic adjustments easier and more effective. When a patient receives massage prior to an adjustment, the massage has likely relaxed the patient’s soft tissue, making the chiropractic adjustment easier. Chiropractic adjustments may also last longer because once muscle tension is released, joints are less likely to pull themselves out of alignment again.
Patient stress reduction. You probably see it every day: patients are stressed. With stress being one of the primary contributors to back pain, massage therapy can work to relieve a patient’s tension and help them de-stress.
Helping a patient relax before chiropractic care can result in less anxiety about chiropractic and offer a more pleasant overall experience. In addition, patients who experience nervous tension and anxiety related to chiropractic visits might be less likely to reveal everything bothering them in fear of lengthening their treatment.
Massage therapy can help them feel less tense and anxious and more willing to speak openly about their symptoms.
Improved flexibility. A licensed massage therapist is well-trained in many facets of manual therapy, including flexibility, which can also improve patient outcomes, especially long-term.
Guided stretching, that a patient can then replicate at home, improves range of motion and can help prevent injury. Improved flexibility can also help patients feel more aware of their mind-body connection, improve circulation, and help patients prepare for safe physical activity.