Chiropractic treatment and massage therapy are similar in that they both use hands-on and instrument-assisted techniques to improve mobility and reduce pain, inflammation, and stress. However, chiropractic adjustments are fairly different from massage. While they have a similar goal — improving how you feel — they achieve it differently.
What Is Chiropractic Care?
Chiropractic care focuses on the foundational structure of your body and joints to restore balance to the surrounding muscles and nervous system. It releases tension and can address areas of hypermobility within the body to relax or tone soft tissue around joints and create balance within the body. When your body is in balance, you can breathe easier, think clearer, and feel lighter.
During your chiropractic treatment session, your chiropractor will stretch and strengthen surrounding musculature, release tight trigger points, and influence the nervous system to create and maintain this balance. Your chiropractor will work with you to release any tension or activate weakened muscles that might interfere with the adjustment and make it less effective.
Chiropractic care provides pain relief and reduces inflammation. But when chiropractic isn’t enough, adding massage therapy to your treatment plan can help.
What Is Massage Therapy?
Massage therapy is a separate treatment you schedule outside of your chiropractic adjustment. While massage therapy also releases muscle tension, it’s part of a larger wellness plan to reduce stress and support healing.
There are different types of massage therapies. You’ve probably heard of Swedish massage or reiki, and other types of massage include:
- Deep tissue
- Hot stone
- Trigger Point
- Pin and Stretch
- Cupping
- Gua sha
- Aromatherapy
- Sports massage
Each massage type has a similar goal — to help you relax and reduce muscle stress — but accomplishes it differently. For example, an aromatherapy massage infuses essential oils to promote different types of healing, while trigger point focuses on pressure points to release and improve mobility.
How Is Chiropractic Care Different from Massage Therapy?
Chiropractic care and massage therapy use similar techniques to achieve the same goal: relaxing your muscles and your mind. Chiropractic uses adjustments with hands or tools at the joint to provide a neurological release of muscle tension and improve circulation. Massage therapy is applied directly to the muscle to release tension and improve circulation.
Chiropractic therapy focuses on influencing the joints and the corresponding muscles, fascia, and nerves surrounding them. Your chiropractor releases the surrounding soft tissue the area the chiropractic adjustment is targeting to make the adjustment easier.
For areas of hypermobility, where the joints are moving too much, your chiropractor may not adjust the area since it’s already moving well. Instead, the focus will be on strengthening to prevent injuries. The ultimate goal of each chiropractor is to learn your story and shed light on what’s specifically going on within your body, then tailor the treatment to your body and help you maintain your healing momentum outside of the clinical spa.
Massage therapy is for muscles, muscle coverings (fascia), and the tissue that connects muscles to bones. The massage therapist can work on a focused area (or areas), your full body, or both.
The other major difference between chiropractic care and massage therapy is that during a chiropractic session, you keep your clothes on. Most massage therapy encourages you to disrobe to your comfort level for the session to allow access to skin and musculature. Each massage therapist is trained to help keep you covered by a sheet or blanket for your privacy.
What Is Medical Massage?
Medical massage is a type of massage therapy that targets a specific medical condition. For example, if you have plantar fasciitis or low back pain, the massage therapist will work on those areas to reduce pain and inflammation in the surrounding tissues.
Medical massage is a blend of treatments. Like massage therapy, it uses a hands-on approach to release muscle tension. And like chiropractic care, it targets a specific muscle or group of muscles to help treat your underlying medical condition.
Can I Get Chiropractic Care and Massage Therapy?
Absolutely! Massage therapy is often a complementing therapy to your chiropractic care. Reducing muscle tension throughout your body can ease pain and help your body recover from injury.
Which Service Should I Do First?
That depends on your goals. If your overall goal is to reduce stress and elevate your mood, it’s generally recommended to begin with chiropractic care and then have a massage. Chiropractic adjustments release mood-elevating endorphins, and following the adjustment with massage can continue to improve circulation, reduce muscle tension, and calm the nervous system.
If your overall goal is to improve mobility, medical massage therapy can help decrease contracted or tense muscles to enhance the chiropractic adjustment. It’s best to talk to your chiropractor about what order may benefit you best.
Does Flourish Chiropractic Spa Offer Massage Therapy?
Yes! Flourish Chiropractic Spa offers several massage therapies in the office with one of our licensed massage therapists. You can schedule a massage therapy appointment in addition to your chiropractic treatment for:
- Cupping
- Pregnancy massage
- Medical massage
- TMJ focused
- Deep tissue
- Hot stone
- Massage therapy
- Wellness massage
- CBD massage
Your massage will take place outside of and in addition to your chiropractic appointment. Not all medical massage therapies are covered by insurance, though we will bill your insurance as a courtesy. Wellness massages and the $20 CBD portion of a CBD massage must be paid for at the time of service because insurance will only consider medically necessary treatments.
Enhance Your Well Being
Both chiropractic care and massage therapy can improve mobility, reduce stress, and improve your overall well-being. Whether it’s a medical massage, a wellness massage, or something else, the team at Flourish Chiropractic Spa is here to help you achieve your health goals. Schedule an appointment today.
