Chiropractors and masseuses are both professionals who deal with pain in the spine, neck, and other parts of the body, and many people with neck pain will seek these professionals out in order to find pain relief. Is there a specific benefit of one type of professional over the other? Let’s take a look.
How Do Chiropractors Deal With Neck Pain?
If you go to a chiropractor for your neck pain, there are a lot of different things that they may do in order to figure out the best course of action. First off, they will do a full comprehensive exam that will include asking questions about your pain, including how you have currently dealt with it, when did you start feeling the pain, what helps the pain, what makes it worse, and is the neck the only part of your body that is dealing with the pain.
They may also do x-rays and other tests in order to get a better picture of everything that is going on with your body. Then it is time for treatment. If the chiropractor feels that it is out of their scope (that you may need surgery or medication to deal with what is going on), then they will likely recommend you to a neurologist. But if they feel comfortable with your condition, they will move forward with their own treatment.
Much of what they will do to you is called an adjustment, which is referred to as a cervical manipulation if it is in your neck area. What they do is they adjust your neck (and usually other parts of your spine) in order to make it so that your neck and back are able to move more easily. As you know, when you are in pain, your ability to move around and such are limited. With an adjustment, the chiropractor will be able to help you restore the full range of motion that you have, and because of that, you will feel more comfortable moving around and sitting. You won’t feel as stiff and sore, and your pain will be reduced greatly as well. Of course, there are other things that chiropractors may do as well.
They may actually recommend that you go and see a masseuse (some of them will even have a massage therapist on their staff for such times), they may do things in order to help you mobilize, or they may teach you exercises that can help you to rehabilitate the neck and other parts of your spine. All of these treatments will work together to help you relieve the pain that you’re dealing with and make it easier for you to complete your daily tasks.
How Do Masseuses Deal With Neck Pain?
A masseuse, or massage therapist, may deal with your neck pain a little bit differently. They don’t do adjustments like chiropractors, but the methods that they use in order to help relieve pain and increase mobility will do many of the same things that chiropractic work will do, it’s just that our bodies will react differently depending on what is going on in the body. So how does a masseuse actually work with your body in order to relieve the pain that you’re feeling in your neck? Let’s take a closer look at these methods.
First off, it’s important to realize that massage may actually make your neck hurt worse at first, but after dealing with massage in other parts of the body (specifically the face, back, shoulders, and arms), your neck will loosen up and it will have a lot less stress and pain. Many massage therapists will actually start their massage at the upper back and shoulders, because that will help get your neck ready and loosened up for when they get to that point. These methods will help the whole body release tension, which in turn will make it easier to manipulate the neck and other parts of the body.
Different masseuses may also use other methods in order to help reduce the pain and stress that your body is feeling. Heat and water are two common tools that are used, both of which also help to loosen up the muscles and make it so that you feel more comfortable. They may also use certain lotions and aromatherapy as part of your treatment plan, depending on why you are suffering with your neck pain and if they determine that these things may possibly make it so that your neck pain is reduced even further.
Last but not least, the massage therapist will help you feel more comfortable and release the stiffness in your neck and shoulders, which will help your body to be more limber and make it less likely for you to pull a muscle and end up with other injuries in your body. Prevention is key to success with neck pain, so if you take the time to make sure that no further problems happen, you will do a lot better in the long run. This is the view that masseuses take and why they use these particular methods as part of your therapy.
As you can see, there is no simple answer to this question. It depends on your condition, what your doctor suggests, and what your specific problems may be with the whole issue. That being said, it’s a discussion that you need to have with a medical professional – which of these professionals is best for your particular condition? What do they recommend? Use these suggestions as a guide, but make sure that you defer to the doctor treating your issues above anything else.