Massages have been used therapeutically for thousands of years, with styles and techniques evolving throughout the centuries. Today, there are more than 100 varieties of massage being used in countries all around the world, helping to relieve back pain and muscle stiffness in millions of patients.

Although chiropractic care is not the same as massage, an increasing number of chiropractors are offering massage therapy to help alleviate pain and rehabilitate injuries in patients suffering from problems with their musculoskeletal system. Most qualified and experienced chiropractors agree that while massage therapy can be beneficial as a standalone treatment, it is far superior when performed alongside conventional chiropractic adjustments. 
 

What is massage therapy?

Massage therapy refers to the manual manipulation of the soft tissues of the body, including the skin, muscles, tendons, and ligaments. There are many different techniques, with some of the most popular being:
 

Swedish massage

A gentle form of massage that uses long strokes, deep circular movements, kneading, vibrations, and tapping to relax your body and help you feel revitalized.
 

Sports massage

Similar to Swedish massage, but targeted at people heavily involved in sport, and used to treat or prevent injuries. 
 

Deep massage

With slower, more forceful strokes, this type of massage targets the deeper layers of muscle and connective tissue with the aim of stimulating blood flow to the area so that they can heal.
 

Trigger point massage

Focused on specific areas of tight muscle, this massage helps to loosen and relax these areas that tend to tighten with overuse or injury. 

Many businesses today are struggling to navigate the world of health care in order to maintain a healthy workforce. While the markets may be changing, chiropractic care is a stable avenue that keeps employees feeling better, increases productivity, and strengthens retention. Let’s take a better look at what corporate wellness programs can offer your company and why you should consider increasing the options for employees.
 

Improved Employee Health

It is hard to imagine that any employer would say that they don’t care about the health of their employees, but many companies feel that wellness programs are an excess expense. The companies that cut back on wellness expenses soon find that they have increased their costs in other areas. When employees feel that their health is valued, they are more likely to be motivated to be at work and when they have access to adequate medical care, they can catch illness or injury before it affects their work performance.
 

Reduction in Unnecessary Surgeries

Employees with access to health care services are more likely to be well-versed on any issues they may be having as well as seek professional guidance when these issues occur. With this access, employees will feel like they can take control of their health and make healthier lifestyle choices when it comes to diet and exercise. When employees stack the deck in their favor, they are less likely to be diagnosed with conditions that require surgery or are able to look into less invasive options first.
 

Overall Cost Savings

Health insurance costs increase as the number of people requiring expensive medical care goes up. As companies expand their costs in preventative care, education, and incentives – they see an overall reduction in health-related expenses. This can be seen in the reduced number of missed workdays, lack of productivity, and expensive specialists or doctor visits. A recent study even suggests that for every $1 spent on corporate wellness, the companies saw a savings of $2.13 to $10.10 through lower medical costs, reduced number of missed workdays, and increased productivity.

How to Reach Your Goals with a Health and Wellness Coach

In today’s world, there is a growing group of people who are putting their personal health at the forefront. These people strongly believe that having a positive outlook on their health can increase the chances of reaching their goals and increase their quality of life.

If you are considering making a healthy change, congratulations! Improving your health and quality of life can be exciting and when you begin your transformation, you may want to consider enlisting the services of a health and wellness coach.
 

What is Health and Wellness Coaching?

A health and wellness coach is an individual or team of people that help you create a vision for your journey. They help break down your overall goal into individual steps and create manageable milestones for you to accomplish on a short-term basis. They also help you to develop a positive mindset around your goals and push you to achieve your vision.

Health and wellness coaches will typically be available to you at every step of your journey and can provide valuable insight and encouragement to keep you motivated to continue to push through barriers.
 

Items Included in Coaching Plans

Health and wellness coaches can personalize a plan for your needs, but traditional plans will include:

• A method for stress management

• Tips for healthy eating

• How to prioritize your care

• Help to maintain your positive outlook

• Insight into balancing your schedule
   

These coaches are typically concerned with the overall well-being of their clients and their interest can offer a valuable perspective on all aspects of your life and how that relates to your health. The more open and honest you are about your personal life, the more tailored a plan will be in order to help you achieve your dreams.
 

What Coaching Will NOT Do

Health coaches have specific training that qualifies them for the specific approaches that they advertise. However, you should not expect a health coach to act as your dietitian or personal trainer. While they may be able to offer some advice, it may be wise to bring on additional specialists to your health team.

Health coaches are also not usually licensed psychologists or therapists. While they can help you to set and achieve positive goals, they are not qualified to work with or diagnose mental health or psychological disorders.
 

What Your Coach Will Do

Health and wellness coaches are there to hold you accountable for your specific goals. They will check in with you at regular intervals to see how you are progressing and discuss any setbacks that you may be having in order to help you make changes to your plan when needed. Health coaches may also be able to identify any other issues you may be having and guide you toward professionals related to those issues for advice.

Health coaches are there to pull you back on track when you feel like quitting as well as to help remind you of your day one goal and how you can achieve it. We all have challenging days, but when you have a partner on your side, it makes those days less frequent and more manageable.
 

Finding the Right Coach for You

Coaching in this market is a blossoming economy that is growing every day. Therefore, it is important to find a coach that fits your needs and complements your goals. If you are considering a coach, you should look at their qualifications, check their reviews, and ask to speak with some of their previous clients.

You can also ask to see examples of coaching plans they have designed for others with needs similar to yours. If you are considering hiring a health and wellness coach, you should call today and set up an initial consultation. There is no better time to start your wellness journey than right now!

Many people who have back pain have been experiencing it for so long that they believe that it’s just a regular part of their life. Even after you have taken pain relievers, used heating pads, ice packs, and maybe even bought an expensive, specialized mattress, your pain can still remain. While all of these tools can be used in an attempt to manage your back pain, the actual root cause of the issue has yet to be addressed.

Many chiropractic patients suffer from conditions that can't be corrected through temporary measures. When you must sit at a desk for eight or more hours a day, your mattress and pain relievers just can’t fix it. If you’ve tried these options but are coming up short in managing your pain or range of motion, you may want to consider a chiropractic adjustment.

If you’re still weighing your options, here are some benefits to consider if you are thinking about scheduling your first chiropractic adjustment:
 

Reduce Your Blood Pressure

Some studies suggest that receiving chiropractic adjustments can have the same effect on your blood pressure as some medications that are specifically designed to lower your blood pressure without the side effects often associated with blood pressure medications such as fatigue, nausea, dizziness, weight loss, and anxiety. The study also found that these effects were not just short-term and that the benefits of an adjustment could last up to six months after your appointment.
 

Adjustments Can Help with Neck and Back Pain

Individuals that have a misaligned spine or pain in their spine often try to adjust their position in an attempt to reduce pain in a specific area. Unfortunately, this shift in posture can result in poor alignment in other areas. Your chiropractor can help to align your problem areas which can result in better overall posture and reduced pain throughout your back and spinal column.
 

Chiropractic Adjustments Help Scoliosis

Scoliosis is a condition that affects the curvature of the spine. The back can curve and twist causing difficulty with mobility, range of motion, pain, and may even affect your ability to breathe. While there are several options available to help cope with scoliosis, chiropractic adjustments have been shown to help treat the disease. When chiropractic adjustments are used in tandem with physical therapy, the progression of scoliosis can even be halted.

As people age, it is a common often belief that the pain and discomfort associated with our joints is a normal occurrence that we are forced to live with. While our joints can experience levels of degradation as we age, the pain and reduced mobility that is often associated with arthritis don’t have to be something that we suffer through. Instead, let's review some of the facts about chiropractic care and how it can be beneficial in treating the pain associated with arthritis.
 

Chiropractic Care and Your Joints

Many people believe that chiropractors don't do any work beyond that focused on the spine. And while It is true that the majority of work that chiropractors do surrounds issues associated with the spine, if you think this is the only work that chiropractors do, you are likely to miss a lot of the additional benefits of chiropractic care. 

In addition to spinal work, chiropractors also specialize in issues that surround our joints. Since the vertebrae that make up our spinal column contain joints between each individual vertebrae, it becomes more apparent how chiropractors are able to help with your arthritis when you think of them as joint specialists.
 

The Effects of Arthritis

Arthritis typically occurs when something irritates the joints, which can be a deterioration of the joint itself. As joints deteriorate, they may become irritated more frequently by multiple factors such as increased movement, regular movement, or changes in temperature which can cause inflammation and pain.

This chronic pain and inflammation are what we refer to as arthritis. Many patients take prescription or over-the-counter medications to manage the effects of arthritis, but medications will only treat the symptoms and don’t get to the root cause of your discomfort.

As the professional community ages, the diagnoses of carpal tunnel syndrome continue to rise. Carpal tunnel syndrome is commonly associated with the repetitive movement related to typing on a keyboard with improper hand positioning. Carpal tunnel syndrome creates a burning, numbness, or tingling sensation in the hands or wrists and can occur on one or both sides.

Carpal tunnel release and surgeries associated with relieving the pain associated with carpal tunnel are increasing every year. Unfortunately, the success of these surgeries is only seen in about half of the population. If you have been diagnosed with carpal tunnel syndrome and are currently considering your options for pain relief, one you should definitely consider is chiropractic care.
 

What is Carpal Tunnel Syndrome?

The carpal tunnel is a narrow passageway in your wrist where the median nerve passes through and then into your hand. Any inflammation or swelling of the carpal tunnel can constrict or cause pressure to occur on the median nerve. This interruption of your nerve's ability to function can cause the suite of problems associated with carpal tunnel syndrome.

Women are three times more likely to develop carpal tunnel syndrome and while scientists are not certain why this occurs, they suggest that it may be due to the smaller size of the carpal tunnel in women when compared to their male counterparts.
 

Diagnosing Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

The diagnosis of carpal tunnel syndrome can be notoriously difficult. Any issues with the median nerve anywhere in the body can cause similar problems, making it difficult for an initial diagnosis. Some of the other possibilities that your chiropractor will try to rule out are arthritis, subluxations, or herniated discs in the spinal column that may interfere with the medial nerve before it reaches the carpal tunnel.
 

Conducting Invasive Treatments

While your doctor may suggest surgery as a possibility, it is essential to recognize that there are many possible misdiagnoses and complications associated with this procedure. The high number of ineffective operations suggests that there may have been a misdiagnosis in the first place.

 Additionally, surgeries require significant preparation, cost, and recovery time. So before you schedule an invasive procedure, it would be wise to meet with your chiropractor and get their opinion first.

Many people have heard about chiropractors for years and may have even wondered if they can help with some of the pain that they’ve been in, but until now, something has been holding them back from scheduling an appointment. This is often the case for many first-time patients. Understanding some of the things that you should look for when “shopping” for a new medical provider can help relieve some of your apprehension. Here are a few components to help you choose the right chiropractor for you before scheduling the first appointment.
 

Check the Reviews

This doesn’t mean that you should simply do an online search and trust everything that you’ve read. Ask some of your friends, family, or neighbors to see if they have any suggestions or cautionary tales about chiropractors in your area. These suggestions are invaluable because they want you to receive the best care possible and won’t hold back when letting you know if there are any issues.

You should also check online reviews. While these aren’t always accurate, and often overrepresent negative aspects, they can be helpful to see if similar issues occur and how responsive that office is to their patients’ needs.
 

Check with Your Insurance

Chiropractic care is often a covered practice, but that doesn’t mean that all providers are covered by all insurances. You can ask the chiropractic office if they accept your insurance, but it’s also important to verify that information with your insurance carrier. Many insurance companies will identify all the covered providers in your area, which can help you narrow your search.
 

Research your Condition

While you shouldn't depend entirely on your internet search to understand your condition, it can be helpful to gain some insight. If you think that you can identify what issue you might be having, it can be helpful to investigate the potential treatments and causes. As you continue your research, be sure to write down some questions for your chiropractic office. This can help to ensure that you receive the care that you want and that the office has experience with your specific concerns.

Physiotherapy is a branch of therapy that is specifically concerned with the treatment of an injury, disease, or disorder with physical approaches. These approaches include massage, exercise, and physical manipulation rather than invasive medical procedures or the use of medications.

While some people believe that physiotherapists work specifically with athletes on sports-related issues, their patient base is actually much broader. Physiotherapists also work with patients who are in different age groups or demographic categories. They help patients recover from injury, disease, illness, and even some of the effects of aging. Physiotherapists aim to help individuals achieve a higher quality of life through pain relief, increased range of motion, or recovery from damage to the body.

In order to achieve their desired results with a wide range of their patients, physiotherapists must employ a wide range of possible treatments.

There are three basic types of physiotherapy:

• Musculoskeletal – This therapy focuses on the treatment of sprains, strains, arthritis, incontinence, posture problems, workplace injuries, surgery recovery, and many other physical conditions.

• Neurological – This therapy works with issues associated with the brain. Potential injuries include stroke, multiple sclerosis, spinal injuries, and Parkinson’s disease.

• Cardiothoracic – This branch of physiotherapy works with issues associated with breathing and can include emphysema, asthma, chronic bronchitis, and other cardio-respiratory illnesses.
   

Treatment Options

Physiotherapists work with their patients to develop a personalized treatment plan that best suits their specific needs. Some patients may only require a single treatment style while other patients may require more intensive plans. There are three primary treatment options that physiotherapy uses. However, within those options, there are a variety of additional techniques that your medical professional may use to help you improve your quality of life.

• Manual Therapies – Manual therapies can include joint manipulation or adjustment, manual resistance training or stretching. These therapies are usually conducted in an office setting with hands-on work from your physiotherapist.

• Exercise Therapy – Exercise training focuses largely on strength training, cardiovascular stretching, and re-training proper posture.

• Electrotherapy – Electrotherapy isn’t the electrodes hooked up to your brain that deliver a painful shock anymore. Instead, electrotherapy is used to deliver a gentle current to your affected muscles in order to help promote healing and growth. This category also utilizes laser therapy and ultrasound to help heal and reduce pain.

Chiropractic care can offer benefits to so many people with drastically different conditions. While the conditions that are commonly linked to chiropractic care generally surround spine and back health, it can also help with intestinal health and ear infections as well as a multitude of other issues.

If you’re experiencing pain or discomfort, you should consider a visit to your chiropractor to get a diagnosis and see what they can do to provide relief. Chiropractors offer many services without harsh or dangerous medicines or invasive procedures that can cause hospitalizations and time off work.
 

Expectant Mothers

Growing a life is an incredibly difficult job for your body and creating a new life comes with some side effects that may not always be seen as awe-inspiring. As a woman’s body changes to facilitate the growth of the fetus, several conditions can be caused for a visit to a chiropractor. Some of these conditions include:

• Nausea

• Posture changes

• A protruding abdomen that curves the spine

• Changes to the pelvis

• Numbness or tingling in the extremities
   

All licensed chiropractors are required to take specific classes that focus on the treatment of expectant mothers. Some chiropractors receive additional education that further allows them to treat the specialized needs of pregnant women and their unborn children. Mothers should also consider visiting their chiropractors for postnatal adjustments to speed their recovery.
 

Infants and Children

At first thought, it may seem overbearing to think about infants receiving chiropractic care. However, positioning in the womb or difficult labor can result in increased strain on the spinal column. Chiropractors can help infants with adjustments to align their spine and promote healthy immune system responses.

Chiropractors can also help when infants have trouble breastfeeding, sleeping, have colic, or many other issues. If your newborn child is having any issues, you may want to schedule a consultation with a chiropractor to see if they can help.

Our kids are often very active and seem to be growing out of their shoes, shirts, and pants almost as soon as we buy them. This rapid growth and along with an active lifestyle can often lead to small injuries in the spine. When you combine an injury to the spine with the need for rapid growth, kids need to be in tip-top shape so that their bodies can grow and develop in a healthy and natural way. Chiropractors can even help kids (and adults) who suffer from ear infections.
 

Fibromyalgia diagnoses have been increasing as awareness has risen. Many individuals now feel that they can seek help from the medical field for their issues, although treatments are generally more difficult to understand. Many people who have fibromyalgia also complain about the lack of effectiveness that many treatment options offer. However, chiropractic care has become an increasingly common and successful treatment option for patients with the disease.
 

Understanding Fibromyalgia

Fibromyalgia is a disorder that is characterized by a laundry list of signs and symptoms. These symptoms include:

• Widespread musculoskeletal pain

• Weakness

• Fatigue

• Sleep loss

• Memory issues

• Mood changes
   

While the cause is still being investigated, researchers believe that the disorder amplifies pain signals that are sent to the brain. This means that the normal pain sensation of a pinprick to the finger can instead feel like a searing stab wound.

While fibromyalgia is most commonly diagnosed in women, individuals that suffer from headaches, TMJ (temporomandibular joint disorder), anxiety, depression, or irritable bowel syndrome are more likely to be diagnosed with fibromyalgia. The disease is also commonly linked to another traumatic injury or surgery. Symptoms may appear instantaneously or gradually increase in severity.

As fibromyalgia research continues, we can expect to see more definitive answers to our questions. Currently, researchers believe that the disorder may be caused by genetics, past infections, physical trauma, or a combination of the three.