Massage Therapy vs Chiropractic

Great Debates
1

An a friend who has been ill for some time recently to me that they had received some relief from massage therapy. More and more people that I know have been utilizing massage therapy and pleased by it.

I follow mainstream medicine and health, and I am intriuged how some alterntive therapies are being more widely accepted. Among these are the use of chiropractors and massage therapists. I had long been of the opinion that as a whole, most chiropractors were questionable as to being able to fulfill promises made and medical advice made sometime sounds quite strange, however I am sure that there are some good ones. I do not know if I judge to harshly or not, as some people do seem to be clearly helped by chiropractic care. My thoughts above are based on a more technical and medical point of view to claims and treatment methods, as opposed to experience as a client.

What I do know is that massage therapy is becoming increasingly popular, and people see them for many of the same type of reasons that people traditionally have gone to chiropractors, many chiropractors even now employ massage therapists themselves.

What I would like to hear is opinions from people that have had experience with chiropractors or massage therapists, or preferrably both. Have you been helped or satisfied by either?

What I would really like to hear , is if people feel one is better than the other in terms of helping them achieve what ever they had hoped to achieve by seeing a chiropractor/massage therapist. If you have used both, what would your preference be in the future?

2

When I was 12, I was a bedwetter, and my grandma took me to a chiropracter for it. About six treatments.

Didn’t work.

Understand this: he took her money–an old lady’s pension money–to treat a bedwetter.

I understand that he is probably the exception in the profession.

However, if I were you, and I had a choice, I’d go for a simple massage. At least that way you know exactly what you’re getting into, nobody’s gonna spout off a lot of quackery.

3

plus, a good massage feels a lot better than having your neck cracked.

4

I’ve had recurrent muscle cramping and soreness in my neck, shoulders and upper back for more than 13 years now, so I’ve had a lot of experience with both massage and chiropractic. Both provide relief – but only temporary relief – of the symptoms. They don’t get at the root of the problem, whatever it is. “How many chiropractors does it take to change a light bulb?” “Just one – but it takes fifty visits!”

5

BTW: Although chiropractic has some practical value as a form of physical therapy, the theory underlying classical or “straight” chiropractic is scientifically indefensible. It’s based on the assumption that “subluxations” – maladjustments of your main nerve trunks – will block the flow of “energy” from your brain to your extremities, and chiropractic adjustments can restore the proper flow. Which is bullshit – your nervous system transmits only information; “energy” is carried to all parts and all cells of your body via the food and oxygen in your blood. The theory of chiropractic seems to be similar to that of Chinese acupuncture, which is supposed to restore and adjust the flow of “qi” – and there is no scientific evidence that “qi” even exists. See this GQ thread: http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=167264

6

I’m going to say this, the best student in my organic chemistry class went to chiropractic college. At beverage impaired moment, he confided in me that a chiropractor was the best medical practitioner to be, because your patients never died, and they never got better. He was pretty cynical though, and may not be representative. I’m sure many believe in what they are doing.

7

Yes this is exactly my issue with chiropractors and why I have never used one. I am sure there are chiropractors that help people, but “science” behind it is flawed and I have heard “adjustment of subluxations” as being a cure for almost everything. It is the many unscientific claims that chiropractic makes that causes me uncomfortable.

8

When you are going for physical therapy the most important thing to remember is that the practioner is there to guide, encourage and sometimes force a backtrack/restart of the natural healing process. The patient has to be responsible for proper rest/nutrition, strengthening, and if necessary modifying some habits.

A good therapist will have a “best case” plan but be willing to discuss modifications. Goals should be set (and no, “50 visits” doesn’t count :slight_smile: ). Patients should get a good grip on what is specifically being treated, the therapist should be answering questions clearly.

Massage and chiro can both have the problem of “maintaining an ill-ness”. The underlying problem may never be addressed - be it postural/muscle imbalance, trigger points, or something more serious. Something that causes or exaserbates the pain symptoms IS treated, only to reappear. This trap can be honestly fallen into by all concerned.

9

I’m recalling a thread where someone who worked alongside a chiropractor was sternly admonished by him for ‘subscribing to the germ theory of disease’. Nuff said.

10

Massage therapy is *much * better.

How many busty asian lady chiropractors are there, and do chiropractors ever offer to shower you up first?

What?

11

IIRC, there have been studies that show that chiropractic therapy is indeed beneficial for certains types of chronic lower back pain.

12

As far as the actual hands on you’ll get, the specific difference with chiros is their use of the “high velocity, low amplitude thrust”(HVLAT). Similar to many physiotherapists, chiros will often also have a lot of passive therapies in their clinic. It is good to be wary if there seems an over-reliance on these methods.

Sometimes resetting a joint is required. Sometimes that is safely accomplished with HVLAT. If the joint needs never-ending adjustment I would hope deeper problems would be sought out. Chiros have a good deal of education under their belt. If you can find one that is not locked into the traditional business and subluxation dogmas, it may work for you.

I was at a course on soft tissue treatment last year, developed and run by chiros. Nothing related to subluxations was taught (though during the demos the head instructor snapped off a few). I asked a few chiros point blank and those who were receptive to the conversation said that given a pure knee injury they would not treat with spinal adjustments. So they’re out there, I have trouble assigning any percentages though. :slight_smile:

13

That is a good point, these should be utilized as complementary therapies and not to the exclusion of a medical doctor. Integrative medicine seems to be an up and coming thing. These are medical centers with normal doctors, but also include access and referrals to complementary therapies like chiro and massage therapies in the same facility

14

Duck Duck Goose - there are any number of massage workers who will expound on any number of non-research-supported things: from myofacial release to cellulite ointment to angels. Its a whole lot easier to ignore during a massage, though. (I’ll admit that I bought a bottle of the arthritis lotion, but only because the eucalyptus in it was clearing my sinuses.)

15

I have had 3 epsodes of acute lower back pain in my life. They were treated as follows:
-(1) : orthopedic surgeon…steroid injection (very painful)
-(2) Chropractor (2 visits)
-(3) PhysicalTherapist (5) Visits
What they all had in common: the condition went away after 4-6 weeks. I found the physical therapy (a combination of bending and stretching) to give the fastest relief.

That said, I think it s important to see a Medical Doctor first…lower back pain may be just a muscle in spasm or something a lot more serious. A chiropractor is not capable of making such a diagnosis. But if it s a muscle spasm,a chiropractor can probably help. Just watch out for one who pushed “full spine” x-rays…these are useless and dangerous.

16

Hi, I’m a chronic back pain sufferer and licensed (though currently not practicing because of some licensing hassles with the spa I was supposed to start work at last month- Las Vegas likes to make life difficult for people in my profession) Most of my experience with massage therapy on the receiving end comes from “in-class” work, which basically means that I got worked on where the instructor was teaching that day, not where I needed work (oh, the joys of being broke and unable to afford good massage therapy), but I have been worked on by a couple of excellent student therapists and gotten excellent results.

I’ve also had quite a bit of chiropractic work done in the past and I have to say, a good chiropractor can get a person who is in extreme pain of the musculoskeletal variety up and dancing in fairly few sessions, with maintainance adjustments as needed. Unfortunately, I can’t afford a good chiropractor right now, either.

There is a lot of quackery in both fields, but there is also a lot of stuff that works.

The main criticism I hear for both is the “temporary pain relief, doesn’t get to the root of the problem” complaint.

Hm, are we talking about chiropractic and massage here, or about “mainstream medicine,” which a lot of folks, myself included, can tell you doesn’t even give temporary pain relief (unless you can find a doctor who will prescribe more than two days worth of Lortab, which is increasingly difficult to find). Muscle relaxants combined with antiinflammatories in my case did approximately squat. Tramadol, supposedly a painkiller, basically just got me stoned so I didn’t mind that I was in pain so much.

I’ve also been through two rounds of physical therapy, with minimal results- the second round actually made me worse. Basically, I think I was prescribed the wrong sort of exercises for my back problems.

The thing with both chiropractic and massage (as well as physical therapy) is they both involve a lot of homework. They also are fairly long-term types of therapy- you’re not going to be cured in one treatment. Yes, I can relax your muscles and relieve your pain, even restore joint mobility, but it’s up to you to go home and do the muscle strengthening exercises, stretching, start sitting up straight in your chair when you’re on the computer, stop playing sports for a while when you’re injured, etc.

Also, part of the reason that chiropractic treatments seem to be only temporarily effective is that subluxations (yes, they do exist, even if they’re not the cause of all illness from asthma to bedwetting- basically a subluxation is a joint that is partially dislocated) is that they are frequently accompanied by muscle spasms. Chiropractic and massage are really complementary modalities, each one can help with the effectiveness of the other.

Now, go home and do your crunches so your abs can help support that lumbar spine.

And sit up straight in your chair.

17

When I do start work in my field (which should be within the next few weeks, incha’allah), I recommend that if you are ever in Vegas, that you do not come to the spa where I’ll be working- unless you really enjoy being shoved naked off the table and onto the floor, then asked nicely to leave by a 6’2" 300lb spa owner.

18

I went to a chiropractor for my lower back, who I believe was incompetent or a quack. I’m not ready to give any chiropractor another chance yet.

I did have my back checked out by a conventional doctor who determined that there was nothing serious wrong, so we can only assume muscle spasms. I do get a massage once a week and this is what helps me. I also do yoga and stretching and try to have good posture. All of these things help me feel better, but (for example) if I miss an appointment, as I had to yesterday, the pain just comes back.

I don’t really know what I’m going to do in the long run…I’ve just kind of resigned to the “pain management” route because I don’t know what else to do.

I’m pretty sure all of this stems from being hit by a car when I was 16, but I don’t really understand how, since my x-rays are normal. That’s when the pain started, though.

19

So, do you, like, charge extra for that? :slight_smile:

20

I had chronic neck pain a while back, associated with working too much on the computer, and Iwent through several rounds of physical therapy, went to a chiropractor, nothing helped. Then I went to a massage therapist. She worked on my neck for about two sessions, and didn’t have much success. The next session she gave me a facial massage, and the neck pain went away. When I feel the pain coming back, I can give myself a massage in the same places, and it goes away.

I think that PTs and Chiros are very theoretical: they diagnose, and then think they know what to do to solve the problem. The massage therapist is much more practical. She tries different things to see what works, without worrying about the theory. Who would have thought the stress in my neck could be relieved by massaging my face? Certainly not the PT. But it works!