chiropractor (Page 2)

Love, love, love my chrio.  I don't get adjustments - just ART for my IT band issue, but it has really helped.

There is another option for those a little unsure about the chiropractor circuit: neuromuscular or sports massage.

In my observation, people don't pay enough attention to the length and suppleness of their muscles. A lot of times, your alignment is off - or you're experiencing biomechanical issues - because your muscles are contracted and stiff, thus compressing nerves and range of motion. (I've had this occur under my arms, in my chest, and in the arch of my feet, all at various times, back when I was an office drone/couch potato)

Your muscles are like a jacket around your bones and nerves. Imagine wearing a jacket where one arm, or one side, is really tight and stiff and hard (ugh gives me the heebies just thinking about it). Think about how it would affect that arm or side - and also how it would also affect the rest of your body, compensating as it does to help you continue on with your day.

All big-time athletes get sports massage on a regular basis, they usually have a masseur on staff. This way they ensure their muscles aren't sabotaging their performance.

I'd go see a neuromuscular therapist or sports masseur before I go see a chiropractor. You can adjust your bones all day long, but if you have some chronic shortening of your muscles, that adjustment will last only as long as it takes for your muscles to drag them back out of alignment. (And chronic shortening can present simply because you've favored your right side over your left for the past 30 or so years - or simply because of poor posture, bad biomechanic habits, or if it's been recently very stressed and then not routinely stretched. Alas, you don't even need to be injured . . . Nothing's ever straightforward with the body, is it! :) )

And who knows, you might not need to see a chrio after getting it done. i.e., your spine settles back into its "natural" alignment, once you loosen and supple up its jacket. That happened to me.

It can't hurt, anyway. (And you can't beat the dreaminess that comes after a particularly tough session!)

:)

Edited by seviya 2007-03-10 7:28 AM