Why Seeing Multiple Specialists Under One Roof Gets Better Results
If you’re one of the many who live with chronic pain, muscle tension, an unresolved injury, or restricted mobility, it can be tempting to look for one specific treatment in hopes of fixing everything.
But the musculoskeletal system doesn’t really work that way. Muscles, bones, joints, movement patterns, posture, strength, and flexibility all have a significant impact on one another. Should one area not function properly, another area (or areas) compensate. Over time, the extra work can lead to even more pain or dysfunction.
At Moyer Total Wellness, we offer chiropractic care, acupuncture, massage therapy, and yoga in one setting. Each specialty approaches the body uniquely, and those different channels can complement each other well to create a more in-depth care plan.
Why to See More than One Specialist
While there is overlap with what the disciplines focus on, the following also have their distinctions.
Chiropractic care, concentrates on the link between the body’s structure and its function, which includes joint mobility and movement.
Acupuncture is another modality used for pain management and supporting the body’s overall functioning.
Therapeutic massage, works directly with soft tissues to address tension, limitations, and imbalances.
Practicing yoga can help build one’s strength, flexibility, balance, mobility, and proprioception.
Our 4-Step Massage Therapy Protocol
Our approach to therapeutic massage targets what the body needs to function better. These steps are:
1. Remove Muscle Knots
Muscle knots are results of overuse, injury, unideal movement patterns, emotional stress, and/or poor posture. Step 1 is about addressing those areas of excessive tension.
Therapeutic massage techniques help reduce muscular tightness, making it easier for surrounding tissues to regain normal movement.
Removing knots, however, isn’t enough. It’s only part of the process for long-term relief.
2. Lengthen Shortened Muscle Fibers
You can release a knotted muscle, but you also have to address why it tightened in the first place.
When muscles remain locked-short for prolonged periods of time, they can lose some of their healthy length and pliability. When excess tension is reduced, the next step is to restore length to shortened fibers. This process enhances flexibility and allows the body to extend its range of motion.
3. Strengthen Weak Muscles
This is where massage therapy converges with movement and exercise.
If one muscle group is chronically tight and overworked while others are weak or hypoactive, releasing the tension can provide relief. But if the same patterns return, that relief might be short lived.
Weak muscles require strengthening so the body can hold onto the changes created through manual therapy. This is a reason why having yoga instruction available in the same office can be so beneficial. Massage addresses the soft tissues, while proper movement and strengthening help the body maintain those positive changes.
4. Mobilize Joints
Your muscles and joints work together as a team. At some points, a joint with limitations will affect the muscular tissues surrounding it, and dysfunctional muscles impact joint movement. After the muscles have been addressed, the final step of our protocol is to mobilize joints in order to restore proper movement patterns where restrictions take place.
This is a spot where massage therapy, chiropractic care, yoga, and acupuncture complement each other very well.
Why a Combination Can Be More Effective
Here’s an example: Neck and shoulder pain are the most common issues we treat at our office. Symptoms likely involve muscle tension, but there may also be limited joint range of motion, weak opposing muscles, poor body mechanics, as well as other contributors.
Massage therapy addresses tight and short muscle tissue. In this case it’s likely the pectorals and upper trapezius.
Chiropractic care targets joint mobility and functional impairment. For neck and shoulder pain, the cervical spine and glenohumeral joint might need the most attention.
Yoga improves strength, flexibility, posture, and movement patterns. The weakened deep cervical neck flexors and lower trapezius will benefit from targeted stretches.
Acupuncture provides another channel for treating pain in all the impacted areas while also supporting the body’s recovery.
Each practitioner will address the problem areas, but in different ways. That’s why having these specialties under one roof is advantageous — you don’t have to treat each issue as though they exist independently of one another.
One thing to clarify, seeing multiple specialists doesn’t mean your body requires all the specialities available. Good combined care doesn’t necessarily come from piling treatment upon treatment. It’s about finding which approach, or combination of approaches, is best for your unique situation. Maybe you’ll only need massage therapy. Or chiropractic care might be your go-to. Adding yoga or acupuncture to the mix may also be recommended. And then sometimes the best way to go is merging multiple disciplines together while working towards the same treatment goal.
A common mistake we make is assuming the painful area is the source of where the problem began. The achy shoulder may be related to your neck or upper back. Maybe you have tight hamstrings. The discomfort may be influenced by what’s going on in another part of your lower body. An area of muscle tension that regularly resurfaces may be due to compensation for weakness or limited movement elsewhere. We want to know which muscles are tight, which ones are locked-short, which are locked-long, and to what extent the associated joints are moving. That’s how we get on the right track to address the different pieces.
Treat the Whole Body
Though there’s plenty of overlap with each, all of the services we offer utilize different tools for creating a better functioning body. When they’re all available in one clinic, it’s easier to create a more complete approach to your healthcare plan.
Remove knots. Lengthen shortened muscles. Strengthen weak muscles. Mobilize restrictions. The goals of our protocol emphasize why looking at the body as a whole is more beneficial than treating a symptom. Your body is an interwoven system, and your care plan can be one too.
Katrina Jenkins
Author, Licensed Massage Therapist
Katrina Jenkins graduated from Towson University in 2013 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Health Science and worked as a nurse’s aide briefly before pursuing her true passion. She graduated from the Massage Therapy Institute of Colorado in April 2016 with honors and completed the Touch of Healers Scholarship Program the following summer. She has been a part of the Moyer Total Wellness Team since the summer of 2017.
Resources
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