The Best Chiropractor Near You
36 Donohue Street, Kings Park
9837 5161

The differences between chiropractic care and massage therapy

When having musculoskeletal pain such as headaches, neck pain, back pain, knee pain and lower back pain, should I get massage or chiropractic care. It is a frequent asked question from patients. They do not know the differences between chiropractic treatment and massage therapy.

Massage Therapy – Chiropractor Near Me

Massage treatment is a natural healing method that began about 5000 years ago. Its history dates back to 3000 BCE or even earlier and originates in India. There are different massage styles and techniques including stroking, squeezing, kneading, rolling, pressing and striking. Apart from focusing on injured or overuse muscles, ligaments and tendons are also important to work on. There are different types of massage therapy that focus on certain parts of the body, use different tools, aroma and healing approaches. The most common massage types are listed here – relaxing massage, Thai massage, sports massage, deep tissue massage, Swedish massage, hot stone massage, pregnancy massage, trigger point massage and reflexology.

Having regular massage could reduce the muscle tension and stiffness caused by long-term repetitive muscle strain.  Massage may improve not only musculoskeletal system issues but also mental health issues. Research reveals that people with chronic pain are more likely to suffer from anxiety and depression compared to normal healthy people. Other benefits of massage could increase joint range of motion and flexibility, improve blood circulation and lymphatic drainage.

Chiropractic Care – Chiropractor Near Me

Chiropractic originates from the Unite State and the founder of chiropractic was D.D Palmer. The word of chiropractic comes from the greek word “cheirpraxis”, which mean done by hand. In Australia, a qualified chiropractor is required to finish five years of academic and practical training at accredited universities. Chiropractors are also referred as Doctor of Chiropractic (D.C.), but are different from the Doctor of Medicine. Doctor of Chiropractic is classified to one of the allied health professionals.

Chiropractors utilize manual therapy to correct joint misalignment to ease musculoskeletal pain instead of prescribing medicine and performing surgery. Spinal manipulation not only can correct misaligned segments but also may alter functions in the central nervous system. The effect of spinal adjustment is to alter firing from paraspinal muscles spindles and to increase pain thresholds. Moreover, spinal manipulation may change how functional connectivity in the brain areas to process pain.

There are many chiropractic techniques and methods to help patients with acute or chronic musculoskeletal pain, which are not limited to only chiropractic adjustment. Diversified and Gonstead techniques are the mainstream to be used for manipulative chiropractors.

A variety of chiropractic techniques are used for different age groups and suitable for a wide range of conditions. Sacral occipital technique (SOT), activator method, Thompson terminal point technique and flexion distraction therapy are the gentler techniques to realign spinal subluxation, which will not involve audible sounds from joint manipulation.

Combining massage therapy and chiropractic care may have a better outcome than chiropractic treatment alone. Chiropractors will refer patients to remedial massage therapist if massage helps to solve a muscular issue or injured muscle recovery.

A general rule of thumb is to visit a chiropractor if you have joint pain, restriction and pinched nerve such as sciatica. Experiencing pain from muscle injuries, stiffness and tension are suitable for massage therapy. If you are uncertain what the condition is, you should consult a medical doctor or chiropractor before choosing a therapy. 

Chiropractic Clinic Serves Suburbs – Chiropractor Near Me

Kings Park NSW 2148

Kings Langley NSW 2147

Blacktown NSW 2148

Quakers Hill NSW 2763

Stanhope Gardens NSW 2768

Acacia Gardens NSW 2763

Rooty Hill NSW 2766

Seven Hills NSW 2147

Kellyville NSW 2155

Marsden Park NSW 2765

Schofields NSW 2762

The Ponds NSW 2769

Rouse Hill NSW 2155

Castle Hill NSW 2154

Baulkham Hills NSW 2153

Chiropractic Near Castle Hill 2154 NSW

Are you having chronic neck pain or chronic back pain with radiating pain down to your arms and legs? Many people living in Castle Hill 2154 NSW suffer from nerve pain that rely on medications for pain relief or consider having invasive spinal surgeries to alleviate pain. Castle Hill is a fast growing suburb where the population increased from 31530 in 2001 to 39584 in 2016.

The suburb of Castle Hill is a convenient location where has a large showground business park and Castle Towers shopping centre for work, entertainment and shopping. Castle Hill is 30 kilometres away from Sydney central business district (CBD). Castle Hill is one of the suburbs in the Hill district belongs to The Hills Shire Council.

What is chiropractic care? Chiropractor Near Me

Chiropractic care is a physical therapy that utilizes non-invasive spinal manipulation to correct the joint misalignment.

Are chiropractic interventions safe? Chiropractor Near Me

Spinal interventions are safe and effective for patients with musculoskeletal pain due to the joint restriction. Response to spinal manipulation is different from individuals even with the issue. Most of the adverse events such as light-headedness, muscle soreness and local discomfort are benign and temporary. The frequency of serious adverse events is 1.46 serious adverse events/10000000 manipulations, which is an extremely low risk.

How does chiropractors find the joint misalignment? Chiropractor Near Me

In the chiropractic consultation, a highly trained chiropractor will take a medical history and perform a throughout assessment and physical examination including static palpation, motion palpation, orthopaedic tests, neurological tests and muscle strength testing. A joint subluxation that normally is a pain generator and restricted joint are located through the physical examination.

What if I am not comfortable with manual adjustment? Chiropractor Near Me

Patients from Kellyville 2155 NSW and Baulkham Hills 2153 NSW in the Hill district may concern the safety and the audible popping sound of spinal manipulation. Chiropractic manipulation is one of the main tools using to realign the problematic joint, but it is not the only way to ease pain. There are other treatment options that can be applied in chiropractic care. Activator Method, Thompson Technique and Sacro Occipital Technique (SOT) are gentler comprehensive techniques to correct misalignment.

Massage therapists always work alongside chiropractors in the clinical practice. Your chiropractor may refer you to get remedial massage with chiropractic care for further muscle relaxation.

Chiropractic care may help you to avoid daily medication use and surgery. Chronic pain and nerve pain suffers who take medicine on a daily basis should see chiropractors for pain relief. Taking a surgery should be a last resort for nerve decompression after the failure of conservative care.

If you would like to know more about chiropractic care, please contact Kings Park Chiropractic Clinic. Phone: (02) 9837 5161 Email: [email protected].

Chiropractic Clinic Serves Suburbs

Kings Park NSW 2148

Kings Langley NSW 2147

Blacktown NSW 2148

Quakers Hill NSW 2763

Stanhope Gardens NSW 2768

Rooty Hill NSW 2766

Seven Hills NSW 2147

Kellyville NSW 2155

Marsden Park NSW 2765

Schofields NSW 2762

The Ponds NSW 2769

Rouse Hill NSW 2155

Castle Hill NSW 2154

Baulkham Hills NSW 2153

Can Chiropractors Relieve Musculoskeletal Chest Pain?

Chest pain is a very common presentation for people to go to emergency room and seek for medical care.  According the cause of chest pain, it is categorized into musculoskeletal and non-musculoskeletal in origin. Musculoskeletal conditions that cause chest pain are more common and the prevalence ranges from 20.6% to 46.6%. Physical therapies such as chiropractic care can relieve musculoskeletal chest pain. Therefore, it is crucial to exclude non-musculoskeletal causes of chest pain that require to urgent referral for intervention such as ischemic heart diseases pulmonary embolism.

Non-musculoskeletal causes – Chiropractor Near Me

Accurate diagnosis of organic causes of chest pain is imperative for proper intervention. Some non-musculoskeletal causes such as ischemic heart diseases and pulmonary infarction are life threatening, which should not overlook.

Cardiovascular Disorders

People with cardiovascular disorders such as angina and heart attack can experience anterior chest pain with radiating to the back, neck, shoulder, arms and jaw. The pain is described as squeezing, heaviness, pressure or tightness in the chest. Shortness of breath and increased blood pressure are always associated with chest pain. Emotion and physical activities can trigger and worsen chest pain.

Pulmonary Disorders

Pleuritis or called pleurisy, is the inflammation of the pleurae that are two thin layers covering the outside of the lungs and the inside of the chest wall. People with pleurisy feel sharp chest pain when breathing, coughing or sneezing. Holding breaths can temporally alleviate or stop the chest pain. The common causes of pleuritis are bacterial infection, viral infection, pulmonary embolism and pneumothorax.

Gastrointestinal Disorders

Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) is caused by the reflux of excessive stomach acid, and digestive enzyme and bile from duodenum into the oesophagus. Heartburn, a burning sensation in the chest or feeling acidic food contents in the throat or mouth that result in a sore throat or sour liquid in the mouth are the common symptoms. Lying down or trying to sleep after eating tends to worsen the symptoms. Coughing and choking can occur during sleeping.

Musculoskeletal problems – Chiropractor Near Me

5 – 20% of patients with acute chest pain admitted to chest pain clinics are non-organic disorders. Musculoskeletal chest pain is normally originated from the musculoskeletal system (the thoracic spine, sternum, ribs and back muscles). Due to subluxation or misalignment of your joint, inflammation accompanying pain can occur in the affected joints and the surrounding tissues and nerves. 

Chiropractic manipulation (called manipulative therapy or chiropractic adjustment) can correct spinal misalignment. Inflammation and chest will be reduced due to the decompression of the affected joints, tissues and nerves. of joint subluxation. In order to achieve a better prognosis, soft tissue work, ultrasound, shockwave, dry needling, cupping and so on are utilized with spinal manipulation.

Intercostal Neuralgia

Intercostal neuralgia is neuropathic pain along the intercostal nerves. Patients with intercostal neuralgia may feel the nerve pain in their ribs, chest or even upper abdominal wall area when affecting level is below T7. The nature of the pain is sharp, stabbing burning and pins and needles and numbness can occur.

Irritation, inflammation and compression of intercostal nerves lead to intercostal neuralgia. Post-thoracic surgical intervention (43%) wall and viral infection (28%) are the common causes of this condition. The rest of the cases are idiopathic (uncertain or unknown origin) or neoplastic (tumors).

Rib Joint Pain

Rib joint pain (also known as costovertebral pain) is characterized by sharp pain or stabbing pain in the mid back and can radiate the pain to the anterior chest wall. The common cause of rib joint pain is the misalignment or subluxation in the costovertebral joint. Coughing, deep breaths, neck and torso movements can aggravate the rib pain.

The conditions above are not the full list that can cause chest pain. The anatomical structures in the chest wall including bones and soft tissues can cause chest wall pain. It is difficult to pinpoint the exact chest pain generator. You should not do self diagnose and should consult your general practitioner or allied health professional. Accurate diagnosis and individualized treatment plan will be made based on your presentation and condition. Medications or other treatment methods should not be used by yourself before the diagnosis confirmation.

Chiropractic Clinic Serves Suburbs – Chiropractor Near Me

Kings Park NSW 2148

Kings Langley NSW 2147

Blacktown NSW 2148

Quakers Hill NSW 2763

Stanhope Gardens NSW 2768

Rooty Hill NSW 2766

Seven Hills NSW 2147

Kellyville NSW 2155

Marsden Park NSW 2765

Schofields NSW 2762

The Ponds NSW 2769

Rouse Hill NSW 2155

Castle Hill NSW 2154

Baulkham Hills NSW 2153

What Is Frozen Shoulder? Chiropractor Near Me

Frozen shoulder is (also known as adhesive capsulitis) is a common condition that develop in 40s or older. The nature of this condition is inflammation in the shoulder joint and forms massive scar tissues, which thicken the shoulder joint capsule. Less synovial fluid that reduce joint friction when moving your shoulder is found in many cases of frozen shoulder. Stiffness and pain in the shoulder joint are the main presentations of frozen shoulder.

The pain intensity and the degree of shoulder restriction gradually worsen and resolve when reaching different stages of adhesive capsulitis. Frozen shoulder is a self-limiting condition. In other word, the symptoms and signs will be self resolved even without any pharmaceutical support or physical treatment.

It is not uncommon that adhesive capsulitis can occur bilaterally, but recurrent frozen shoulder on the same side is rare. The prognosis in general is promising, but the condition can last from 1 to 3 years.

Risk Factors

Age and sex: females aged over 40 years old at higher risk develop adhesive capsulitis compared to males at the same age.

Immobility of shoulder joint: rotator cuff injury, arm fracture, stroke or post-operation may result in adhesive capsulitis due to immobilization or reduced mobility of the glenohumeral joint (shoulder joint).

Systemic diseases: the list of systemic diseases below is associated with adhesive capsulitis.

  • Diabetes (type I and type II)
  • Thyroid disease (hyperthyroidism and hypothroidism)
  • Cerebrovascular disease
  • Coronary artery disease
  • Autoimmune disease
  • Tuberculosis
  • Parkinson’s disease
  • Dupuytren’s disease

There Are Three Stages For Frozen Shoulder

Freezing Stage (2 to 9 months): patients have constant shoulder pain at rest and the pain gets worse with activities and at night. The affected shoulder active and passive range of motion starts to reduce.

Frozen Stage (up to 12 months): shoulder joint becomes very stiff, but the pain only occurs with shoulder movements.

Thawing Stage (12 to 24 months): the pain and the active range of motion and passive range of motion start to improve .

How to manage Frozen Shoulder? Chiropractor Near Me

 

Frozen Shoulder Treatment Options

Due to reduced shoulder range of motion, daily activities are affected. Pain caused by the process of inflammation is also unbearable at some stage of forzen shoulder. The main goal is to reduce the pain and increase shoulder mobility. Treatment should be focused on the prominent of each phase.

Pain is prominent due to acute inflammation in freezing phase, so medication and steroid injection can be used to provide short term pain relief. Reduced shoulder range of motion is the most predominant in frozen phase. Physical therapy such as manipulation, mobilization and exercise can gradually increase restricted range of motion. In the last phase (thawing phase), shoulder function progressively improve and only minimal pain occurs.

The progression of fronzen shoulder may not be accelebrated with intervention. The resolution of the condition is expected from one to three years. Treatment options should be chosen according to the severity and duration of symptoms and signs, and the response to each treatment.

Conservative treatment – Chiropractor Near Me

Physical Therapy

Precribing range of motion exercises combined with chiropractic treatment are used as a first line treatment for adhesive capsulitis. Physical therapist can effectively manage frozen shoulder sufferers’ inflammation, at the same time improve shoulder pain and stiffness.

Spinal manipulation (or chiropractic adjustment), joint mobilization, dry needling, cupping and soft tissue mobilization are the most common used modalities for chiropractors to improve shoulder function and reduce pain. It is imperative to choose suitable physical therapy depending on the stage of the condition. Home exercises should Physical therapy should be considered and used prior to the invasive treatment method such as surgery.

Medication

Analgesics, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and sleeping pills are used to relieve severe shoulder pain caused by shoulder joint capsule inflammation and ensure the sleep quality.

Steroid (Cortisone) Injection

Steroid is an anti-inflammatory medicine that relieves pain rapidly. Steroid injection given by a radiologist into the affected shoulder joint can provide short term relief. However, the risk of infection may be induced due to the injection.

Surgical Procedure

 

Manipulation Under Anesthesia/Arthroscopic Capsular Release

Surgical procedure is considered and performed when conservative management fails. Manipulation under anesthesia is to tear the thickened and inflamedjoint capsule and ligaments while arthroscopic capsular release is to release shoulder joint capsule with an ablation device. Arthroscopic capsular release is more frequently used due to providing long term symptom relief.

Chiropractic Clinic Serves Suburbs – Chiropractor Near Me

Kings Park NSW 2148

Kings Langley NSW 2147

Blacktown NSW 2148

Quakers Hill NSW 2763

Stanhope Gardens NSW 2768

Rooty Hill NSW 2766

Seven Hills NSW 2147

Kellyville NSW 2155

Marsden Park NSW 2765

Schofields NSW 2762

The Ponds NSW 2769

Rouse Hill NSW 2155

Castle Hill NSW 2154

Baulkham Hills NSW 2153

Remedial Massage And Shoulder Pain

Shoulder pain is the third most common musculoskeletal problem that people go to see medical doctors. The reason why shoulder pain is so common is due to its anatomical structure. The shoulder joint is the most complicated joint in the body. Frozen shoulder (also called adhesive capsulitis), shoulder impingement, subacromial bursitis, sprain, strain and tears in rotator cuff muscles are the common causes that occur at different ages.

Shoulder Joint Anatomy

As mentioned above, the shoulder joint (also known as glenohumeral joint) is a very complex structure compared to other joints of the body. The ball and socket structure allows the range of motion (or the range of movement) of the shoulder to move almost 360 degrees across different plants. It is the most mobile joint in the human body.

The rotator cuff muscles comprise four muscles that are on both sides of the scapula. They are supraspinatus, infraspinatus, teres minor and subscapularis.

The movement of shoulder abduction and external rotation are performed by supraspinatus, infraspinatus and teres. The deltoid muscle assists the movement of abduction. The subscapularis muscle mainly performs internal rotation and adduction of the shoulder joint.

The stability of the shoulder joint relies on the active and passive supporting structures. All four rotator cuff muscles that are the active support contribute the stability of the shoulder joint. The shoulder joint capsule and ligaments including glenohumeral, coracohumeral, transverse humeral and coraco- clavicular ligaments around the shoulder joint are the passive supporting structure. Due to the lack of muscles in the front of the shoulder, shoulder dislocation is prone to occur anteriorly.

A bursa is a sac filled synovial fluid which works as a cushion to reduce friction between tendons and other structures. Subdeltoid bursa and subacromial bursa are located under the deltoid muscle and in the subacromial space. Subdetoid and/or subacromial bursitis due to the shoulder joint overuse and poor posture can cause shoulder restriction especially abduction, external rotation and internal rotation) and shoulder impingement.

The Common Causes Of Shoulder Pain

Due to the high mobility of the glenohumeral joint, the shoulder joint is more vulnerable than other joints. People with the poor posture that have anterior head carriage, rounded shoulders and hunchback are more likely to have shoulder pain.

The repetitive motion such as overhead movements that overuses the rotator cuff muscles can cause the inflammation of tendon (tendinitis) and bursa (bursitis). Inflamed rotator cuff tendons are more vulnerable to tear. Age over 45 year old is also more prone to rotator cuff muscle tear rather than muscle strain.

Shoulder pain is common on volleyball, baseball and tennis players. Repeated stress on the glenohumeral joint capsule during serve leads to shoulder pain. In order to increase the power and speed of serve, athletes will try to maximise the shoulder external rotation. These athletes are more susceptible to shoulder bursitis and other types of shoulder injuries.

How Remedial Massage Treatment Releases Shoulder Pain

Apart from dry needling, trigger point therapy and chiropractic care, people who are suffering from chronic shoulder pain always use remedial massage therapy to reduce chronic pain. Highly-trained remedial massage therapists will palpate the shoulder muscles and the adjacent regions including neck, upper and middle back because shoulder pain may be probably radiated from these regions.

Once the damage tissues such as immature scar tissues and myofascial trigger points are found, remedial massage therapists will focus on that area to apply different massage techniques. Kneading, rhythmic pressure, tapping and rolling are the basic massage techniques. Myofascial trigger points can be deactivated by applying certain pressure on hyperirritable spots to reach myofascial release. Remedial massage also increase blood circulation and lymphatic drainage to enhance the healing process.

Service Areas Of Massage Services:

Kings Park NSW 2148

Kings Langley NSW 2147

Quakers Hill NSW 2763

Blacktown NSW 2148

Dural NSW 2158

Kellyville NSW 2155

Castle Hill NSW 2154

Bella Vista NSW 2153

Rouse Hill NSW 2155

Baulkham Hills NSW 2153

Glenhaven NSW 2156