Top Benefits of Combining Chiropractic Care and Physical Therapy
Looking for an effective solution for pain and stiffness? Combining chiropractic care with physical therapy could help you feel better faster.
How Chiropractic Care and Physical Therapy Treat Your Symptoms
Chiropractic care focuses on correctly aligning joints and vertebrae to improve joint flexibility and range of motion and relieve pressure on nerves. Physical therapy involves exercises and movements designed to enhance muscle flexibility, stability, and strength. Although these therapies use different techniques, both focus on relieving pain and stiffness.
The combination of these treatments offers several benefits:
- Effective Pain Control. Spinal adjustments, a common chiropractic treatment, are extremely effective for easing pain. Chiropractors manipulate, or adjust, vertebrae in the spine and bones in joints to improve their alignment. Proper alignment relieves painful pressure on nerves and reduces stress on muscles and tissues. Physical therapy and stretching exercises continue the pain-relieving effects of chiropractic care by keeping muscles and tissues loose. Both treatments prompt the release of serotonin and endorphins, hormones that dull pain.
- Drug-Free Relief. Relying on pain medication can cause issues ranging from nausea and dizziness to addiction. Combining chiropractic care with physical therapy could help you control pain and stiffness without medication or help you decrease your reliance on medication. According to a research study published in Health Services Research in 2018, participating in physical therapy before trying other treatments reduced the probability that patients would need an opioid prescription by 89%. Other studies have noted that chiropractic care also reduces the need for opioids.
- Increased Range of Motion. A misaligned joint or vertebrae, or tight muscles and tissues, can reduce your range of motion. Range of motion refers to the full extent you can move a joint. For example, reduced range of motion in your shoulder may make it difficult to move your arm above your head. Correcting misalignments with chiropractic treatments ensure that joints move freely and easily. Physical therapy exercises and massage loosen tight tissues that cause joint restrictions and break up scar tissue that interferes with normal movement.
- Quicker Results. Combining both treatments could mean you spend less time in pain. Chiropractic adjustments decrease joint stiffness and nerve irritation, providing quick relief of symptoms. Physical therapy continues the positive effects of chiropractic treatments by targeting tight or imbalanced muscles that could worsen pain. After chiropractic treatments, you may find it's easier to perform physical therapy exercises and stretches. The sooner you can work your muscles and tissues, the quicker you'll begin to see an improvement in your symptoms. If you try to exercise while your joints or spine are misaligned, you may irritate already-inflamed tissues and prolong your recovery.
- Longer Lasting Relief. Physical therapy exercises and activities enhance chiropractic treatment results by strengthening the muscles that support and stabilize joints. If the muscles remain weak or imbalanced, you may be more likely to experience new issues with alignment even after a chiropractic adjustment. You're also less likely to injure yourself again if your spine and joints are properly aligned and your tissues are loose and flexible.
Relieve your pain with chiropractic care and physical therapy. Contact our office to schedule your appointment.
Sources:
National Library of Medicine: In Brief: Physical therapy, 3/19/2024
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK561514/
American College of Physicians: American College of Physicians Issues Guidelines for Treating Nonradicular Low Back Pain, 2/14/2017
SPINE-Health: Physical Therapy for Low Back Pain Relief, 10/4/2022
https://www.spine-health.com/treatment/physical-therapy/physical-therapy-low-back-pain-relief
Research Gate: Salud, Ciencia y Tecnologia: Effectiveness of Spinal Manipulation on Chronic Cervical Pain, A Systematic Review of Randomized Clinical Trials, 1/2024
Health Services Research: Physical Therapy as the First Point of Care to Treat Low Back Pain: An Instrumental Variables Approach to Estimate Impact on Opioid Prescription, Health Care Utilization and Costs, 5/23/2018
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6232429/
Wiley: Health Science Reports: Association Between Spinal Manipulative Therapy for Low Back Pain With or Without Sciatic and Opioid Use Disorders: A Retrospective Cohort Study, 9/19/2025