Chiropractic & Acupuncture: A Perfect Match?

I thought I’d touch on why I often love to recommend a combo of chiropractic care and acupuncture. Often, I mention acupuncture to a lot of patients because of its effectiveness with pain management, stress relief, sleep problems, addiction, etc. I’ll regularly tell patients to come and get the “Dynamic Duo” (adjustment + acupuncture) if they have a problem that isn’t resolving, and/or because I think it’s a really effective intervention, in general, for almost anything. I don’t refer to this combo as the “Dynamic Duo” to claim it’s the cure to all problems. I do so at a lame attempt to be humorous, but to also point out that the two compliment each other very well.

As most of you likely know, Adam is the acupuncturist and my twin bro (Gloyeske Acupuncture Pointe). And yes, I am clearly the more handsome and way cooler of us two...Joking aside, whenever I recommend acupuncture, a version of this question is always asked shortly after...How will that help me? I don’t want to necessarily speak for him, but I will give you what we’ve discussed several times.

Pain, regardless of source, is processed at the level of the central nervous system, more specifically, the BRAIN. With regards to chiropractic, when we adjust you and you feel better, that’s because your brain is receiving better movement information from your body. Movement always trumps pain. One of my common statements is, “If you move better, you feel better.” Neurotransmitters are released following a restoration of motion. That’s why some folks get tired or feel loopy after adjustments, hopefully while feeling better, too.

With acupuncture, the insertion of the needles (which are hair thin) along certain points on the body alter pain signals in the brain. It works more directly through the release of neurotransmitters as well as pain signaling in general. And I really do feel that, with high pain levels or chronic pain, the effects can be amplified. Meaning, because these folks are in a lot of discomfort, acupuncture can reroute that pain signal to more of a pain relief signal, a sly little trick if you ask me. Some may call this quackery, but I challenge anyone to tell me of any other form of “medicine” that’s stood the test of time as well as the 2,000+ years acupuncture has been around...I’ll wait as I hear crickets chirping away. This, alone, should be indication enough that it can work.

Adam actually said something that I hadn’t thought of the other day. Given we’re under the same roof, we often refer back and forth to each other. We often discuss cases and sometimes wonder why some respond better to chiropractic and some to acupuncture. He essentially said it’s not necessarily that they respond better or worse to either treatment. Rather, he claimed that it depends which “input” the person is lacking. If a person’s pain is more movement-related, chiropractic might be the input they need for pain relief. If a person’s pain is more a “processing” issue in the brain, acupuncture might be the input they need for pain relief. Regardless of that, they both facilitate each other. That’s why it’s one of the most successful combinations we use to get the most relief we can to patients. Why not use both “inputs” to tell the brain to quit all that pain signaling? Hopefully that makes sense.

And...hopefully this encourages you to consider acupuncture, if you haven’t. It can certainly play a critical role and compliment chiropractic in amazing ways. We’ve certainly seen some cool stuff in the office. If you have a needle phobia, take comfort that the needles are very thin and often aren’t felt during treatment. You can also discuss this with Adam as well. If you’d like to schedule acupuncture, you can click here.

To your health,

Doc Brad

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