Putting It All Together In Loveland OH

We've had many changes happening at our Loveland OH chiropractic clinic. Starting with a new layout to the adjusting area to taking on an additional 600 sq. ft. for the new Stretch and Dry Needle studio. New faces in the office include Dr. Dan Baute PT, Jenn Evans (Stretch Coach), and Jen Farmer (Stretch Coach). We are offering new services that include dry needle therapy and 1:1 assisted stretching.

I wanted to take the opportunity to help guide you through which services you may need to feel your best. It may be confusing trying to decide if you need chiropractic versus stretching or massage versus dry needling. To best answer those questions we need to discuss the difference between mobility and flexibility and how they affect you.

Mobility Versus Flexibility In Loveland OH

Mobility refers to the ability of a joint to move through its normal range of motion. This range differs depending on the various joints we have in the body. Flexibility refers to how well a muscle is able to lengthen or expand. Flexible muscles help improve how well you can move your joints and that's why flexibility is an important component of mobility. It's difficult to move a joint if the muscles and tissues surrounding it are too tight. Tight muscles can pull on a joint, causing it to become misaligned. Keep in mind that even if your flexibility is good, you can still have poor mobility if other factors that help a joint move are lacking. These factors include spinal misalignments, joint capsule stiffness, tendon/ligament injuries, and muscle strength. You may have experienced pain from a seated to standing position or reaching up to grab something off a shelf. These are typical examples of mobility issues. In fact, poor mobility is what is likely to lead to injuries and also falls as we get older.

Putting It All Together!

Addressing mobility first is our top priority! If your joints are moving poorly or misaligned this will lead to pain, and injury and can also compromise the nerves leaving your spine that carry sensory and motor information to and from the brain.

1. Chiropractic Care. Oftentimes this alone can be what a patient needs to feel and move better. However, what if misalignments have been present for 25 years? Your muscles have been working overtime, they hurt with light pressure, are inflexible, and also have adhesions/trigger points preventing them to lengthen even if you stretch every day. If your muscles have painful trigger points, are overly tense, or chiropractic alone is not enough then you may need additional soft tissue work.
2. Massage Therapy/Dry Needling/Cupping. Deep tissue massages are an excellent therapy to work out trigger points and increase blood flow to those areas to promote healing. If massage is painful or you need a therapy that can get deeper yet, then cupping may be of benefit to you. If you have problems that have been present for quite some time and haven't responded to chiropractic or massage then dry needling can be a great option for you. Dry needling with Dr. Dan can release deep trigger points, myofascial issues, and even tendon or ligament restrictions.
3. 1:1 Assisted stretching. If soft tissue problems don't exist or they have been corrected next would be to increase your flexibility. Assisted stretching using PNF stretching (contract/relax) is an effective way to lengthen your muscles. Also, compared to actively stretching you will have bigger gains as your body is more relaxed with assisted stretching.

We hope this approach of addressing mobility (chiropractic care), soft tissue health (massage, cupping, and dry needling), and flexibility (assisted stretching) will be a recipe for your health and wellness success!