Good Morning Dr. Hollander! I read one of your newsletters recently and really enjoyed it. In the spirit of wellness I thought I would add weekly chiropractic and acupuncture to my schedule. I already added weekly massage and Yoga. Do you recommend organizing it so that massage and chiro are on different days? Does it matter?

Good morning to you! I think you are striving towards an excellent wellness lifestyle! I don't necessarily advocate staggering your massage and yoga with your adjustments. There are benefits to doing it in different ways. For instance, if you get adjusted before a yoga workout, you're more likely to have good biomechanics for that workout. On the flipside, you might notice you get a better adjustment after a yoga workout because your muscles will be more relaxed.

If you are getting a "deep-tissue" massage however, then I at least would not recommend working out soon after your massage. The reason being is that a deep tissue work can "inactivate" muscles.

Muscles tighten or even spasm intelligently. They do so to protect your joints. If you load a joint with flaccid muscles, you could create instability that would predispose you to injury. I would be more concerned if you were doing a weight workout. But, yoga can be pretty intense too! So, please keep that in mind.

Which begs a higher question, why is the therapist or the doctor seemingly working against the body in the case of a taut/tender muscle or a spasm? How pretentious of us Chiropractors and Massage therapists! Thinking we're smarter than the body's innate intelligence. Actually, in most cases this intervention is "physiologically compatible," because the body is also working hard to resolve the hypertonicity by removing scar tissue, fibrous tissue, and restore normal joint range of motion. I think a good clinician will also investigate the cause though. Why does a muscle spasm or get tight? There are many possibilities:

1. Nutritional deficieny, often Magnesium and Potassium will make a muscle more likely to tighten under otherwise normal situations. Make sure your diet is abundant in green leafy vegetables and different colored fruits. Also, try supplementing with a good multivitamin.
   

2. Neurological toxicity, like Vertebral Subluxation will lower the threshold of stimulation required to fire a muscle contraction while also increasing the presence of stress hormones like cortisol, which will further promote muscle contraction. This is one reason why it is good to get regular Chiropractic check-ups and adjustments.
   

3. Lifestyle toxicity, perpetuating factors include occupations that require restricted movements. Examples include drivers, people having to work on computers, or even cashiers at the grocery store. It is important to have committed exercise routine to make up for movement deficiencies in our lives.
   

I remember working out at the campus gym when I was going to Chiropractic College. It wasn't uncommon to see students doing myofascial release on each other during workouts! I always thought to myself "Don't these guys know that by challenging their muscles in a reduced state they are compromising the integrity of their joints?" Not smart. I hope they know better now!

Yours with the love of Chiropractic,

-Darren, DC