Written by: Grant Soloway DC
November 1, 2022
A sobador is a massage practitioner that uses various techniques and ointments to relieve injured muscles and painful joints and decrease chronic pains. Today, some of us recently graduated chiropractors use some of the same methods that Sobadores have used throughout time. Sobadores are regarded as naturalistic healers. Sobadores are known for beneficial deep tissue massage with healing ointments in the form of creams. Today, some chiropractors treat patients by using these same techniques in the form of Cupping, Gua sha, and deep tissue pressure point therapy. Those that work long hours on computers, perform manual labor jobs and drive long hours often have multiple active trigger points or strained muscles that bother them and cause significant pain. We can fix these painful problem muscles with muscle energy techniques similar to what a sobador or masseur (massage therapist) would perform. Fixing these injured muscles and providing chiropractic adjustments in the same area is very beneficial for efficient long-lasting relief.
Adjusting the area allows for an instant increase in range of motion, grants immediate pain relief, and stretches and instantly relaxes the muscles in the area. Like chiropractors, sobador y hueseros believe in natural medicine that doesn’t involve prescriptions or surgical interventions. Sobadores and hueseros fall into the tradition of curanderismo which means the artwork of healing patients. Sobadores are hands-on healers who use the indigenous wisdom of their elders to help those in need. Personally, I am a recently graduated third-generation chiropractor and I enjoy getting my hands dirty in order to heal problem-causing muscles. My goal is similar to other naturalistic healers such as sobadors, acupuncturists, massage therapists (masseurs), and physical therapists. Our primary goal is to get you better and become pain-free, in just a few quick visits to our office. We also specialize in decreasing pain scales and limitations in activities of daily living caused by chronic issues. In our chiropractic office, we go beyond to get you better and we also offer laser therapy, ultrasound therapy, muscle scraping, taping for athletic injuries, traction, cupping, and diversified adjustments. Although some of these tools were not originally used by sobadores these tools work with manual-related efforts to increase the healing process.
Our laser that we use daily in the office is a class 4 light force laser, this laser is one of the most advanced on the market today and allows for fast and efficient recovery for most muscular, cartilage, and ligamentous tissue injuries throughout the body. Although we can remedy many issues naturally with force, there are internal and hard-to-reach issues that we cannot physically heal with our hands or manual efforts therefore we use the laser for those tasks. This laser heals tissue by increasing cellular metabolism, which can decrease pain as well as accelerate the healing process. This laser works very effectively on slipped discs (disc herniations), knee meniscal tears, ankle sprains, and muscular tendinitis, and allows pain relief for chronic arthritis.
Commonly, we will do cupping while performing laser through the cups as needed. Combined these treatments are highly effective at increasing circulation and reducing inflammation. After the issue becomes less painful and more functional, we teach our patients exercises and movements to do at home that increase strength and stability in order to fully support the healing process. Treating our patients correctly for their specific issues and reducing pain is our number one goal. Although as chiropractors we do not solely work on muscles, we also focus on moving the bone positions into the correct plane so that the muscles can work more effectively and efficiently. All of these modalities are performed daily at our chiropractic office daily and we would be happy to perform them on you as specified by the doctors.
We are open 5 days a week and all three Soloway chiropractic offices accept most insurances. We are a chiropractic group in OC (orange County) that accept Caresource, Aetna, American specialty (ASHP), Tricare, Kaiser, Cigna, Blue cross blue shield, United health insurance, and Health net.