Breathe Chiropractic FAQs

Yes — chiropractic and acupuncture are safe and deeply supportive during pregnancy when performed by a qualified practitioner. Our providers are trained in prenatal care, including the Webster Pelvic Balancing protocol, and can help with nausea, back pain, pelvic discomfort, sleep issues, stress, and preparation for labor.

You don’t have to go, but you’ll want to! Many people find they use chiropractic care ongoingly to maintain their health through all the various stresses they encounter. Initially, your chiropractor will prescribe a course of treatment to address the primary concerns you have. After the initial phase of care, the chiropractor will suggest a maintenance frequency.

The area affected by a chiropractic adjustment may feel painful or sore in the first 24-48 hours. This is because your body may work on damaged tissue, which requires an inflammatory response. But, in general, a chiropractic adjustment is gentle and usually produces a feeling of relief as tense muscles relax.

Chiropractic care works by restoring your nervous system’s ability to regulate, adapt, and heal — which can have a profound effect on a wide range of conditions. It isn’t a cure in the traditional sense, but it’s far more than symptom management. By addressing the underlying patterns driving your symptoms, chiropractic empowers your body’s own healing intelligence. It works beautifully alongside other approaches, including acupuncture, medicine, and physical therapy.

Babies and children are subjected to many of the same environmental stressors as adults. In addition, children can adapt to trauma caused by the birth process. Chiropractic care for infants and children has been studied and shown to be helpful to support normal growth and development.

Chiropractic care helps an infant adapt to the stressors of being outside the womb. By bringing ease to the nervous system, digestion improves, and parents notice their babies often have a resolution of upsets like colic, torticollis and sleeping issues.

Yes, we will recommend exercises and supportive therapies during the “Build & Strengthen” phase of care.

Yes, in most cases. Our doctors will review your surgical history to determine which techniques are safe and appropriate for you. In many cases, areas of the spine that were not surgically altered can be adjusted normally. For areas that were involved in surgery, our gentle instrument-based and light-touch techniques often allow us to work safely where traditional manual adjustments would not be appropriate. We will always be transparent with you about what we can and can’t do.

Your first acupuncture visit includes a comprehensive health history and consultation rooted in both Western and Chinese medicine.  Evaluating your pulse, tongue, and overall pattern of health  will determine your recommendations and treatment plan. Most patients receive their first treatment at this visit and leave feeling deeply relaxed — sometimes more relaxed than they’ve felt in years.

This is the question we hear most often — and the honest answer is: rarely, and nothing like you’re imagining. Acupuncture needles are hair-thin, far finer than anything used for injections or blood draws. Most patients feel little to nothing when they’re placed. What people most commonly experience is a mild heaviness, warmth, or gentle tingling — sensations that actually signal your body is responding. Many patients fall asleep during treatment.

Acupuncture care is not a cure or treatment for any disease and supports a wide range of conditions, including chronic and acute pain, fertility and reproductive health, hormone balance, stress and anxiety, insomnia, digestive issues, headaches and migraines, fatigue, post-injury recovery, as well as autoimmune conditions and ADHD.

 Your first visit with a Naturopathic doctor will include an in-depth conversation about your health history and health goals and can include reviewing previous treatments, lab work, and your current supplements and medications. Then, a protocol will be created for you. The protocol may include a combination of nutrition/diet plan, supplement recommendations, practices for you to do at home, acupuncture protocol, physical medicine, and/or emotional release treatments performed by the doctor in the office. Your plan will be laid out for you in an easy-to-follow format, and email support is included between visits. Your follow-up visits will include accountability check-ins, plan modifications based on your feedback and results, and new recommendations when needed to move you forward in your healing. Physical medicine, acupuncture, and emotional release work are done separately from your Naturopathic consultations.

A naturopathic doctor is looking at your system from a holistic viewpoint and determining treatments and protocols that can support your body’s natural healing ability. While a Naturopathic doctor can prescribe pharmaceuticals, they often look to manage conditions with natural remedies, lifestyle changes, and bodywork before a pharmaceutical intervention is necessary. And when a traditional medical intervention is necessary, the Naturopathic doctor continues to work with you to rebalance your body’s systems and promote healing.

At Breathe, we understand that you may have consulted with several healthcare practitioners before finding us, and you may have test results, a cabinet of supplements, and minimal relief. We do our best to start with what you have and add testing and supplementation sparingly. When indicated, we may recommend gut biome testing, hormone balance testing, routine lab work, or other basic lab tests to determine overall health and nutrient status. You can visit our Nutrition Page  to learn more about the tests and supplements we recommend most often.

Our licensed massage therapists offer a range of therapeutic massage modalities tailored to your needs and goals. Options include Swedish and relaxation massage, deep tissue massage, prenatal massage, sports massage, and myofascial release. Your therapist will work with you to understand what your body needs and select the approach — or combination of approaches — that will serve you best.

The biggest difference is intention. Spa massage is designed primarily for relaxation — which is wonderful and has real value. Therapeutic massage at Breathe is integrated into your overall care plan and designed to support your healing. Your massage therapist works in coordination with your chiropractic and acupuncture care, targeting the specific areas of tension, restriction, and soft tissue damage that are relevant to what you’re healing from. The result is care that compounds — each treatment making the others more effective.

Almost everyone benefits from massage — but it’s particularly valuable for patients dealing with muscle tension, restricted mobility, soft tissue injuries, postural strain, stress-related physical symptoms, and chronic pain. Prenatal massage is safe and deeply supportive during pregnancy, helping with back pain, hip discomfort, swelling, and sleep. Sports massage is ideal for athletes looking to recover faster, perform better, and protect their bodies long term.

Not at all. You are welcome to book massage as a standalone service. That said, many patients who start with massage discover how well it works alongside chiropractic or acupuncture care and choose to add those services over time. We’ll never pressure you — but we’re always happy to answer questions if you’re curious about what a more comprehensive care plan might look like for you.

Tight, restricted muscles pull your spine and joints back out of alignment — which is one of the reasons chiropractic adjustments don’t always hold as long as we’d like in the early stages of care. Massage releases that muscular tension, which helps your body accept and maintain your adjustments more effectively. Many patients find their adjustments feel easier and last longer when massage is part of their care plan.

 NET is a mind-body technique that helps your nervous system identify and release stored stress responses — including those connected to past trauma, difficult relationships, or chronic emotional patterns. If your body is still reacting to old stressors, it can block your physical healing. NET helps your body let go of those defense responses so it can focus on healing what needs attention now. Think of it this way: if your body thinks it’s still fighting a bear, it’s not going to prioritize your back pain.

Not in the way you might expect. NET is not talk therapy. It works directly with your nervous system’s stored responses through a combination of muscle testing and gentle spinal contacts. You don’t need to relive difficult experiences or discuss them in detail for NET to be effective.

NET is woven into chiropractic care for most of our patients — because most people carry some degree of unresolved stress that’s affecting their physical health. It’s particularly helpful for people who have experienced significant trauma, complex chronic conditions, or patterns of pain that haven’t responded fully to structural treatment alone.

Cold laser therapy uses specific wavelengths of light to reduce inflammation, accelerate tissue healing, and support nervous system regulation — including vagus nerve balancing. It’s non-invasive, painless, and particularly effective for acute injuries and stubborn inflammatory conditions.

Shockwave therapy delivers targeted acoustic waves to areas of chronic pain, scar tissue, or old injuries that haven’t responded to other treatments. It stimulates healing at the tissue level and is especially effective for persistent low back pain, plantar fasciitis, tendinopathies, and calcific conditions.

BrainTap is a guided brain entrainment technology that uses light and sound to guide your nervous system into deep states of relaxation and recovery. It extends your healing window, reduces stress hormones, and helps your body get more from every other treatment in your care plan. It’s also our patients’ favorite — most describe it as the best nap they’ve ever had.