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If you typed "fibromyalgia chiropractor near me" into a search bar this week, I want to meet you where you are. My name is Dr. Elaine McNally, and I am the lead chiropractor and owner of Chiropractic Care Clinic on Bell Road here in Montgomery. I will tell you plainly, before we go any further: chiropractic care cannot treat fibromyalgia itself, and I am not going to imply otherwise anywhere on this page.
What I can do is examine the mechanical layer of your spine and soft tissue that often sits alongside fibromyalgia and adds its own discomfort on top of it. That is a narrower claim than a lot of websites make, and I think you deserve the narrower, honest version.
Fibromyalgia is a systemic condition. It involves how your nervous system processes pain signals across your entire body, not just one joint or muscle group. Physicians and researchers are still working to fully understand the mechanisms behind it.
Because it is systemic, fibromyalgia is diagnosed and managed by a physician or a rheumatologist. That is not a formality. It reflects the actual scope of the condition and the actual scope of chiropractic training.
I am trained in spine and joint assessment. I am not qualified to diagnose fibromyalgia, and I will not attempt to. When a new patient tells me they have fibromyalgia, or that they suspect they might, my first question is who their physician is and what that physician has already found.
Here is the distinction I want you to hold onto through the rest of this page. Fibromyalgia is one thing. Spinal joint restriction, limited range of motion, and soft tissue tension are a separate thing.
These mechanical issues can exist in anyone, with or without fibromyalgia. When they exist in a body that already has fibromyalgia, they do not replace the systemic condition. They sit on top of it, as their own layer, with their own contribution to how a person feels day to day.
A chiropractor is trained to examine that mechanical layer specifically. I am not examining your nervous system's pain processing. I am examining whether a specific joint in your spine moves the way it should, and whether the soft tissue around it carries more tension than I would expect.
An examination at our clinic starts with your history. I ask about your existing diagnoses, your current physician or rheumatologist, and any tests or imaging you have already had done elsewhere. This tells me what is already being managed medically, so I am not duplicating or working against that care.
Next, I observe your posture and how you move. I watch you stand, bend, and turn. This gives me an early, general picture before I test anything specific.
Then I test range of motion at individual spinal segments, one at a time. This tells me whether a specific level of your spine moves freely or is restricted compared to the segments above and below it.
I also palpate the soft tissue along your spine and around the joints I am examining. Palpation means using my hands to feel for areas of unusual tension or tenderness. This is separate information from range of motion testing, and I record it separately.
Where it is clinically indicated, we can take on-site X-ray imaging. This gives me a structural view of the spine itself, which palpation and movement testing cannot show on their own.
All of this together is what makes up fibromyalgia care at our Montgomery clinic: a careful, separate examination of the mechanical layer, run alongside whatever your physician is already doing for the systemic condition.
I need to be direct about this part. If you have a physician or a rheumatologist managing your fibromyalgia, you should keep seeing them. Nothing on this page is a reason to stop, pause, or replace that care.
What I offer is meant to work alongside your medical team, not instead of it. If I find something meaningful in your spinal mechanics, I am glad to share those findings with your physician directly, with your permission, so the people managing your care have the full picture.
If my examination finds restriction, limited range of motion, or soft tissue tension, there are a few approaches I may use on that mechanical layer. I want to describe each one plainly, in terms of what it is and what it is applied to, not what it will do for you. I am not going to tell you how any of this will make you feel, because that depends on what the examination actually finds in your specific spine, and it is not something I can responsibly generalize for every patient who reads this page.
A gentle chiropractic adjustment is a controlled, low-force movement applied to a specific spinal joint that I have identified as restricted. Low-level laser therapy applies specific wavelengths of light directly to soft tissue in the treatment area. Interferential therapy applies a mild electrical current through electrodes placed on the skin near the affected area. Shockwave therapy applies acoustic pressure waves to a targeted area of soft tissue or a tendon attachment point. Flexion distraction uses a specialized table that moves in a slow, controlled arc while I work on a specific spinal segment.
Because fibromyalgia often means the whole body is more sensitive to input, I start every technique gently and watch how you respond in the room. I adapt the pressure and pace based on your feedback, and I stop if something is not right for you.
You can read more about our multi-modal therapy approach if you want the detail behind how these individual techniques are combined for a specific case.
Your first visit is mostly listening and looking. I take your history, including your current medical care. I run the examination steps described above. Then I sit down with you and explain, in plain terms, what I found or did not find.
Many people who search for a fibromyalgia chiropractor near me have already seen several providers and feel like their pain was dismissed. I am not going to add to that. If the examination shows real mechanical restriction, I will explain where it is and what I think it involves. If the examination finds little or no mechanical contribution, I will tell you that too, directly, rather than starting a plan of care that the findings do not support.
Can a chiropractor treat fibromyalgia? No. Fibromyalgia is a systemic condition diagnosed and managed by a physician or rheumatologist. A chiropractor can examine and address a separate mechanical layer of spinal and soft tissue issues that may exist alongside it, but that is not the same as treating fibromyalgia.
Should I stop seeing my rheumatologist? No. Keep your physician or rheumatologist as the lead on your fibromyalgia diagnosis and management. Chiropractic care is meant to work alongside that relationship, never instead of it.
Will an adjustment make my pain worse? I cannot answer that in general terms, because it depends on your individual examination findings and how your body responds on a given day. What I can tell you is that I start gently, ask for your feedback throughout, and stop if something is not right for you.
Do I need a referral? You do not need a referral to book an examination with us. I do ask about your current physician or rheumatologist at your first visit, so I understand the full picture of your care before I begin.
What if the examination finds nothing mechanical? Then I will tell you exactly that. I am not going to recommend a plan of care for a mechanical problem that my examination did not actually find.
If you have been searching for a fibromyalgia chiropractor near me and want a plain, honest answer about what an examination can and cannot show, I am glad to see you at Chiropractic Care Clinic, 2569 Bell Rd, Montgomery. You can book an examination online, or call us directly at (334) 997-7463.
