​In early November I finished my 80 hour Pediatric Experience Certification course through Life University!  This course was designed and led by Dr. Tony Ebel, a pioneer in our profession on special needs pediatric and prenatal care.  His approach to caring for children with developmental challenges has been unlike any other course and post-graduate education I’ve ever been through.  This training allows us to have a wide impact on children with challenges such as anxiety/stress, ADD/ADHD to developmental delays, birth traumas, cerebral palsy, autism; even common struggle many kids encounter like frequent illnesses, trouble sleeping, digestive changes, and immune challenges.  Our running joke is that when you tackle the central nervous system (which includes your neuro-spinal column) in this manor it’s like a drug commercial: “You may experience better sleeping, eating, pooping, talking, walking, less frequent illness, less brain fog, less emotional melt downs, more energy”….except all the side effects are positive!  I’ve been incorporating this PX Doc protocol and procedure for the past 3-4 months. I am seeing more positive changes and results more than I ever have in my 10 years of practice and I love it!
For example, I started to work with a 6 year old boy with a lot of tension and soreness in his neck and upper back.  After further evaluation I also found that he has some speech delays as well as emotional melt downs and outbursts towards Mom.   Over his continued care Mom has noted that he was doing so much better with his melt downs and he has not complained of any neck pain.
I have also been working with a 6 year boy diagnosed with selective mutism.  This is an anxiety disorder in which he would only talk to his direct family members.  He wouldn’t talk to teachers, strangers or extended family members.  After further digging, he also had a really hard time falling asleep, sound sensitivity, and emotional out bursts at home.  His anxiety was significantly affecting his social skills and he refused to play with friends.  We have continued care for almost a year now and he is able to fall asleep quickly, he is able to recognize his emotions and talk through them with Mom rather than have tantrums/meltdowns, he plays with other kids and cousins regularly, he even danced down the center isle at a family wedding! Recently his mother and I witnessed him speak to a perfect stranger in my office!  He is acting much more like a “kid” instead of being so bottled up and stressed. He is really growing into his own personality and loves to go BMX biking, building forts and visiting his neighbors. He is excelling at school and has a curios and engineering mind! I am so proud of his progress! 
Chiropractic care can help reduce the tension and stress in a child's Central Nervous System, reduce the fight or flight pattern that our children are so often trapped in, and allow them to develop and flourish to their fullest potential!
I'm so thankful for the knowledge I've gained in my journey to becoming a PX doc!

Stay Healthy!
Dr. Kathleen

1.  Spinal Decompression is not for everyone.  I would estimate that somewhere around 15-20% of the clients that present to our office are a good fit for a decompression type program.   Probably the most important part of getting great results using this type of therapy is being able to discern who would be a good candidate, and who does not need it, or likely wouldn't respond well to it. 

2.  Spinal Decompression Programs require a lot of commitment.  The programs that I have seen yield good results require a significant commitment of time and effort on the patient's end!   Each visit to our office will last around 30 minutes, and these programs often include multiple visits per week. On the longer end, a more severe case may undergo up to 30 total visits over a period of 3 months.  On top of that there are some home exercises and a re-evaluation to boot.  It really requires that the patient is all in, and willing to commit the time and effort. 

3. The results are often incredible.  Especially for patient's who have been in long term pain, dealing with sciatica, pinched nerves, herniated discs, this intervention can be life-changing.  These client's have often tried many other therapies to alleviate or manage their condition. But spinal decompression is different.  If we can make an improvement to the actual CAUSE of the condition, and improve the health of a disc, improve disc height, and restore normal motion to the spinal joints, we can get to the ROOT CAUSE of the problem without having to perform a high risk and invasive surgery. When that happens, the results are amazing. 

4. The results are not instant.  During the course of a treatment plan, it is not uncommon for me to have to talk a client "off the ledge" so to speak.  Each session helps to improve the pliability, elasticity, and hydration of the disc or joint we are targeting. But because of this, each session builds on the last.  It's important to keep those visits reasonably close together, and stay consistent.  Over time we see the results!  Literally.  After a decompression program is completed, we take another x-ray image to compare to the pre-treatment image.  With very few exceptions we can actually measure the improvement post-treatment.  I will then make recommendations going forward, but most commonly we can reduce the frequency of care to about once a month, and have the patient continue with at-home exercises to maintain their progress.

In summary, taking extra training and seminars, and committing to honing in on the most effective protocols has been a really worthwhile investment of my time and effort. When we find the right client for the therapy, who is willing to commit their time and effort as well, the outcomes have often been remarkable. 

* As of 08/28/2024 we've completed 1166 treatments and counting :)

Stay healthy,
Dr. Korey

Headaches are one of the most common symptoms that motivate people to come into our clinic.   When evaluating a patient with headaches, it's critical to look at the cervical spine!  A significant portion of both tension headaches and migraines are "cervicogenic" in nature, meaning they start in the neck!   Due to stress, desk/phone posture, sleeping habits, etc., most people have nerve and muscle tension in their neck to some degree.  However, that doesn't always mean neck pain!

In many cases the nerves that are irritated innervate the head and result in headaches, without causing much neck pain at all!  Below is a great example of a client who's headaches resolved after addressing the nerve tension in his neck.

​If you are experiencing headaches, schedule an evaluation, and let's help you get to the bottom of it!

Your body only works because it is sending and receiving messages to and from your brain!  If your brain and your body lose connection, it's lights out!  Subluxations (misalignments or fixations) in your spine can put tension on your nerves, altering the messages being sent between your body and brain. Chiropractic corrects those subluxations and reduces nerve tension in your spine. The result is improved communication between your brain and body! Power ON!

       "My Chiropractic journey began in the Spring of 2019 after a fall left me unable to move my neck.  Dr. Kathleen has been adjusting me ever since! I have never felt better! I used the referral gift card for my daughter who was 1 years old at the time.  She hadn’t slept through the night at that point in her life.  As it turns out, she had some subluxations in her neck that needed adjusted.  My daughter, now 2 years old, sleeps through the night most nights!  In the fall, my then 3-year-old son, experienced great difficulty settling down to sleep. His behavior was worsening and he didn’t sleep through the night for an entire month!  Dr. Kathleen has worked out issues that stem from birth.  He is 4 now and sleeps so much better!  Dr. Kathleen has been such a blessing to our family!"  ~ Lana M.

​“I came to Pinnacle with terrible back pain from a congenital problem in my lower back.  Dr. Kathleen got me back on my feet right away and feeling great!
My husband also sees Dr. Korey for pain in his back due to work and neck pain from a previous car accident.  He is now quickly on the road to recovery.
We have just started to bring in our four-year-old son.  He was premature, has Epilepsy as well as developmental delays.  Just within the first visit we noticed the smallest change.  We are so grateful to Pinnacle for helping our family feel great!”

• Mom (Sarah) 

Chiropractic can be your ultimate brain hack!  Wait what...?  
That's right, research provided by Dr. Heidi Haavik and her team of neurophysiologists and chiropractors has backed up what we practicing doctors see in our clinics regularly. Getting adjusted by a chiropractor doesn't only affect your spine!  It is common for chiropractic patients to report improved sleep, getting sick less often, feeling less stressed, and many other great benefits. Now we have the research that backs up why this is happening!

Think of your brain as a sort of computer. In order for your computer to perform correctly, it's got to have the correct input, right?  If you've got a stuck button on your keyboard, or a faulty mouse, your entire computer is going to struggle doing what you want it to do!  The same thing is happening in your brain. Your spine is the source of millions of small nerve endings that create a LOT of input to your brain. They are constantly sending your brain signals to let your brain know the internal environment of your body and your spine's position. But if some of those nerves are stuck in the "on" or "off" position, your brain isn't getting the correct information. Without the correct input, your brain struggles to do it's job effectively.   Dr. Haavik's research has shown that the part of the brain being most effected by these faulty signals is the Pre-frontal cortex, or the front of the brain. 

 This part of your brain is responsible for a lot of crucial health functions, and plays a role in your immune system, sleep, emotional responses,  stress responses, pain regulation, attentiveness and more!  Simply put, when this part of your brain isn't functioning at it's best, there are a TON of things that are negatively affected throughout your body.  

So what would make this part of your brain NOT work? And what can we do to improve it?
Research suggests that the main factor affecting the pre-frontal cortex is stress.  When we are stressed, mentally, emotionally, physically, or even chemically, our brain senses this stress and responds by decreasing your pre-frontal cortex, and increasing the function of your mid-brain. This is commonly known as "fight-or-flight" mode.  Many people tend to be "stuck" in this mode, due to chronic stress. Over time their brain gets used to running in stress mode, and it can change the chemistry and physiology of your entire body.  This is because unlike computers, our brains learn over time. Brains begin to become more efficient at running the software that they commonly use, and forget how to run the software that is not being used.  Over a long period of running in stress mode, it can become your brain's new normal.  Luckily there are ways to combat this, and even reverse it over time.  Let's look at some of the important things you can do to improve your brain's ability to run the correct software, and improve the health of your entire body and mind!

1. Meditation/deep-breathing - Meditation and deep breathing have been show to calm your brain's stress response and facilitate relaxation.  From a brain perspective, they help to strengthen your pre-frontal cortex and keep you from getting stuck in stress mode!

2. Nutrition - proper nutrition gives the brain and body the nutrients that are necessary to function normally. Nutrition is an ongoing area of study for its many benefits ranging from natural ADHD treatment to control of inflammation and cardiovascular disease.  It's well known and accepted that good nutrition is a cornerstone of good health. 

3.  Sleep and Exercise -  I consider both sleep and exercises to be vital  "nutrients" for your brain. Without proper sleep and without proper exercise, your brain simply will not function at its best.  The benefits of exercise have been extolled by researchers for years as one of the most effective forms of health maintenance, and disease prevention. 

4. Chiropractic - Last but not least, chiropractic care! Making sure that your brain is getting the correct input ensures the best output!  It is now known thanks to Dr. Haavik's research that chiropractic adjustments help to re-engage the pre-frontal cortex, helping your brain to cope with stress. 

Remember, you live your entire life through your brain and nervous system. Because of this intricate system of nerves, every organ in your body is connected to the one under your hat! Make sure you and your family member's computers are running at their best! It's one of the best strategies for creating health.

Dr. Korey