Dr. Kevin, who grew up on a dairy farm outside Eleva, learned about chiropractic care from an early age, as he and his family made regular visits to a chiropractor. “We just took a natural approach whenever possible,” he said. “And that’s really what chiropractic is: Just a more natural, alternative approach to healthcare, and that just clicked with me. I was very interested in it, and so I just knew at a pretty early age that’s what I wanted to do.”

After getting a bachelor’s degree at UW-Eau Claire, Dr. Kevin received a Doctorate of Chiropractic from Palmer College of Chiropractic in 2000. After a few years practicing in the Appleton area, he returned to the Chippewa Valley and opened a practice between Eau Claire and Chippewa Falls.

Several years ago, his clinic became affiliated with Chiro One, which has wellness centers in seven states. “Their model fits really perfectly with a lot of what we were already doing, they were just doing it bigger and better,” Dr. Kevin said. That model focuses on a combination of chiropractic treatments – such as spinal adjustments – and active therapies like stretching and strengthening exercises.

Active therapies are important for several reasons, he explained: First, they are more likely than passive methods (such as electric muscle stimulation) to reach the root cause of a problem rather than simply mask symptoms. In addition, he said, studies have found that active therapies have “remarkably better outcomes” for patients than passive therapies, he said.

At Chiro One, active therapies may include the use of Precor StretchTrainers – equipment which allows users to stretch multiple parts of the body – as well as stability balls and resistance bands. These therapies help patients with strengthening, stretching, and stability, and may be done before or after their chiropractic adjustments.

On a typical day, Dr. Kevin sees 50 patients, including many regular patients who fall into two categories. “Regular patients are made up of people who are on what we call a therapeutic plan, which is more of a pain symptom relief plan,” he said. “And then what I grew up with, which was ongoing, regular wellness or preventative type care.”

Because every patient is different, Dr. Kevin been trained in numerous adjusting techniques, allowing him to adapt to an individual patient’s needs and comfort level. “I love adjusting everywhere from newborn babies to our oldest current patient, who is 95 years old,” he said.

As a lifelong beneficiary of chiropractic care himself, Dr. Kevin says his favorite patients are families. Chiro One focuses on helping families take responsibility for their own health – providing simple home therapies that people can do for life.

“When you get into more of the wellness or preventative side of chiropractic, once people see and understand the benefits, then really anybody can benefit from it because they are simply doing things to keep their spine, nervous system, and body healthy,” he said.