Phelps Chiropractic opens Virginia office
For 20 year Phelps Chiropractic has been serving patients with hands-on conservative chiropractic care in Ely. Recently, “Bucky” Phelps, D.C., D.A.C.A.N., opened a second office in Virginia at 611 9th St. N. where he sees patients a couple days a week.
An Ely native, Phelps said he knew he wanted to be a chiropractor from the time he was a kid. As a 10 year-old, Phelps had injured his lower back while playing hockey. His parents took him to doctors in Ely, Duluth and Minneapolis. Their recommendation: surgery. “They wanted me to have surgery, and put some rods in along my spine,” Phelps said. He and his parents weren’t too thrilled with that option, and decided against it. The next stop was a chiropractor in Ely.
“It really helped me,” said Phelps. “I had lower back pain, and a hairline fracture in the second vertebrae of the lumbar region of my spine.” Phelps said he still has some pain, but he treats it with occasional handson chiropractic manipulations and has managed to avoid surgery.
“I wanted to help people like he helped me,” said Phelps.
After graduating from Ely High School, Phelps attended North Dakota State University for his undergraduate degree and later graduated from the Northwestern College of Chiropractic in Bloomington, MN. He moved to Virginia in 1989 with his new credentials and opened an office in Ely. “I was welcomed back [by Ely’s medical community] and have had the luxury of referring back and forth with those colleagues,” he said.
After many years of practicing traditional chiropractic care, Phelps decided to get more post-graduate training. He enrolled in the New York Chiropractic College, where he pursued a three-year non-resident program in Chiropractic Neurology. This consisted of studies in neuro-diagnosis and the study of the brain and spinal cord and peripheral nervous systems.
Phelps said this training has given him greater confidence in treating difficult cases and in his ability to diagnose and treat patients and to know when a referral is necessary. He said it is rare, but he has examined and referred patients with signs and symptoms of stroke, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, meningitis, diabetic neuropathy, and spinal discopathy.
More commonly, Phelps treats patients with neck and back pain and headaches. He notes a recent increase in foot and ankle problems. “It’s been good timing because I actually recently returned from a continuing education seminar which focused on the care and treatment of knee, ankle and foot disorders,” he said.
Generally, chiropractors treat people with various spinal and extremity complaints which are usually all neuromusculoskeletal in nature. Phelps uses diversified adjustment techniques including high-velocity, low-force techniques to the joints and tissues to promote normal range of motion and nerve function.
Has he achieved his goal of keeping people from having surgery, such as was the case for him? He told me of one such case – a patient suffering from sciatica for a year. His doctor had him scheduled for surgery in three months, but suggested he seek chiropractic care in the meantime. After some treatment with Phelps, the surgery was cancelled. “It doesn’t happen all the time, of course. But sometimes it does,” he said.
“It’s been rewarding, being able to help people,” Phelps said. “I really like it when someone comes in here and they think there’s no way I can help them, and then I do.” Some patients are able to delay surgery for one year or five years. For some, chiropractic care is not the answer, and when that’s the case Phelps refers patients for advanced evaluation and management to an M.D.
I called the doctor’s office during the writing of this story to see how he preferred to be referred to as: Bucky? Phelps? Dr. Phelps? “I don’t care, Jean! Whatever you think is the friendliest!”
Nice.
