Dr. Michael Eekhoff : Lacey Chiropractor
The road that led me to Chiropractic
Dr. Michael Eekhoff
In the early part of 1999, I was majoring in business as a freshman at a small college in Iowa. At the time, I was asked by my English professor to interview someone who was not in my profession. To me this sounded comical, as I couldn’t think of anyone who was not in business that I could talk to!
However, at the time I had been struggling with what I really wanted to do in life and had remembered a time in the guidance counselor’s office that I had come across the chiropractic profession by accident.
An interview with a chiropractor…
I always liked the idea of helping people and had always enjoyed the sciences so health care seemed the way to go. With that in mind, I decided to interview a chiropractor in town. To be honest, I just wanted to finish the report, but what I found out changed my life. As we sat down and I asked him my various questions, something made this doctor start to question me!
He started asking me, “What really is health?”, “What heals us?”, and “If you cut your finger, what heals it?” Sounds pretty simple . . . you put a Band-Aid on it and move on! But that wasn’t what he was getting at. He pointed out that the body heals itself and more importantly, it does this every time as long as there is no interference to the process. Then he asked, “What controls the body?”
After some thought I mentioned the brain and nerves, which travel through the spine. He then led me down a line of thought that was painfully obvious to me, that affecting the spine effects a person’s ability to adapt . . . to heal. But for some reason I had never fully considered that.
The body is designed to control and heal itself and interference to this healing is what makes us sick. He mentioned that Chiropractors adjust the spine because of its close relationship with the nerves, not for making noise. As we talked further he asked, “Is this something you want to learn more about?” I said yes and he gave me a textbook that explained Chiropractic very clearly.
My first experience as a Chiropractic Patient
I changed my major to Biology/Pre-Med and was surprised that the more difficult the class was (such as Organic Chemistry), the better I did. I was enjoying learning the complex processes that happen in our bodies and soon I finished my undergrad studies a semester early. However, it seems like my head had figured out the science of Chiropractic, but my heart was slower to figure out the importance of beginning care.
Being a stubborn guy I mentally had figured it out but hadn’t received an adjustment myself! Until, that is, I had moved into our apartment to start Chiropractic School. After moving our large TV cabinet I found that my low back was excruciatingly painful. It was so bad I could barely bend over to tie my shoes. So I decided to put Chiropractic to the test. After being examined and x-rayed my problem was diagnosed and after being adjusted, I was surprised to find I could move! “This stuff works!”, I thought.
Chiropractic Education
I began my doctorate at Palmer College in Davenport, Iowa and was surprised to find out the broad nature of the studies. We covered anatomy, neurology, nutrition, development, biochemistry, geriatrics, physical therapy, physiology, examination and even extremity adjusting to name a few. Again, I excelled and graduated as a member of the President’s Society and Magna Cum Laude. I remember continually thinking that I had made the right decision and couldn’t wait to start helping people the way I had been helped.
Getting started in practice
After my clinical training, I moved to the South Puget Sound for 2 reasons: My wife and I were ready to enjoy the beauty that it has to offer and my grandma had “suggested” we move by her. So I started practice and over 6 years experienced that Chiropractic indeed does work. I was fortunate to see patients respond to pain symptoms, but also things non-pain related. Such as lowered blood pressure, better sleeping infants, turning breech babies, weight loss, fewer medications, increased stamina, and improved athletic performance. In 2012, I decided to run my own practice and took over All Ways Chiropractic in Olympia, a truly special clinic. I have felt fortunate to be involved in the lives of many people and do my part to improve the community since.
Chiropractic Philosophy
Health is more than just the absence of pain but for most of us, pain gets our attention the most! My goal is to work with you to identify the problem and set up a plan of action to move you towards maximum functioning so you are able to enjoy all your regular activities.
From there, I recommend that you transition into a wellness program which consists of one or two visits a month and sometimes less depending upon the patient and their lifestyle. I hope that along the way we can have some fun and learn with every visit.
I would like the opportunity to meet you in person and discuss your specific health challenge. Please contact our office to set up an appointment or email me at the link below. I look forward to meeting you in person and helping you take that first step toward better health. Thanks for visiting our site.