Dr. Elise Rigney founded Impact Chiropractic, a community-driven health center, in 2012. It’s now an extremely successful business in Fort Collins, Colo., U.S.A. and is expanding.
Rigney focuses on healing the body from the inside out, looking to the root of the problem instead of solely the effects.
Rigney’s education
She began her education at the University of Minnesota with a Bachelors in Physiology. Rigney is 100 percent Norwegian, which led to her additional interest in the Norwegian and Scandinavian Studies program.
The brilliant chiropractor has extensive pediatric training through the International Chiropractic Association in addition to her experience working at the largest chiropractic clinic in the world.
Too much medication
In her youth, Rigney was prescribed various medications for health challenges. She later studied abroad in Norway during her university years. While there, she found that the doses prescribed to her in the United States were dangerously high. She was told the prescription would never have been considered in many countries.
Norway is one of the top 10 healthiest countries in the world and this knowledge led Rigney to question the effectiveness of her previous treatments.Â
With this new revelation, Rigney’s perception on medicine shifted: The consistent use of harsh medications, many prescribed by doctors, is destructive to the body.
No one ever addressed the source of where everything was coming from.
Dr. Elise Rigney
Healthcare systems around the world vary greatly and many focus on natural solutions rather than solely prescribed medications. In her practice, she has made an emphasis on the body’s ability to “adapt, heal and grow.” A concentration on cause rather than effect is significant in Rigney’s chiropractic work to heal the body.
A brief history
Records of chiropractic work date back to the time of Hippocrates. The term is derived from the Greek words cheir, which means “hand,” and praktos, meaning “done.”
Though it is an ancient practice, Daniel David Palmer refined chiropractic adjusting techniques to heal the body. Palmer opened the first chiropractic school in 1897 in Iowa.
Changing perspectives
What comes to mind when thinking about chiropractic? For most it may be simply the cracking of the neck or back to relieve pain. However, it entails much more.
The less-acknowledged aspects of this practice include its beneficial effects on mental health, the nervous and reproductive systems, digestion and much more.
Rigney speaks on the importance of chiropractic work. She explains that interference in the nervous system affects all manners of issues. When the spine is not properly aligned, nerves are pinched, obstructing important bodily functions.
An example Rigney uses is maintaining a wholesome digestive system. Even before implementing a healthier diet to improve digestion, one may benefit from chiropractic. The networks of nerves in the body run along the digestive tract. An interference in the nervous system would therefore hinder the body from absorbing the nutrients from food.
Everything we put in and on our bodies must be processed by the nervous system.
Dr. Elise Rigney
Rigney’s recommendations
Impact Chiropractic recognizes the 3 T’s of chiropractic, comprising Thoughts, Traumas and Toxins. These are multiple causes of nervous system dysfunction.
Addressing each of these stressors helps the body feel and function better.
The first T, being thoughts, involves identifying negative thoughts or people. Rigney suggests focusing on inner work to eliminate this stressor. This could include journaling, meditation and manifestation.
Secondly, traumas refer to physical stressors, possibly a recent or long-term injury. In addition, lack of movement is recognized as a physical stressor. Motion is necessary for the body to stay healthy. Rigney recommends implementing stretch or walk breaks throughout the day.
During long days at the office make sure you’re incorporating some movement into your schedule.
Impact Chiropractictic
Thirdly, toxins, refer to chemical stressors. These include cleaning products, makeup, skincare, foods, water and environment. Identifying those that are harmful can greatly reduce body stress. To prevent this, Rigney looks at product ingredients, pesticides used, organic food and more.Â
An Impact
Rigney’s perception of patient treatment changed after her personal experience with healthcare in Norway. She stands out as an exceptionally talented doctor who acknowledges the stressors in a patient’s life and targets their needs.
We’re helping with mental health, digestion, reproduction…overall helping your body function the best.
Dr. Elise Rigney
Chiropractic care puts an emphasis on healing the body from the inside out. Identify the cause of an issue, adapt, heal, and the body will become resilient.
I really enjoyed this article and all the interesting facts about chiropractic care and how it’s not just about cracking your back and neck, but working on your nervous system. I learned that you can work on yourself and your body through keeping your immune system healthy, which helps keep your nervous system healthy. I have had doctors tell me in the past about the importance of your immune system and how it can affect daily life, emotions, and more. I found this article very informative and interesting!
This article was very informative. I never really thought about it, but as a person who spent a significant amount of time in 3 very distinct countries, each country does vary wildly with medical prescriptions. I think it is super important to take in the perspectives of medical professionals from all around the world and make decisions starting from there.
I have always heard about, what you put in your body affects the way you feel, but I never considered how the effects of chiropractic care could be beneficial to combat these feelings. Dr. Elise is obviously very passionate about her work, and I appreciate how she targets the root cause of the problem to fix it rather than give useless medication and send you on your way. I enjoy her perspective on the health world and how her work and experience allows her to help individuals in ways they never thought.
What a super cool concept to heal people with more than medication. As someone the works in healthcare I love the idea of giving people options for healing their bodies. I like the approach she is taking helping people achieve health in less addicting and damaging ways. I love to see these types of articles, I think it is important for people to know that there are other forms of achieving health and feeling good in your body.
This was a very interesting article to dive into a brief history about chiropractic work and a specific story on Dr. Elise Rigney. To think that she studies in different programs all over the world is really insane. It demonstrates how even something like chiropractic care can be modified or is relevant to many people across the globe. I’m informed now that chiropractors work beyond just cracks and movements, but have theories and different way to keep you healthy not just physically, but also mentally.
I’ve always been curious about how chiropractors can affect our health, so this article is a great help in seeing just how important the process can be. As you said in you article, the traditional solution for many medical problems in the United States is to throw high doses of synthetic medicines at the issue and hope that they work. These methods are absolutely necessary in some situations, but the approach of Dr. Rigney seems to create a much more natural solution and one which could treat the underlying issues which many of us face. The idea that the systems of our body are so heavily connected is not a foreign concept, but the clarification here is extremely helpful.
I have heard a lot about how your inner health can actually have an effect on your mental and emotional health as well. I found this article very interesting as I learned about how this relates to gut and even chiropractic health. I never would of thought that even something like your spine being unaligned can effect you that much.