Collyard Chiropractic

05/27/2026

"I don't sell this very hard, but pain is usually not the first sign that you should get checked by a chiropractor; it's often the last sign that something has been brewing for a while.

The body is incredibly adaptive. Depending on the nature of the problem, dysfunction can build gradually long before pain becomes severe enough to demand your attention.

I don't push this concept aggressively for 2 obvious reasons (well, obvious to me).

First, I cannot magically know your body and exactly how it will respond. Even with x-rays, MRI findings, blood work, orthopedic testing, and experience, healthcare providers are still making educated assessments. Nobody can KNOW with absolute certainty. That's part of why misdiagnoses happen in both medicine and chiropractic.

Second, because I can't KNOW, I don't like overpromising results I cannot guarantee.

Could 3 visits a week for the next 2 months completely resolve your low back pain?
Maybe.
Maybe not.

And in my opinion, expensive treatment plans should come with honesty, not certainty.

That said, most people eventually start recognizing patterns in their own body.

Personally, when my shoulder starts feeling stiff, I usually have a week or two before occasional rib pain starts showing up. From there, maybe another couple weeks before sleeping becomes uncomfortable and the pain starts becoming distracting.

When it was at its worst, the moment that rib shifted out, I would get chest pain, arm pain, neck pain, and even jaw pain.

It was a long road of adjustments and rehabbing those muscles to stop allowing that area to become unstable so easily. I worked very hard to get that upper back under control once already, and I have no interest in letting it get back to that point again.

I've written before that if your goal is simply pain relief, waiting until something hurts before making an appointment is often reasonable advice.

But if your goal is optimization, resilience, or overall wellness, pain probably shouldn't be the only signal you listen to." - Dr. Erick Thompson

05/25/2026

05/22/2026

Congrats to all the Spectrum High School graduates!

A extra special wish to Doc's daughter, Lyla, who was among them! Lyla has been raised in our office. Julie brought her to preschool and often picked her up until she started driving herself. She spent sick days under Julie's desk and has decorated our holiday tree for 18 years. She brings whimsy to our space every time she arrives.

Lyla will pursue a Bachelors of Fine Arts in musical theater in the Conservatory Program at Viterbo University. Congrats, Lyla! We wish her and all the 2026 graduates great things.

05/20/2026

"As some of you may have heard, I recently wrote a book. Spoiler alert: the premise is essentially how you can need me less. 😄

It focuses on the importance of making intentional choices when it comes to our health and wellness and recognizing how interconnected all facets of our health truly are.

Last week I wrote about acute care versus maintenance care and the fact that insurance, generally speaking, is designed around acute care in the chiropractic sense. As I’ve mentioned multiple times in these Wednesday conversations, I believe that almost everyone would benefit from being under chiropractic care (bias acknowledged), but I don’t want people to feel like they need to use it as a crutch or become dependent on it.

In my ideal world, most of my patients would come in every 1-3 months just to make sure their spine is moving and supporting them as well as possible while spending the other days actively doing things to support their overall health and wellness and addressing all 3 T’s (Trauma, Toxins, Thoughts).

Your mental well-being can inhibit your ability to recover after tweaking your low back. A sedentary lifestyle will obstruct progress made by eating better. A toxic diet often leads to lack of energy and interferes with your body’s ability to manage mental stress.

So strive to eat a little better, move a little more, take time for yourself to intentionally unwind, and come get adjusted when you need." - Dr. Erick Thompson

05/19/2026

We are pleased and proud to announce the Dr. Erick Thompson is a published author!

In "Rest, Stress, and Digest", Dr. Erick breaks down how the body adapts to physical, chemical, and emotional stress and how those responses shape your long-term health. It's guidance with no guilt!

Pick up a copy and support Dr. Erick's quest to create a environment that fosters wellness!

Congrats, Doc!

Because I don’t know exactly what your body needs or what will work best for you. In , Dr. Erick Thompson breaks down how the body adapts to physical, chemical, and emotional stress and how those responses shape your long-term health. Most health advice tells you what to do, with rigid ru...

05/14/2026

Head's Up!...
Downtown Parking is greatly affected in the next few weeks!

Construction Alert ❗
The City of Elk River is beginning Phase One of the Downtown Elk River Improvement Project. This phase focuses on adding over 40 parking spaces to the King Avenue parking lot, replacing water and sewer infrastructure, and installing upgraded lighting and electricity. The upper and lower parking lots near Rivers Edge Commons Park will receive a mill and overlay near the end of the project.

The project is expected to begin on Tuesday, May 26, and last through mid-July (weather permitting). Work will primarily take place from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. on weekdays.

How does this impact you?
The King Avenue parking lot will have various closures throughout construction. Partial access will remain available when possible. While access to businesses remains available, downtown visitors will need to park primarily on the streets. A detailed parking option map is available on the downtown project webpage. Be respectful of residents and businesses by not blocking entrance points, mailboxes, or fire hydrants.

There will be a 2-3-day Main Street closure during the project. This will be communicated separately and occur in late May/early June.

What about the Farmers Market and concerts?
The Elk River Farmers Market will be temporarily relocated to the Elk River YMCA parking lot. The Riverfront Concert series will remain as usual. More details about these events and what to expect will be posted on the webpage and on the Elk River Parks and Recreation Facebook.

See full project details: https://bit.ly/4uRqZQk

05/13/2026

"Insurance is designed to only cover acute injury for chiropractic. If you tweak your back, insurance will cover care for a period of time until you get better, or until you’ve reached what they call “maximum therapeutic benefit.” What that means is that at some point, your improvement has plateaued. Your symptoms may still exist, but insurance no longer considers additional care medically necessary.

At that point, you have reached the maintenance phase of care. For most people, this is actually the point where the constant pain is gone, but they come back once every couple months to help prevent the injury from happening again.

Other people, unfortunately, have chronic issues where care helps keep their pain at a manageable baseline, but without care the severity gradually increases and interferes with their lives again.

In today’s economy, paying $50 for an adjustment (even once a month) can be a lot.

If we’re struggling to move past a plateau in care, I will recommend PT, massage, acupuncture, etc. The biggest thing you can do, however, is home care.

Home care includes stretches and exercises prescribed to be done at home. It also includes doing things that help your body heal better: getting good rest, eating right, working out, walking, and reducing stress (I wrote on that last week.)

If you have been told by your insurance company that they are no longer covering your care, you’ll likely need to come in anyway (even if it’s once every 2 months.) What you do at home to support your healing and your overall wellness will keep the appointments to a minimum and may help you move past your plateau." - Dr. Erick Thompson

05/12/2026

Testimonial Tuesday...

"I've been seeing Dr. Carrie and her team for 6 years now. I moved to the area and wanted someone who specialized in chiropractic adjustments during pregnancy and accupuncture. With her weekly assistance during my last trimesters, I was able to have fast, safe, natural births because my body was ready for it. I continue to do my adjustments and accupuncture for other health benefits. And the best part is that my insurance companies have always covered 12-20 sessions per year. I highly recommend them!" - Super Mom, Wife, Nurse

05/06/2026

"I have talked about trauma, toxins and thoughts seemingly ad nauseam (dude, find another topic). We talk about mental stress a lot, but it still is a connection people struggle to make. There is a research review, https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3052954/ that demonstrates how mental, psycho-emotional stress can delay wound healing and alters immune function. Which means, your physical ailments don’t heal as quickly when you’re under mental stress.

So, find ways to manage your mental stress:

Take a walk: one of the easiest, most efficient ways to help reduce stress. Movement, ability to sit in one’s thoughts and time outside all have positive effects on your mental well-being.

Take a bath: solitude, no distractions, a diffuser, warmth enveloping you gives you a break from your day-to-day

Make a list: Making a list of things to get done and then prioritizing them accordingly helps remove the mental load of trying to juggle all the “pressing” obligations. Often after triaging your to-do list makes you realize some obligations aren’t as pressing as we think.

Get social: Getting together with friends and family (so long as they don’t add stress to your life) can help distract yourself from day-to-day stresses.

Get off social media: the chronic doom scrolling automatically leads to stressful thoughts, like politics, negativity, comparison. Carve out some time in the day or week, sure, but don’t live on it.

If you’re always fighting off a cold, or your adjustments seem to keep coming back, adding any or all of these suggestions could help get you out of fight-or-flight and allow your body to heal properly." - Dr. Erick Thompson