Foundations Chiropractic LLC

Foundations Chiropractic LLC Dr. Michael Petracci, DC, specializes in pediatric and prenatal chiropractic care, focusing on children with ADHD, autism, and sensory disorders.

He uses a neurologically-focused approach to address root causes, and provides personalized care plans.

02/05/2026

Releasing a tie changes structure, but feeding, breathing, and regulation are neurological and whole-body processes. Without support, some babies may struggle to fully integrate the change.
Care beyond the release itself matters. Here are the side effects of releasing ties without chiropractic adjustments:
1️⃣ Increased tension or guarding
After a release, some babies compensate by tightening other areas of the body — especially the neck, jaw, shoulders, or pelvis — making it harder to relax and feed comfortably.
2️⃣ Feeding challenges that persist
Even with a “successful” release, latch issues, clicking, reflux, or fatigue can continue if the nervous system hasn’t learned how to coordinate the new movement.
3️⃣ Heightened stress response
A release is a big sensory experience. Without nervous system support, some babies may show increased fussiness, startle responses, or difficulty settling and sleeping.
4️⃣ Oral aversion or resistance
Resistance to stretches, latching, or oral work isn’t behavioral — it’s often a protective nervous system response when the body feels overwhelmed.
5️⃣ Compensation instead of coordination
The tongue may have more range, but true feeding requires coordination between the tongue, jaw, neck, diaphragm, and breath — not just mobility.
6️⃣ Incomplete functional improvement
Sometimes anatomy looks improved, but parents still notice feeding stress, reflux, digestive and sleep struggles, or slow progress because function and regulation haven’t fully caught up.
The goal isn’t just release, it’s integration.
Supporting the nervous system helps the body adapt, coordinate, and heal more effectively.
Click the link in our bio for more information! 💚
hendersonvillemoms hendersonvilletn

From constant worry to calm days and deeper sleep. 🤍Grant’s story is a reminder that when the nervous system gets suppor...
02/05/2026

From constant worry to calm days and deeper sleep. 🤍
Grant’s story is a reminder that when the nervous system gets support, little bodies can finally rest, heal, and thrive.
🔗 Click the link for more information on tongue ties, colic, reflux, and more!
https://pxdocs.com/colic/tongue-tied-and-lip-tied/

Two C-sections. One dream VBA2C. 😍And a pregnancy that finally felt empowering.Jenny’s story is a reminder that when the...
02/03/2026

Two C-sections. One dream VBA2C. 😍
And a pregnancy that finally felt empowering.
Jenny’s story is a reminder that when the nervous system is supported, the experience can change… for mom and baby. 🤍

Pre-eclampsia is tricky! But you know us, we are always going to trace it back to the root cause. And what controls our ...
02/02/2026

Pre-eclampsia is tricky! But you know us, we are always going to trace it back to the root cause. And what controls our blood pressure? The nervous system! Read the article in our bio on how we can help and hopefully get you prepped for the best pregnancy and birth! 🫶

02/02/2026

Are you ready to truly understand the root causes behind neurodevelopmental challenges and discover natural, transformative solutions?
Join us for “The Perfect Storm” Workshop on February 26th at 6:00 PM!
Pediatric health expert, Dr. Michael Petracci, will lead an eye-opening and practical session on neurologically focused chiropractic. Learn how this approach can offer profound support for challenges associated with Autism, ADHD, Sensory Processing, Anxiety, and more.
This isn’t just information; it’s a pathway to understanding and empowering your family.
Limited spots available! RSVP now to secure your spot and start their journey towards optimal health.
foundationschirotn.com
hendersonvillemoms hendersonvilletn

01/31/2026

Discovering the Root Cause of Chronic Health Challenges in our Kids
As a parent, you've probably been told that more is better. More therapy sessions. More specialists. More interventions. You're running from speech therapy to occupational therapy, from feeding therapy to behavioral therapy, and maybe even adding in supplements, dietary changes, and sensory tools.
But here's what's heartbreaking: despite all that effort, all that time, all that investment—progress feels slow. Sometimes it even stalls completely. And you're left wondering, "What are we missing? Why isn't this working?"
If you're an exhausted parent who feels like you're pushing a car with the parking brake on, this message is for you.
The Truth Most Doctors Won't Tell You
Here it is: Your child doesn't need more therapies. They need the right foundation first.
Every single week, practitioners meet parents who are running themselves into the ground. They're managing four, five, sometimes six different therapy appointments each week. They've tried elimination diets, supplements, weighted blankets, and countless other tools. And they're doing it all out of love.
But when asked, "Has anyone ever evaluated your child's nervous system?" the answer is almost always no.
Research shows that nearly 1 in 6 children today has a developmental disability. That's millions of families stuck in this cycle—chasing symptoms, adding interventions, but never addressing the foundation that controls everything else: the nervous system.
You Can't Remodel a House on a Cracked Foundation
Think about it this way: if you tried to remodel a house while the foundation had cracks running through it, what would happen? No matter how beautiful the paint, how expensive the furniture, how perfect the design—everything would keep shifting, settling, and falling apart.
That's exactly what's happening when we add therapy after therapy without first addressing the nervous system.
The nervous system is the foundation. It's the air traffic controller coordinating every other system in your child's body—their speech, their movement, their digestion, their sleep, their immune response, their ability to regulate emotions and behavior.
When that foundation is stressed, stuck, or dysregulated, every other therapy you add is working against resistance. It's not that the therapies don't work—it's that they can't work fully when the foundation isn't stable.
And here's what makes this even harder: most parents are never told this. They're told to add more, try more, do more. But no one stops to ask, "Is the nervous system even ready for all of this?"
The "Perfect Storm" That Cracks the Foundation Early
So how does a child's nervous system become stressed in the first place?
It's what we call the Perfect Storm—a combination of stressors that start piling up early in life, sometimes even before birth.
The Layers of Stress
Prenatal stress is the first layer. When a mom experiences stress during pregnancy—whether it's physical, emotional, or chemical—that stress travels through the umbilical cord, directly impacting the baby's developing nervous system.
Then comes birth. Even routine, natural births put stress on a baby's delicate spine and nervous system. But when we add interventions like induction, epidurals, forceps, vacuum extraction, or C-sections, that stress intensifies. Studies show that up to 90% of newborns have some level of spinal misalignment after birth.
After birth, the storm continues: early illnesses, rounds of antibiotics, reflux, ear infections, environmental toxins, constant screen exposure, and the pressure of endless developmental expectations.
Each of these stressors adds another crack to the foundation. And by the time parents notice delays or struggles, the nervous system is already overwhelmed—stuck in stress mode, unable to regulate or coordinate the systems that need to work together for development to happen.
Why More Therapies Can Actually Overload the System
Here's where things get tricky —and where parents feel the most guilt—but you shouldn't.
When a child's nervous system is already overloaded, adding more therapies can feel like plugging too many devices into one power strip. Eventually, the circuit trips. The system shuts down. Progress stops.
This is why you might see your child make some progress at first, but then hit a wall. This is why therapy sessions become harder instead of easier. This is why meltdowns increase, sleep gets worse, or behaviors seem to regress.
It's not that your child can't do it. It's not that the therapy is wrong. It's that their nervous system doesn't have the capacity to process it all because the foundation is still cracked.
And here's the part that's so important to understand: parents blame themselves. They think, "Maybe I'm not doing enough. Maybe I need to add one more thing." But the problem was never that you weren't doing enough—it's that you were building on an unstable foundation.
What Happens When You Stabilize the Foundation First
Now here's the hopeful part—and this is what families see when they address the nervous system foundation.
When neurologically-focused care is used to restore balance and regulation to the nervous system, everything changes.
Advanced scanning technology, called INSiGHT Scans, can pinpoint exactly where the nervous system is stuck in stress mode. Then, through gentle, precise adjustments, practitioners help release that tension and restore the body's ability to regulate, heal, and adapt.
What Parents Report Happens Next:
Speech therapy that was moving slowly suddenly clicks. Kids start putting words together, following directions, and engaging more.
Occupational therapy becomes easier. Sensory challenges calm down. Motor skills improve. Coordination comes together.
Feeding therapy works better because digestion is regulated, the vagus nerve is activated, and the body can finally process food without stress.
Sleep improves. Immune systems strengthen. Behavior stabilizes. Meltdowns decrease.
It's not magic. It's neurology.
When the foundation is stable, everything built on top of it finally has a chance to work the way it was always supposed to.
Your Child Is Capable of So Much More
If you're exhausted from running therapy to therapy, if you're tired of adding more without seeing real change, if you're ready to stop chasing symptoms and start addressing the foundation—there is hope.
Neurologically-Focused Chiropractic Care for kids doesn't replace what you're already doing. It unlocks it.
Your child doesn't need more interventions. They need the right foundation.
Take Charge of Your Child's Health Journey
You've already proven you're willing to do whatever it takes for your child. You've shown up to every appointment, tried every recommendation, and loved your child through every challenge.
Now it's time to step back and ask a different question: "What if we've been missing the foundation all along?"
Your child is capable of so much more than the world has seen yet. When the nervous system shifts from stress to strength, everything else you're doing can finally work.
You deserve answers. Your child deserves real progress. And your family deserves hope. And we want to help with that! Don’t wait to reach out to Foundations Chiropractic today to schedule a consultation. If you are not local to us, check out the PX Docs directory to find a PX Doc near you.
The journey to healing doesn't require doing more—it requires starting with what matters most: the nervous system foundation that makes everything else possible.

You deserve to know what happened during your birth story. Whether it was your dream birth or it didn't really go as pla...
01/30/2026

You deserve to know what happened during your birth story. Whether it was your dream birth or it didn't really go as planned... Your story matters, and those facts can help your doctors paint a picture as to what really happened. 🙏
Birth trauma is something we hear about all of the time and is one of the biggest contributing factors when it comes to childhood struggles. We would love to hear your child's story and see how we can all connect the dots together. 🫶

01/24/2026

The #1 Tip To Prepare For Birth
Dear Mama,
You're doing everything right. The prenatal vitamins, every appointment, reading all the books, and preparing the nursery. But if you're honest with yourself, you might realize you’re white-knuckling your way through pregnancy. Your shoulders are tight, your jaw is clenched, and no one seems to be addressing the stress you carry in your body every single day.
You deserve more than generic advice to "just relax." You deserve to understand what's really happening in your body — and your baby's — and what you can do about it.
Two Very Different Birth Stories
Let me paint two pictures for you.
Birth Story #1: Mom arrives at the hospital already exhausted from weeks of poor sleep and chronic stress. Labor isn't progressing "fast enough," so Pitocin is started. The contractions become overwhelming. An epidural is placed. Hours pass. The baby's heart rate dips. Suddenly, there's urgency in the room. Vacuum extraction. Maybe a c-section. Baby is whisked away for evaluation. When they're finally reunited, baby struggles to latch. The crying won't stop. Everyone's nervous system is screaming.
Birth Story #2: Mom has spent her pregnancy learning to regulate her nervous system. She arrives at the birth center breathing deeply, moving intuitively. Her body knows what to do. Labor progresses steadily. She flows between rest and active pushing. Baby emerges alert and calm, immediately placed on her chest. Within minutes, baby finds the breast. The room is quiet except for soft coos. Everyone's nervous system is singing the same serene song.
What's the difference? It's not just the birth setting or the provider, though those matter. The foundational difference is the state of mom and baby's nervous system.
Your Nervous System Is Running the Show
Think of your nervous system as the air traffic controller for your entire body. It's coordinating your heartbeat, digestion, sleep patterns, immune response, and stress reactions — all without you consciously thinking about it.
Your autonomic nervous system has two main branches:
The Sympathetic System (Your Gas Pedal): This activates when you need to respond to something — a deadline, a perceived threat, or even exciting news. It increases your heart rate, diverts blood to your muscles, and sharpens your focus.
The Parasympathetic System (Your Brake Pedal): This helps you rest, digest, recover, and connect. It slows your heart rate, promotes healing, and allows your body to do its maintenance work.
In an ideal world, you press the gas when needed and the brake when needed, flowing smoothly between the two. But chronic stress — the kind so many pregnant moms experience — causes these systems to get stuck. You might be riding the gas pedal 24/7, or you might have a brake pedal that won't fully engage. Either way, you've lost the ability to flow.
Your Baby Is Learning From You Right Now
Here's what most prenatal care doesn't tell you: your baby's developing nervous system is being shaped by yours. Every moment.
When you're chronically stressed, your body releases cortisol and adrenaline. These hormones cross the placenta. Your baby's brain — which is developing at an astounding rate — is bathing in these stress chemicals. This isn't about making you feel guilty; it's about giving you power. Because when you understand this, you can do something about it.
Your nervous system is literally your baby's first teacher. Before they take their first breath, before they hear their first lullaby, they're learning regulation from you. Are they learning that the world is safe or dangerous? That their body can rest or must always be on alert?
Birth Isn't Just Physical — It's a Nervous System Event
Here's something most people don't understand about birth: it actually begins in a parasympathetic-dominant state. That's right — your brake pedal needs to be engaged.
Oxytocin, the hormone that starts and sustains labor contractions, is released most effectively when you feel safe and calm. This is why dim lighting, quiet spaces, and supportive people matter so much. Your body won't fully release oxytocin when it's in fight-or-flight mode.
As labor progresses into the pushing phase, your nervous system must shift to sympathetic activation — but only at the right time and in the right way. This is the flow we talked about earlier. Gas and brake, working together in perfect rhythm.
But when mom enters birth already stuck in stress mode — or can't flow between these states — the entire sequence gets disrupted. Research consistently shows that mothers who feel safe during birth experience shorter labor, increased oxytocin release, and lower pain levels. This isn't just about comfort; it's about physiology.
And after birth? Your baby's first regulation comes through co-regulation with you. Skin-to-skin contact, eye contact, the rhythm of your heartbeat against theirs — these aren't just sweet bonding moments. They're your baby's nervous system, learning how to regulate by syncing with yours.
If your nervous system is dysregulated, it's harder to establish that co-regulatory loop. This can affect everything from breastfeeding to sleep patterns to your baby's ability to be soothed.
The Missing Piece of Prenatal Care
Standard prenatal care is essential. Your provider monitors your baby's growth, screens for complications, checks your blood pressure, and tracks development. All crucial work.
But there's usually no assessment of your nervous system function. You might get told to "reduce stress" without any objective way to measure whether your system is actually regulated or stuck in survival mode.
This is where Neurologically-Focused Chiropractic Care comes in, which is what we do at Foundations Chiropractic. Through advanced technology like INSiGHT Scans — including thermal imaging, surface EMG, and Heart Rate Variability testing — we can measure how your nervous system is functioning.
These aren't subjective assessments. They're objective data showing us:
* Whether your sympathetic and parasympathetic systems are balanced
* Where tension and stress are being held in your body
* How well your nervous system adapts to stress
* Whether you're stuck in fight-or-flight or able to access rest-and-digest
Then, through gentle, specific chiropractic adjustments, we work to restore balance. We're not treating symptoms; we're helping your nervous system remember how to flow between gas and brake. And when your nervous system learns regulation, your baby's developing system learns it too.
When Should You Start?
The honest answer? Earlier in pregnancy is better. The more time we have to work with your nervous system before birth, the more deeply we can support regulation for both you and your baby.
But it's never too late to start. We've seen profound changes happen in the third trimester, even in the final weeks before birth. Your nervous system has an incredible capacity for healing and adaptation when given the proper support.
What You Can Control
You can't control every variable of pregnancy and birth. Sometimes life-saving interventions are needed, and we are deeply grateful for modern medicine when those moments arise.
But even when interventions are necessary, we need our nervous system to know what to do. A regulated nervous system helps you recover faster, bond more easily, and navigate postpartum with more resilience.
Before birth comes, you can choose to support the one system that influences everything else: your nervous system. You can choose to give your baby the gift of learning regulation in the womb. You can choose to prepare your body not just physically, but neurologically.
Your Next Step
You could do all the traditional preparation — the miles circuit, raspberry leaf tea, eating dates, and practicing birth positions. And those things are wonderful.
But if we could give you only one tip for preparing for birth, it would be this: nervous system repair and regulation.
Your baby's nervous system is being shaped right now, in this moment. Every day of your pregnancy is an opportunity to teach them regulation, safety, and calm.
If you're ready to get real answers about your nervous system function — not just reassurance that "everything looks fine" — we'd love to help. Please reach out to Foundations Chiropractic today to schedule a consultation. If you are not local to us, check out the PX Docs directory to find an office near you.
Our Neurological INSiGHT Scans will show you exactly what's happening in your nervous system. And our care will help you restore the balance and flow you need for the birth you deserve.

Address

393 E Main Unit 8
Hendersonville, TN
37075

Opening Hours

Monday 8am - 11am
3pm - 6pm
Tuesday 3pm - 6pm
Wednesday 8am - 11am
3pm - 6pm
Thursday 3pm - 6pm
Friday 10am - 11am
Saturday 9am - 12pm

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