Dr. Kelsey Dobesh, DC, ATC, MS

11/21/2025

When we are training our nervous system to become more stress resilient (notice how I didn't say stress management), we can't do it asleep.

Is it a habit or routine for you to fall asleep anytime you feel frustrated, irritated, etc?

Or.....

When you first start meditating, relaxing, etc?

Here's what that means:

Your nervous system and body doesn't know how to down regulate, so it falls asleep.

It only knows the "go-go-go" speed and sleep speed. Because you've only trained it to be those two.

Our nervous system 🌟needs🌟 us to train in this setting.

Start small: set a 2 min. Timer and just breathe. Then move to 5 min.
Remember, anything is better than nothing. ❤️

11/21/2025

Sometimes, we have to induce fatigue in order to see discrepancies from side to side!

Here are two former athletes, the first one had a surgical repair to a torn labrum, and the other was a lower body dominant athlete.

When we see it, we should work to correct it.

These were 2-3 reps in for our banded wall slides. The Serratus Anterior muscles' job is to literally pin the scapula (shoulder blade) to the ribcage and thorax. You can see that the right side loses that ability (last two photos).

This exercise is a great assessment and tool to be able to maintain the integrity of the shoulder.

➡️ Here's the bigger deal: in order for your shoulder (glenohumeral joint) to function appropriately, your shoulder blade must function appropriately first. There are 🌟 3 🌟 smaller shoulder joints (AC, SC, and Scapulothoracic joints) that must function WELL in order for your glenohumeral joint to do its job.

11/19/2025

Let's talk about leg length discrepancy and back pain.

These are two photos of a patient that was currently in a low back flare. These photos are taken about 15 min apart. Notice the difference in the length of the toes (as compared to each other) from one photo to another.

Excessive muscle tension will after the pelvis and cause a functional leg length discrepancy.
💥These photos 💥

A true leg length discrepancy is caused by a fracture to a long bone during the childhood or growing years.

Many times I see patients wearing a heel lift that they were given over 20 years ago...due to a functional leg length discrepancy.

When there's a functional leg length discrepancy, there's usually always some type of muscle tension. BUT, we don't chase muscle tension. It's there for a reason and that's to protect the structures underneath it. We work with it. We get that 🧠 to trust the movements with the breath to ease her way out of the tension. Slowly and safely.

11/14/2025

These are such powerful photos that I want to share with you from an educational perspective.

Please, please, PLEASE do not force your little ones to walk 👏 BEFORE THEY CAN DO IT ON THEIR OWN👏

This includes: guiding them and holding their arms above their head to ambulate them.

Why??

💥 #1 rule with infant development: when they are ready to be put into a certain position or move a certain way, they will do it.💥 Forcing them to walk before they're ready or forcing them to sit up in a Bumbo seat before they are ready ➡️ setting them up for developmental joint issues later in life.

I can't tell you how many times I have found missed hip dysplasia or the development of impingement on a teenager or a young adult and when I ask how early they walked they tell me that their parents were so "proud because they were walking at 8 months old" or they "were a very early walker." My next question is always, were they? Or did the parents put them into a position to make them walk early?

Do you see the difference there?

My next question for you is when you walk: do you put your arms above your head? 😬

You know the answer to this.

Infants will walk and sit when their body is ready. When they are forced into a Bumbo to sit to be able to eat solid foods, and they aren't ready... We're talking serious stress to their lumbar spine and the future mechanics of their bodies.

With early walking and forced walking, the femoral head of the femur and the hip socket are still developing and this stress can actually change the congruency of these two bones. It's too much stress with gravity before their bones are ready to accept this load.

In the second photo you'll see that the infant is trying to sit down: look at the unnatural position of their legs. If you've ever watched an infant move, it's perfect. 🎯 It's perfect form every time because their brain has no other distractions or compensations. But in this case this baby is trying to do everything in their power to sit down because they are not ready to be held up in a walking position with their arms above their head.

Education is so powerful. ♥️

11/12/2025

🌟🌟🌟

Pain is not the enemy—it’s a message asking you to adjust something: rest, move differently, get aligned, strengthen, or heal.

Low back pain is the leading disability AROUND THE GLOBE. Pain is a symptom, not a diagnosis. It's a messenger!

There are many ways to mask pain, and sometimes these can be very useful for short periods of time. But masking pain is not a solution. In fact, masking pain will lead to worse problems in the long run!

Finding hypomobile joints within the spine and extremities, applying an adjustment to restore motion, will help decrease pain signals and reduce painful and tense muscles. This isn't masking the pain: it's restoring the body to a state of balance!

11/11/2025

Happy Veterans Day! ❤️

We are so thankful for your service!

We have many patients that have served, in addition to our own family members. We are blessed to be surrounded by heroes everyday! ❤️

11/11/2025

With Thanksgiving holiday week approaching, we wanted to give a heads up on our schedule change!

Family and holiday time is a top priority for all of us at Dobesh Chiropractic! 🫶

We are thankful for each and every one of you! ❤️

11/08/2025

1. Consistency
➡️ Whether you're actively trying to make a new good habit or fight an old habit, your body and brain are always going to choose the comfortable habits.

66 days is the average amount of time to create a new habit.

But here's the real kicker, if you want this new habit to stick (meaning, you don't have to think about it anymore because it just happens), you're going to need to commit four to six months.

Why? Because of dopamine.

2. Dopamine
This neurotransmitter is our "feel good" reward chemical. It's not bad nor good, it's just a chemical in the brain! But consistency and dopamine go hand in hand.

Here's how:
➡️ Dopamine can be trained to be released (by habits and consistency)
➡️ "Easy" dopamine hits are based off of REWARDS. 💥
Instant gratification is a good example of this.
Think:
➡️➡️ Lost 5lbs. After just starting an exercise program
➡️➡️ Found the best thrift store item for your shelf
➡️➡️ Won money at a slot machine within the first minutes of playing

➡️ "Hard" dopamine are based off of EFFORT.
This is the result of a lot of effort over a longer period of time.
(This obviously requires consistency.)
Think:
➡️➡️ Investing money consistently into an account and then seeing those results
➡️➡️ Exercising regularly and watching your health improve
➡️➡️ Engaging into gratitude practices daily and your attitude/demeanor/resilience change over time for the better.

Regardless of which layer of dopamine occurs, this is 🌟neuroplasticity🌟 at work.

3. Neuroplasticity is the actual changing of the brain to create new neural networks.

But with this amazing physiological and chemical process of the brain, we need to remember that if we are 💥 consistently 💥 making choices that harm us, we train 💥dopamine💥 to want more of the thing(s) and this will create a neuroplastic change to need this. ➡️This is addiction, FYI.

This is why changing your lifestyle and habits HAS to take time and patience is needed. Creating positive changes with consistency to re-wire the brain is a process, so we must reflect on this.

My top daily practices that have really helped transform my mind and heart:

1. Daily Scripture reading and journaling about the reading
2. Gratitude practices. I list three things each day
3. Prayer intention. Any thoughts or prayers for others are written down and handed over to Him.
------- these three take about 20 minutes total.
4. Daily movement for 20-30min. With more emphasis on mobility lately
5. 30-40 grams of protein for breakfast

(I could keep going, but I wanted to give you an idea of how this can look.)

4. Lastly, the amazing thing about being a chiropractor is that I can help influence another humans nervous system by stimulating motion into the spine. The nervous system is the boss of the body and will determine if healing can occur, digestion can occur, etc. Working on specific parts of the spine to help decrease sympathetic neurological input and increase parasympathetic input is amazing. Getting adjusted isn't just about pain, it's about optimal function!🫶

11/07/2025

🫶🫶🫶

Fun fact:
The word chiropractic actually comes from two separate words:
➡️ “cheir” (hand)
➡️ “praktikos” (done by hand)

D.D. Palmer, the founder of Chiropractic, used his hands because he believed the body could be healed naturally — without drugs or surgery — through physical adjustments that restored proper alignment and nerve function.

🫶🫶🫶

11/05/2025

Make sure to follow this page listed below 👇!

Chiropractic care is just as important for kids as it is for adults! ❤️

Have you ever noticed how your mood improves after an adjustment?

It's not just adults that experience this....kids do too!🫶

How?
1. Nervous System Regulation

Chiropractic adjustments primarily affect the 🌟nervous system, 🌟 not just the spine.
When the spine or surrounding joints are restricted, they can create imbalanced input to the brain through the spinal cord and proprioceptive (movement-sensing) nerves.
➡️➡️Adjustments restore healthy movement and alignment.

This can help normalize communication between the body and brain.🧷

A more balanced nervous system often helps the child self-regulate better ➡️ leading to calmer, more focused behavior. 🫶

> Better spinal movement = clearer brain signals = better self-control and emotional balance. ❤️

2. Impact on the Stress Response

When the nervous system is constantly in “fight or flight” mode, kids can seem anxious, impulsive, or irritable. 😳
Gentle chiropractic adjustments can help activate the parasympathetic nervous system — the “rest, digest, and repair” branch.

That shift helps the body:
➡️Lower stress hormones (like cortisol)
➡️Improve sleep quality
➡️Enhance focus and mood stability
➡️Many parents notice their kids are calmer or more emotionally balanced after a few visits.

3. Sensory Integration and Proprioception

Movement of the spine and joints stimulates receptors that send information to the cerebellum and prefrontal cortex — areas tied to movement, attention, and behavior.
When these systems work better, children can:

➡️Feel more “in control” of their bodies
➡️Respond better to sensory input
➡️Exhibit fewer meltdowns or hyperactive behaviors

🌟This is particularly relevant for kids with sensory processing challenges or ADHD-type traits.🌟

4. Improved Sleep and Comfort

If a child has underlying discomfort, tension, or headaches, they may act out or have trouble concentrating.
Adjustments can relieve:
➡️Muscle tension
➡️Irritation in spinal joints
➡️Nervous system overload
➡️Better sleep and comfort often lead to improved mood, patience, and learning capacity.

5. Indirect Benefits Through Routine and Connection

Regular chiropractic care can also create a predictable routine and a positive, caring connection — both of which support emotional development.

Children often associate the adjustment environment with safety, which reinforces calm behavior patterns.

Chiropractic care doesn’t treat behavior directly ➡️➡️➡️
It helps the nervous system function at its best, which allows a child’s body and brain to regulate naturally.

11/03/2025

🌟 Gratitude Giveaway 🌟

We are so grateful for all of your support and continued support and in the spirit of a grateful November, we are doing a 🌟 Gratitude Giveaway 🌟.

Here's how to enter:
1. Schedule an appointment for ANY service in the month of November
➡️➡️ This includes chiropractic, rehab with Sara, massage chair, infrared sauna

Have more than one appointment in the month? You just earned yourself another entry! ❤️

We will contact the winners privately!

Thanks for being so awesome! ❤️

10/31/2025

The claim that “chiropractic care is not effective” has been made repeatedly over the last century, but it’s not always based purely on data — it’s tied to emotional, economonic, political, and philosophical differences about what “effective” means, how evidence is judged, and how chiropractic care fits into the medical system.

Let’s unpack this clearly and objectively:
⚕️ 1. Historical context: medicine vs. chiropractic

Chiropractic began in 1895 with D.D. Palmer’s idea that spinal misalignments (“subluxations”) could disrupt nervous system flow and affect overall health.
At the time, medicine had little scientific grounding — it was before antibiotics, vaccines, or modern diagnostic imaging.

But as medicine evolved into a science-based field (especially after 1910’s Flexner Report), it began to emphasize laboratory proof and biomedical explanations.

Chiropractic, meanwhile, stayed rooted in a 🌱vitalistic, holistic model — emphasizing the body’s self-healing ability and the spine’s role in health.

Medicine saw chiropractic’s early claims as unscientific and unproven, especially the idea that adjusting the spine could affect organs (especially the brain), immunity, or disease.

⚖️ 2. Scientific skepticism — evidence and mechanism
Medical institutions would often state that chiropractic care was “not effective” because of:

Inconsistent evidence and quality of studies:
Many early chiropractic studies were small, lacked randomization, or had methodological flaws, giving critics grounds to question their validity.

✨So, the chiropractic profession went to work! They published hundreds of studies PROVING the effectiveness in the care they provided and they did this with the highest proof literature: randomized, controlled trials (RCT’s) and systematic reviews.

🧠 3. Professional turf and economics
Beyond science, there was a strong political and 💲 financial motive 💲to quiet the chiropractic profession.

In the mid-1900s, the American Medical Association (AMA) labeled chiropractic an “unscientific cult.” 😳

The AMA’s “Committee on Quackery” (1960s–80s) actively tried to eliminate chiropractic through public relations campaigns, medical education, and insurance exclusion.

In 1987, a U.S. federal court (the Wilk v. AMA case) ruled that the AMA unlawfully conspired to destroy chiropractic competition.

So, the “ineffective” narrative was reinforced not just by evidence gaps — but by institutional bias and competition over control of musculoskeletal care and healthcare dollars.

📚 4. What modern evidence actually shows
Recent decades have changed the landscape:
Systematic reviews consistently show spinal manipulation (the main chiropractic intervention) is effective for acute and chronic low back pain and neck pain!

Evidence also supports benefits for headaches, joint mobility, and improved function (aka: neuroplasticity).

So, the evidence supports chiropractic! It ALWAYS HAS. The proof is in the data! ▶️ In the world of healthcare, data is the driving factor (or it’s supposed to be)!

Chiropractic care isn’t going away, friends. We are here to stay and we won’t be silenced. The proof of the cost effectiveness for chiropractic care, effectiveness for spinal pain, headaches, etc. has been published and CONTINUES to prove itself.

Education is powerful, but education with action is how change occurs! ✌️