Saratoga Chiropractor gets certified as acupuncturist

A Saratoga chiropractor now has certification necessary to practice acupuncture, making her one of a few, if not the only acupuncturist, in Carbon County.

Dr. Kendra Sims, D.C. Doctor of Chiropractic, and now acupuncturist, with Albany County Chiropractic in Saratoga, received the credentials necessary to practice acupuncture in February 2012 from the National Board of Chiropractic Examiners.

Along with Sims’ new practice, she also achieved Diplomate status with the College of Manipulative and Body-based practices (DMBBP) in the American Association of Integrative Medicine (AAIM).

Sims said one of the criteria for the title was a multi-disciplinary approach to health care. Sims practices under the discipline of chiropractic with certifications in acupuncture, KinesioTape® and internal health, all of which qualified her for the Diplomate status.

Before Sims became certified in acupuncture, she started working in Saratoga as a chiropractor in 2008 with Dr. Darren Bressler, D.C., after finishing course work at Logan College of Chiropractic located in the St. Louis area.

“I worked for Dr. Bressler as a chiropractic assistant before I went to chiropractic school and there were a lot of patients that would call from this area, so we knew there was a need for the service here and I just kept in contact with Dr. Bressler through school and we started the practice after that,” Sims said.

Sims said she always wanted to practice acupuncture along with chiropractic.

“While I was going to chiropractic school, I knew (acupuncture) is something I wanted to pursue,” she said. But her course load was too large to do both at the same time.

“The load of trying to do chiropractic and acupuncture at the time I was going to school was too much,” she said. “But last fall, I was able to take the course work and become certified in acupuncture also.”

Sims said acupuncture complements chiropractic in many ways.

Acupuncture is a therapy involving inserting thin metal needles into the skin. The therapy has been known to help ease allergies, help cure insomnia and even help with infertility, Sims said.

Eastern medicine says acupuncture works by controlling energy, or qi (Chee), throughout the body to correct an imbalance between two opposing and complementary forces within the body called yin and yang, according to a 2011 article on acupuncture by Nataliya V. Schetchikova in American Chiropractic Association News.

However, western medicine says acupuncture works by stimulating nerves, muscle and connective tissue, according to Schetchikova’s article. The stimulation increases the body’s natural activity to regulate pain and increase blood flow.

Sims said chiropractic works by the same principals, thus making acupuncture a good complementary practice.

“Before, I would do a lot of massage before I did a chiropractic adjustment. What I can do now, is use the acupuncture needles to relax the muscles and then adjust,” Sims said.

Sims said about a third of her patients choose acupuncture along with their existing chiropractic treatment.

“It’s really made a huge difference in terms of their treatment and recovery,” Sims said.

Sims perused a degree in athletic training from the University of Wyoming, and later decided to attain a Doctor of Chiropractic Degree. She completed a Bachelor’s of Science Degree in Kinesiology and Health Promotion and later attended Logan College of Chiropractic.

Sims said she grew up in the Rock Creek Valley on a ranch, and knew she wanted to stay close to home.

“When I first started my undergraduate I was persuing an athletic training degree and I really liked it, but I knew I wouldn’t be able to stay in the state of Wyoming and be an athletic trainer,” she said.

However, Sims said she really enjoys the practice.

“It has worked out really well,” she said. “It is definitely what I was meant to do.”