BUSINESS SPOTLIGHT: Arctic Chiropractic: Putting the power back in the patient

Four years ago, Dr. Scott Folsom came to Alaska from Texas for the “perfect opportunity” to join the Arctic Chiropractic team and establish his own clinic. Each clinic is individually owned and operated. For two years he was at the Arctic Chiropractic center in Meadow Lakes, then he bought the Garden Chiropractic center at the Creekside Plaza in Wasilla. Since then, he has merged his Meadow Lakes clinic into the Wasilla location.

During his time as a chiropractor, Folsom said his vision for running a clinic pairs well with the vision of Arctic Chiropractic – to help people help themselves and get Alaskans get back into their Alaskan lifestyles.

“People have the power to fix themselves,” Folsom said.

Folsom’s goal is help repair damage and improve overall movement without surgery. He looks at the body as a whole instead of focusing on just one part. After a thorough assessment, he makes a “bucket list” of things he and the client agree to fix.

“We always address the spine, but it’s not always the problem,” Folsom said.

His techniques focus on giving the client their independence back so they don’t have to rely on a quick-fix rub that goes away once they get back in the car to leave. Folsom and his staff use patterning and corrective exercises to work out the problem areas. He said his practices go beyond the traditional chiropractic methods of doing an X-ray and massaging. His clinic goes “one step further.”

During an assessment, Folsom will have the client move in certain ways that reflect their daily motions, like reaching for something or turning their neck a certain way. He then goes through four phases of treatment that essentially re-program the client, not just physically but mentally — how they think about their daily movements.

“Our assessment is pretty much sniper specific,” Folsom said.

One of Folsom’s goals is to be an alternative or even replacement to opiates. He compared having pain to car’s indicator light. He said that too often, when the indicator light goes on, people just take an “indicator-light-pill” instead of doing a diagnostic on the whole car.

Folsom said the word chiropractic comes from the Greek word for “healing hands.”

Folsom grew up in Amarillo, Texas. He was a very active gymnast and won two national titles in Trampoline and Double Mini Trampoline in 1994. After sustaining an injury from his sport, he is no longer able to compete. He later learned that he probably could have fixed it if he had the knowledge he had now and worked on it early on. That was one of the motivating principles fueling his journey to becoming a chiropractor. He practiced in Texas for while before he made the trip up north to use his healing hands and put the power of healing back into the hands of his patients.