Good Neighbor Podcast: Tri-Cities
Bringing together local businesses and neighbor of the Tri-Cities region. Good Neighbor Podcast hosted by Skip Mauney helps residents discover and connect with your local business owners in and around The Tri-Cities.
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Good Neighbor Podcast: Tri-Cities
EP# 237: Beyond the Spine: Dr. Stan Setzer's Approach to Comprehensive Chiropractic Care
What makes Dr. Stan Setzer with Align Chiropractic a good neighbor?
Discover the surprising truth about chiropractic care with Dr. Stan Setzer, owner of Align Chiropractic in Weaverville, North Carolina. If you've dismissed chiropractic as just "back cracking," this conversation will completely transform your understanding of this healing discipline.
Dr. Stan shatters the common misconception that chiropractors only treat back pain. From chronic migraines and tinnitus to vertigo and even persistent digestive issues, his practice addresses a remarkably wide range of conditions that often elude traditional medical solutions. He shares the fascinating story of a patient who flies from Florida to North Carolina twice yearly specifically for treatments that resolved long-standing stomach problems when nothing else would help.
The episode offers practical insights for anyone with a desk job, explaining how prolonged sitting deactivates critical muscle groups and creates cascading issues throughout the body. Dr. Stan's own journey into chiropractic is equally compelling—unlike many in his field, he didn't grow up with chiropractic care and was skeptical until a chance encounter at a martial arts seminar relieved six months of rib pain in moments. Later, as a chiropractic student, treatments eliminated the headaches and migraines he'd suffered his entire life.
Beyond professional insights, we learn about Dr. Stan's personal side as a video gamer, aspiring fiction writer, and adventure-seeker who recently went ziplining with his wife. He shares a touching story about nearly leaving the profession until his wife's steadfast support inspired them to open their own practice—a decision that has allowed them to help countless patients on their own terms.
Have you been struggling with a health issue that conventional approaches haven't resolved? Listen to this episode, then visit alignchiropracticcenters.com or call 828-490-6873 to see if Dr. Stan's comprehensive approach might offer the solution you've been searching for.
To learn more about Align Chiropractic go to:
https://www.alignchiropracticcenters.com/
Align Chiropractic
828-490-6873
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Skip Monty.
Speaker 2:Well, hello everyone and welcome to the Good Neighbor Podcast. So we are, I'm very excited today to have a very special guest in our studios, and I'm sure you will be too, because if you hate back pain as much as I do and general pain, I think you'll be just as excited as I am, because today I have the pleasure of introducing your good neighbor, dr Stan Setzer, who is the owner-operator of Align Chiropractic. Dr Stan, welcome to the show.
Speaker 3:Thank you for having me on here, Skip. I really appreciate it. I'm excited to be here today.
Speaker 2:Well, like I said, we're excited to have you and I'm not a fan of back pain but a big believer in the chiropractic process, so I'm super excited for you to tell us all about what you do. So if you don't mind, why don't you kick us off by telling us about your business?
Speaker 3:Absolutely so. Myself and my wife Melissa, we own Align Chiropractic in Weaverville, north Carolina, and we work with a lot of things. So and that's kind of what makes us a little bit different is that it's not just about back and neck tinnitus, migraines, headaches, tennis elbow pretty much everything there is that can ail the body. We are always willing to take a crack at it, no pun intended.
Speaker 2:Yeah, no pun intended, that's funny. Well, I have a unique situation where I sit in this chair all day doing recordings and my lower back is starting to really bother me. Of course it doesn't help that I've just rebuilt my deck in the last couple of weeks too.
Speaker 3:That can do it too. But you know, many people now have sedentary jobs where they are sitting too much and what that really does is it deactivates your glute muscles, it deactivates kind of the butt muscles and those are some of your main drivers for your hips and your lower back, and that ends up causing kind of overactive muscles in your lumbar spine and in the lower back which causes a lot of lower back and hip pain. So just the sitting too much on its own can cause a lot of the issues.
Speaker 2:Wow, wow, well, probably help if I got a better chair too. Wow, wow, well, probably help if I got a better chair too.
Speaker 3:That can always help. Worker economics are a really big thing, whether it's from the seat itself or even where your monitor is or where your keyboard is. All these things can cause big issues, especially over time.
Speaker 2:Gotcha, Gotcha. Well, Stan, how did you get into the chiropractic business? You know?
Speaker 3:not like a lot of other chiropractors. When I remember going to chiropractic school and they sit everybody down on like the first day and they say tell us your chiropractic like life changing story, because so many people become chiropractors because they had a chiropractor, you know, kind of changed their life, whether it was with headaches or migraines or whatever. I did not grow up with chiropractic care. My grandfather was not a believer in it. My dad wasn't really a believer in it. I don't even think I heard the word until I was in high school. But what I guess kind of where I was first introduced was I was a martial artist and at some point when I was about 17 or 18, I had a rib that was subluxated out and it got popped out from a martial arts event and I lived with that for about six months.
Speaker 3:At that time in my life I was young, I didn't know what was going on, just knew I had a lot of pain. Anyway, I ended up running into a chiropractor at a martial arts seminar and he was just treating people for free on the mat. So I was like, well, I don't know who this guy is or what he does, but maybe you can help. And he did. He actually he popped my rib back in and and I was like, oh my God, I'm completely pain free for the first time in six months. So again, it wasn't a big aha moment, but it was like that was kind of cool. So that's what a chiropractor is. And then I didn't actually get fully into care until I was in chiropractic school, and so that was when I first fully started getting treated, which was also amazing because it got rid of the headaches and the migraines that I had for literally my entire life within just a few sessions. So it really did change my life.
Speaker 2:Wow, wow, very, very cool. Well, you know, I'm like you. I grew up with my parents, did not utilize chiropractic, any care of any type, and but then I've also met a lot of people, worked with a lot of people that just swear by it Absolutely.
Speaker 3:Oh yeah, absolutely. It seems to be one or the other right. They're, they're fanatical or they're absolutely against it.
Speaker 2:Yep, yep, that's exactly right. Well, what? What are some myths or misconceptions in the chiropractic industry?
Speaker 3:Gosh, you know there are so many um and and I run into them online a lot, but I would say, kind of like we started off with, is that chiropractors really only treat lower back pain? Uh, that is, you know, where we kind of got positioned is lower back pain. But that's not at all where the profession started. In fact, the profession started treating ailments that were just kind of all over the place that weren't finding success from other traditional treatments. So headaches and migraines are obviously a big one. We have seen success in our office with vertigo, especially in tinnitus. But even injuries that you wouldn't think about, like rolled ankles, sprained ankles, stomach problems are a really big one. In fact I have a lot of people that have really good success with long-term stomach problems, like just long-term constipation. In fact I used to have a gentleman who would fly up every six months from Florida to see me to have treatments for his stomach because it had made him so much better.
Speaker 3:And we don't just do spinal adjustments for those things. Sometimes we will include them with the treatment. But we can also work with the internal organs. We do dry needling in our office, we do soft tissue scraping, so chiropractors can work with a wide range of things and I will say that if, if someone has tried every traditional route that they can think of and they're just not sure what to do, they're just not finding success. Oftentimes it can really help to go and see and speak with a chiropractor to find out if they might be able to help, because we can't often help with things that you just are really outside the box, you wouldn't think of wow, wow very good to know.
Speaker 2:So, um, what? Uh, you know, we all know. You know marketing is key to just about any kind of business. How do you market a line chiropractic?
Speaker 3:So we have really gone, you know, really 21st century, with line chiropractic. We utilize a lot of digital marketing. We are, you know, on Google, we're on Facebook, on Yelp, so we do that a lot from an external point. We're on Facebook on Yelp, so we do that a lot from an. A few times last week we had someone that said you know, I had a family member say that I should come and see you, and then I had another family member or a friend, a coworker, suggest you as well, so like within a two day span from what I had going on. So so it's really good that we're getting different people referring one person to us. It lets us know how much that people are trusting us with their care and how much they think we can take care of their friends and family.
Speaker 2:Well, no doubt word of mouth is in. Referrals are absolutely the best advertising you can get.
Speaker 3:It is, it is, and you know we've done a few things here and there, a few little pop up events where we'll talk to the community. But when you're talking about from just general marketing, we have really found that digital marketing to be the strongest factor from that aspect until you build up that referral base.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. Couldn't agree more. So outside of work, stan. If there is outside of work time, what do you do for fun? Not a whole lot of that.
Speaker 3:But you know, I'm a video gamer. I play games with my youngest. He's 10. So we play video games together a lot. I don't read as much as I'd like to, but I am writing. I'm a writer, so I'm working on a work of fiction right now. So when I do have some free time, I try to sit down and do that as well, and then usually in the evenings, you know, like a lot, of, a lot of Americans, my wife and I sit down for a little bit of television time right now going back through the Gilmore girls series. So but when we do have time to get out, we did just go zip lining this past weekend up at Navitat. We had a great time doing that up above Barnesville. If you've never been there, you should definitely go check them out. They are absolutely fantastic.
Speaker 2:Nice, nice, ziplining. Got a little thing with heights, but I've ziplined before. I've bungee jumped too, but you know, oh my God, yes, I don't know about the bungee jumping aspect, but the ziplining.
Speaker 3:When I first took my wife Melissa, she looked like she was going to pass out. She was white as a ghost. But then, after she did the first zipline, she had a fantastic time and she loved.
Speaker 2:Speaking of which, as far as Helene goes, were you guys okay in Weaverville you?
Speaker 3:know. Thank you, brad. We were really good from a personal standpoint. You know, like everyone else, we had lost power and water for a few days, but we were very, very lucky. We got that back within about a week.
Speaker 3:The Weaverville area really came together. They had lost power for two or three weeks. They were actually one of the earlier areas to get power back came together. They had lost power for two or three weeks. They were actually one of the earlier areas to get power back. While that was happening, though, we still opened our doors up and we were doing, you know, just donation only. If you couldn't afford anything, that's okay, come on in and just get taken care of. A lot of people were having a lot of issues because they were having to clear out trees and all this kind of stuff, so we opened up just to take care of the community. But, yeah, weaverville recovered very quickly and very well. There's still a lot of people north of Weaverville Barnesville, burnsville, yancey County, all those places up there that are still really struggling. So just keep them in your good thoughts as much as you can, because there's a lot of people that still need a lot of help.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. Couldn't agree more Well and this may relate to what you just talked about, but was going to switch gears and ask you to describe a hardship or a life challenge that you've overcome and how it made you stronger coming out the other side.
Speaker 3:You know, I think, as weird as it sounds, I've been doing this for around 10 years and I was with another practice for a long time and at some point I really just kind of felt stuck in my profession. I didn't feel like I was getting to help people the way that I had always envisioned that I would. I didn't feel like I could give enough and I didn't feel like I was making it far enough in my own career and I was really. It really got me down and at one point I was really considering getting out of the chiropractic profession.
Speaker 3:But my wife, who is my rock and my strongest believer and will support any crazy idea I have, even though I said I'm going to build a rocket to Mars she would be like how are we going to do it? Let's do it. She, you know she totally backed me up and we said you know what we're going to? We're going to open our own office, we're going to do it our way and she has just been the everything. So the way I got through that was with her.
Speaker 3:She is what got me through that and she is what changed my mind and pushed me to be better and to do it our way, which has just worked out so well, and we have just been able to help so many people. And to do it our way, which has just worked out so well, and we have just been able to help so many people. In fact, just before we got on this call, I had a young man that they had no idea that we were gonna be able to help him in the way that we have, and they have just been so appreciative and so thankful. And it's just stories like that and people like that that we help, that didn't think they were gonna be able to find any help and have been dealing with things for so long, that make what I do every day with my wife just so worth it.
Speaker 2:Awesome, awesome. Well, you're a very fortunate man to have a wife that supportive that's 100,000% am.
Speaker 3:I'm thankful for her every day.
Speaker 2:Awesome, awesome. Yes, you need to take her out to dinner tonight, or something.
Speaker 3:She can think of a few places she'd want to go to.
Speaker 2:I guarantee it, I'm sure. So if you could think of one thing, stan, that you would like our listeners to remember about a line chiropractic, what would that be?
Speaker 3:You know, kind of like I started off with, no matter what you are dealing with or how long you've been dealing with it for give chiropractic care a chance. I think that many people will be incredibly surprised with the range of ailments and conditions we can work with. I will never promise a person that you will be 100% like you were when you were 15 years old and pain-free in life. Life's just not like that. But I will guarantee you that you will find some improvement to your quality of life and you may find the answers that you haven't been able to find before.
Speaker 2:Very good thing to remember for sure. So if any of our listeners are in pain or not, and just want to check out chiropractic for the first time and need to learn more, how can they do that?
Speaker 3:Yeah, so, um, we are at 285 North main street in Weaverville Uh, it is. If you're taking I-26, it's exit 18 Monticello road. Uh, we are in the big five points intersection, right next to Flynn Fitness. You can give our office a call. It's 828-490-6873. Or you can even go to our website, which is alignchiropractic centerscom, and we are very transparent about all of our pricing, all of our services. You're always free to call, ask questions. Just, we are a very open office. We will tell you anything you want to know, probably even stuff you don't want to know. So, but, yeah, just call us or contact, reach out to us anytime, awesome.
Speaker 2:And can you book?
Speaker 3:online on your website.
Speaker 2:You absolutely can.
Speaker 3:Yeah, you can book new patient visits online at at will, so yeah, Awesome, awesome, very good.
Speaker 2:Well, stan, I can't, I can't tell you how much I appreciate you taking time out of your really busy schedule to be able to spend so much. Yeah, yeah, I appreciate you spending time with me and with our listeners and telling us all about Align Chiropractic and moving forward. Wish you and your family and Align all the best. Skip, thank you so much for having us. We really appreciate you. Well, thank you, and maybe we can have you back one day. Absolutely I'd love to. All right, man Sounds good.
Speaker 1:Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor Podcast. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to gnptry-citiescom. That's gnptry-Citiescom. That's GNPtry-Citiescom, or call 423-719-5873.