EP #147 How Heppe Chiropractic Builds A Community Wellness Hub

“Chiropractic” gets reduced to a sound bite, but real care is a lot more interesting than a quick back crack. We sit down with Dr. Erica Heppe of Heppe Chiropractic to talk about what she’s built in Fredericksburg over the last 10 years and why her goal is to send people home stronger, not keep them coming back forever. From a single room to a growing wellness space that includes massage, IV therapy, stretch therapy, and somatic therapy, she’s creating a place where neighbors can actually learn how their bodies work. 

We also dig into the misconceptions that keep people from trying chiropractic care and what a conservative, anatomy-based approach looks like in day-to-day life. Dr. Heppe shares how her practice now includes a surprising amount of prenatal, postpartum, and infant care, including support for newborn feeding issues and colic symptoms. If you’ve ever wondered what options exist when you’re dealing with pregnancy back pain, postpartum strain, or a baby who can’t settle, this conversation offers a grounded look at how gentle bodywork and targeted techniques can fit into a bigger care plan. 

Finally, we widen the lens to stress and grief, and the ways tension can settle into the body without us noticing. Along the way, Dr. Heppe explains how educational social media content became an extension of patient care, helping people find safer answers than random Google spirals. If you enjoy local business stories, holistic wellness, and practical movement advice, subscribe, share this with a friend in Fredericksburg, and leave a review so more neighbors can find the show.

Dr. Erica Heppe

Heppe Chiropractic

heppechiro.com

drsheppe@heppechiro.com

+1 540-840-4144

619 Emancipation Highway, Fredericksburg, VA, United States, 22401

Transcript

Speaker 0:01

This is the Fredericksburg Neighbors Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Dori Stewart.

Speaker 1 0:12

Welcome back to another episode of the FXBG Neighbors Podcast, where we share the stories of our favorite local brands. I'm excited to introduce you to my guest today. We've got Dr. Erica Heppe joining us with Heppe Chiropractic. Dr. Erica, welcome to the podcast.

Speaker 2 0:30

Yes, thank you. Thank you so much for having me on today. I'm excited to be here.

Heppe Chiropractic And A Wellness Team

Speaker 1 0:34

Oh, thank you. Well, I'm really excited for this and excited to learn more about you and about your business. So let's start there. Share with us a little bit about Heppe Chiropractic.

Social Media That Teaches Exercises

Speaker 2 0:45

That's well, what it says in the name, it is a chiropractic business. Um, I've been doing this in the city of Fredericksburg now for 10 years. I started out just myself in one room and now it's grown. There's a I have a massage therapist, a lady who does IVs, stretch therapy, and now just welcomed a somatic therapist on board. So um trying to make a little wellness area in our own community, which is fabulous.

Speaker 1 1:12

Amazing, amazing. Well, I follow you on Instagram, and I have to say I love the content that you put out. It's so educational and you know, why you should hula hoop, why the benefits of jump roping. And if you have lower back pain, here's a stretch. I seriously, I really appreciate the content that you put out. You clearly know your stuff.

Speaker 2 1:36

Thank you. I appreciate it. I it's one of those social media, it seems daunting to business owners to have to add one more thing on the plate. But when COVID hit in 2020, I had just hired my first employee, and business was all up in the air, chaotic. She was a lot younger than I was at and um or am. And she told me, why don't you get on social media? So she started doing videos in office, showing me how to utilize it. I love Fredericksburg. I'm always downtown doing everything, going in and out of businesses. So we just jumped on. And then I noticed with patients, because with chiropractic, there's this tendency of you want to bring or you have the patients come back frequently. And I kind of do the opposite. I want to empower people to be able to do exercises at home instead of coming in. So we do those videos and put them online, and it just grew from there. Patients loved it, we loved it. They're fun to film too.

Speaker 1 2:28

I love that. That's amazing. And congratulations on 10 years. That's a really big milestone for a small business. Congratulations.

Career Path Into Chiropractic Care

Speaker 2 2:37

Yes, no, thank you. It's shocking how to be here, and it's the primary source of income. This business keeps myself, my kids going in town. And so I'm really proud of that and that we're just continuing to grow. Amazing.

Speaker 1 2:51

Well, I want to learn more about you. Tell me about your background and how you got into this industry.

Speaker 2 2:57

That's well, I was um, I grew up on Spotsy, right off Smith Station Road, was there for a while, did my undergrad down at UVA, and was in and out of engineering in the medical field, worked with multiple orthopedic surgeons, cancer center, but I found myself drawn towards the patients who wanted to take a more conservative care approach. They seemed, they just had a lot of different questions about their body, what was going on. So I started working with local chiropractors who um referred back and forth with the orthos, and decided to take the leap after undergrad and go get my doctor of chiropractic, which was wonderful and fascinating. But I had a great support system along the way, which was lovely. So important. Yes. So it was shocking how great because it's one of those with chiropractic, sometimes it seems is on the fringe, or people don't know how accepted. And it's in my eyes, I've never not been accepted or had any of the harsh feedback. I was always in an integrative setting with multiple providers from PTs, OTs, MDs, PAs all working together. And this is where I just I fell in love with a hands-on approach with the patients.

Myths And What Chiropractors Do

Speaker 1 4:10

Amazing. So speaking of like harsh criticism, do you find that there are many myths or misconceptions about chiropractic work?

Prenatal, Postpartum, Babies, And Colic

Speaker 2 4:20

I think the biggest one I run into is that all we do is crack backs. And that is like we do a lot of joint shopping online. One of the things you may notice with my social media is there's I don't put a lot of the cracking and the why the straps for people put around their neck and yank on that. Um, because I think that puts the profession in sort of a pocket where we can do a lot more. Um, most the majority of my practice right now is actually seeing babies. And I see a lot of moms prenatal to help make sure that their babies are in optimal position for labor, delivery, and then postpartum that fourth trimester, those three months, six months post-part of where you know life is a little chaotic and women don't have a place to go or feel comfortable or know what to do. But um, I don't crack babies' backs and I see them all day, every day.

Speaker 1 5:11

So that's so interesting. I didn't realize that that was such a big need, but it makes a lot of sense that uh moms to be and new moms would need your help.

Speaker 2 5:24

It's they have so much back pain, like you're gaining weight, everything's in the front of the body, and you're not able to take any extra over-the-counter medications or prescription meds. So it's a great opportunity. So I'll do a lot of like hands-on table movement or movements, modalities, cupping, grastin. And the same with babies. Um, my I love babies that have issues with lactation because they come in the office and one, maybe two visits, they're good to go. And colicky babies. That's one of the biggest things that helped me even get into this field was a a nurse from Mary Wash. When I first started off, her baby, chiropractic always ends up being in the last resort for people with babies, especially because it's just not as prevalent. And she ended up in my office, baby colicky. And after two visits, there was no issue. Like her baby was fine, didn't have a cry. And so she ended up doing a case study on babies uh with colic symptoms and presented it to the hospital with Marywash. So then they just started filtering all the babies in my direction. Wow. Which is 20 years ago. It's shocking with how much it's it's all anatomy-based. It's things that we don't think about. And then after you give birth, you're you're tired. So the babies come out, they're all squished, they're toes to nose in there. So a lot of it is massaging different areas and showing parents the which areas are tight and tense um for lactation and colic, just doing TMJ work like you would on an adult, putting gloves on, going in their mouth, and massaging their muscles of mastication, and then helping them suck, which is it's it's incredible what we see here.

Speaker 1 6:57

Yeah, amazing. So, what else it makes me think, you know, that's not something that I associated with a chiropractor, right? So I'm I you know there's the the stereotype things, right? Is your back, right? So, what are some other things that might surprise people that a chiropractor could help with?

Speaker 2 7:18

That's everyday stress and tension. Um, another place is the bereavement and grief groups in the area. They also one of their recommendations is that you see a bodywork provider, a chiropractor, monthly after you have the loss of a loved one. And that's just so much within the body you don't realize is in there the tension, the stress, and what how that can relate. So it's shocking how many people come in and they just say monthly, and you can see that within their body holding on and then releasing.

Speaker 1 7:49

Interesting.

Speaker 2 7:50

And some of them are some of them they are. We do see a lot of uh back crackings. I see a lot of people with hurt uh low backs, SI joint, sciatica, but um just yeah, no, from babies to grief. I've seen people from less than 24 hours old to 94 uh years old on the same day. Wow, interesting, fascinating, actually. It is. I wish we could learn, I wish there was a place in life where we learn more about our own bodies because I find that people just we want that, but there's nowhere to get that knowledge. And then there's a lot of what I do is spend educating patients and like on social media, just your own body nerves. It's fun when people come in and like, oh, I saw this video or I saw this, or I've been Googling now this, and it takes them down a path on Google that's not a scary path.

unknown 8:35

Yeah.

Speaker 1 8:37

Yeah, it's so important for people like you to constantly put out educational content. You're it's I mean, it's great for business, right? Because you're showing people how you can help, but also so many uh so many people feel like when they get on social media and they show their face and they start talking that it feels like self-promotion, but you're truly helping people. And you know, yes, does it help you get business? Yes, but the value in what you're providing the public is just huge, you know?

Speaker 2 9:12

And that's all the video, the videos I do 90-95% are is what I've seen in the office that day or that week. And I was like, Oh, it seems to be a trend in this. Let's do a video and then I'll email those out. And that's what happened too. I there is the um employee back in 2020, she's like, Why are you making videos to send out to your patients when you can just post them online? And my mind was blown because in my thought, I was like, What do you mean? I have to get on social media. There's a whole I don't have time for this.

Why Fredericksburg Feels Like Home

Speaker 1 9:41

Right. But um, so let's switch years a little bit. You said that you grew up in Spotsylvania, you went to UVA, you came back to Fredericksburg. So tell me, what made you come back to Fredericksburg? Uh, why do you uh love this town?

Speaker 2 9:57

Well, it was funny because before Fredericksburg, I was in California for a while too, in the Bay Area, and loved the weather out there, but I did miss the greenery, the seasons, and um they were ahead. I gave birth to my first child out there, and the education around that birth, the labor delivery, who I was um my team was empowering. And Fredericksburg didn't, they had a little bit, but not to the extent that I saw out there. And I love this town, the downtown, the walkability. It's no matter how large the population gets, it's such a small town feel. And I really thought it was a place where it could spread um the knowledge of what I've learned and bring it back to such a lovely place. And like when I grew up here, there was no canal path or quarry trail or any of that. So, like coming back over a decade later, it was incredible seeing how much it had grown. Yeah. I was always around downtown. I was walking, I live and work close by because I knew wherever I worked, I would be there a lot. So I made sure that wherever I work, I can walk there. So this morning I was walked here today, actually. I love that.

Longer Visits And Access Challenges

Speaker 1 11:00

That's amazing. So, what is something that you wish the listeners knew about Heppe chiropractic?

Speaker 2 11:12

That's a good question. Um kind of like what we talked about, that it's not just the crack 'em, stack them backs. A lot of time I do book out. It's hard to get new patient appointments. Um, I do stop taking patients for a while, new patients, and it's because the amount of time that is spent with the patients. That's we're not a 90-second, it's not five minutes, that you're gonna get anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour, hour plus in this office to so we can talk over exercises and go through the treatment.

unknown 11:42

Yeah.

Speaker 2 11:43

And that's one thing that's shocking for people because if you go a lot of chiropractors, they're quick and the quick adjustments work out, uh work fine. It's just not my style of practice.

Speaker 1 11:52

Right, right. Well, that's what probably what sets you apart from your competitors is you're developing a deeper relationship and probably a much deeper understanding with what's going on with your patients.

Speaker 2 12:05

Yes, and this area with the population, like I wish we had more providers. That's we have fabulous chiropractors here, and we could do, we could have a lot more. That's there are no chiropractic schools that are in the state of Virginia. And I think that is really hard for the public because we need, I mean, we need more providers for everything. But like when I book out, my friends, all my chiropractor friends, they're also booked. So it's hard to find who do you refer to, who do you send out to. Yeah. Interesting. There's no chiropractic schools in Virginia. Closest one is uh Pittsburgh. There's Pittsburgh, New York, Atlanta, Georgia. Interesting. Interesting.

How To Connect And Nominate

Speaker 1 12:45

Um we'll get one here or close by. Yeah, I mean, you'd think UVA would have have that, but you think maybe someday. So if the listeners want to connect with you, if they want to learn more from you, where can they find you?

Speaker 2 13:00

That's as you mentioned, I'm on all the socials. You can find me TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube. The office phone is a cell phone, so people can text in. And that's something that is designed for because we have hectic lifestyles, and sometimes you forget what time of day it is, and you just want to get that message out to somebody. So you can and email. Email is great too. Unless I have lovely office manager, lovely employees here who can help filter there as well. Nice, nice. Well, uh Dr. Stopy downtown because I'm always out walking around and hanging out. We'll see, we'll say hi to you when you're walking down the street.

Speaker 1 13:35

Yes.

Speaker 2 13:36

You would not be the first.

Speaker 1 13:40

Well, Dr. Heppe, thank you so much for joining me on the podcast today and sharing Heppe Chiropractic with us.

Speaker 2 13:47

Thank you.

Speaker 13:48

Thanks for this opportunity. You're welcome. Thank you for listening to the Fredericksburg Neighbors Podcast. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to FXBG NeighborsPodcast.com.