Communities

Chiropractic service pops up

Tyler Walls’ Spine and Sport open house on Sunday

NEW ULM – Tyler Walls will be opening the doors to his one-man chiropractic practice New Ulm Spine and Sport from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday.

The open house will include a tour of the office, highlighting the StemWave machine, along with a giveaway of three gift baskets from local businesses.

StemWave Therapy is a new practice Walls is bringing to New Ulm.

"It's a new soundwave therapy," Walls said. "It can reduce people's chronic pain by anywhere from 50 to 90%."

He first learned about the therapy during a weekend in Milwaukee.

"I fell in love with it," Walls said.

A New Ulm native, Walls graduated from Northwestern Health Sciences University in Bloomington with a chiropractic degree and has been a practicing chiropractor in New Ulm for the past two years.

Prior injuries inspired Walls to explore chiropractic services.

"I went different routes and I didn't see benefits, so now through chiropractic care, it helped me get somewhere with my own health," Walls said. "It was six and a half years of schooling. I invested a lot into it."

For the past year, Walls has been working on opening his own chiropractic service.

"It's been quite a dream of mine and now it's becoming a reality," Walls said.

Preparation work setting up insurance, software for electronic health records, and loan processes were the greatest struggles for Walls.

"It's all uncharted territory for me," Walls said.

He is taking these challenges as an opportunity for growth.

"I'm learning a lot along that business end," Walls said. "I want to learn, that's been my whole motto. If I can learn something every day, it's great."

Working full time and raising his 10-month-old daughter, Walls addressed these needs for his business during the late hours of the night.

"It's been a crazy year," Walls said.

But all of the hard work is worth it for Walls.

"I love helping people and giving back to the community," Walls said. "I wanted to come back to New Ulm and be a resource for people. I truly love going to work."

Services provided by Walls include manual chiropractic adjustments, DOT (Department of Transportation) physicals for anyone who operates heavy machinery, and soft tissue work with ligaments, muscles and tendons.

Walls has a sports emphasis through his degree, allowing him to give sports physicals.

Along with providing care, Walls wants to educate the public about the care they are receiving.

"I'm taking the time to explain, ask if they have any questions to have that full understanding," Walls said. "I feel that outcomes improve if there's a full understanding of what's actually going on with the patient. That's why I spend a good portion of time explaining and making sure everyone's on the same page."

Walls demonstrates the services patients receive on a skeleton in his office.

There are a few common misconceptions about chiropractor services.

"It's not just back pain or neck pain," Walls said. "Anything with a joint or muscles attaching to it, we can work on it."

He also explained popping that is often associated with chiropractic work.

"Because of the directional movement of the adjustment, it doesn't always need to make a popping noise," Walls said. "Just because it doesn't make a noise doesn't mean that nothing happened."

Walls wants the community to know that he is here to be an education resource.

"I was kind of lost in transit, I didn't know what direction to go. I want to be that resource to help point people in the right direction even if it isn't my care directly," Walls said. "I'm here to be that person they can come and talk to. The amount of effort I put in, the depth and thoroughness will be worth the time investment of coming in here."

New Ulm Spine and Sport will have its grand opening Monday. The Chamber of Commerce will be present for a ribbon cutting.