About Natural Way Chiropractic

Dr. Eddie Hansen opened the first Natural Way Chiropractic office in 1995 in Bellingham Washington. Over the next decade Dr. Hansen, and Associates developed the Natural Way Healing System used today in all Natural Way Chiropractic locations. Every month, thousands of patients use Natural Way’s Healing System to get back to and keep an active lifestyle.

Natural Way Chiropractic is also an employe owned company as of 2023.

Before You Arrive

Going to the doctor can be a stressful time for many people because they don’t really understand what’s happening during their visit. Doctors will often speak in medical terms to their patients, forgetting or ignoring the fact that their patients probably have no clue as to what they are really saying; test results and X-Rays are usually skimmed over, with no time being taken to give a thorough explanation to the patient. At Natural Way Chiropractic, we reject this behavior, and believe in clear and effective communication between our patients and us. Starting with your very first visit, we will make sure that a crystal-clear channel of communication is established between us.

Your First Visit

When you walk into any Natural Way Chiropractic’s office for the first time, our friendly staff will greet you warmly. We will then have a consultation session with you, along with a complete spinal scan, to assess your reasons for coming in and what treatments will be needed to start your healing. We will also take any necessary X-Rays, and evaluate your insurance options. You can take a look at the list of insurance companies that we work with on our Insurance page. During our examinations and spinal scans, we respect you and endeavor to make you as comfortable as possible. We will make sure that your first visit to our Bellingham office is a positive and refreshing experience.

Your Second Visit

When you visit Natural Way Chiropractic’s office for the second time, the first thing we will do is discuss the results of any X-rays and spinal scans from your previous visit with you. When we discuss your X-ray and spinal scan results with you, we will speak in a clear and understandable manner; any unfamiliar medical terms will be carefully explained, and all questions are welcome and will be thoroughly answered. Additionally, we will assist you in establishing a financial plan that suits your budget, and will also give you a detailed explanation of our client care. Natural Way Chiropractic highly values its patients and our client care policies are designed to maintain a respectful relationship between us, and also ensure that you receive excellent care at an affordable price.

Further Care

After your two initial visits to Natural Way Chiropractic, you will continue to receive excellent and affordable chiropractic care, with regular periodic follow-up exams to ensure any problems are promptly resolved. Questions and concerns are always welcome, and our certified and trained staff will readily assist you to ensure that your care is comprehensive and completely relaxing.

How Chiropractic Heals

The decisions we make and the actions we take in each moment of our day affect our bodies and can slowly produce problems that may not show symptoms. What we eat, how we sit, the work that we do with our bodies, and even the way we emotionally react to a situation, can have long-term impacts on our wellness. If you spend your days sitting at a desk, the way you hold your head or place your arms can have a major impact, not only on your neck and shoulders, but also on your whole body.

This is because the bundle of nerves that sends messages to every other part of our body, originates in our spinal column.

At the heart of our care to our patients is the Chiropractic. An adjustment is a procedure in which our trained specialists use their hands to apply a controlled force to a joint. The goal of a chiropractic adjustment is to remove nerve pressure by correcting structural alignment. This, in turn, reduces pain and improves your body’s physical function.

Education

The typical applicant at a chiropractic college has already acquired nearly four years of pre-medical undergraduate college education, including courses in biology, inorganic and organic chemistry, physics, psychology and related lab work. Once accepted into an accredited chiropractic college, the requirements become even more demanding — four to five academic years of professional study are the standard. Because of the hands-on nature of chiropractic, and the intricate adjusting techniques, a significant portion of time is spent in clinical training.

Techniques

The chiropractors at our offices utilize a variety of techniques to treat the various afflictions of their patients. Building only on proven chiropractic methods that have a history of success, Natural Way Chiropractic delivers excellent care that will heal your body and alleviate your pain – without medication!

Our Chiropractic Methods

This technique is named after Clarence S. Gonstead, one of the first pioneers into the chiropractic field, and involves the correction of subluxations. A subluxation is the name for a spinal bone that is “stuck” or fixated in a certain spot, causing nerve pressure and hindering the body’s ability to stay healthy. The Gonstead technique avoids twisting or rotating the spine during chiropractic treatment because it can increase the rate of degeneration in the spinal cushion pad (disc) between the bones in the spine. A hallmark adjustment method that is typical of the Gonstead technique is the adjustment of a patient’s neck while they are seated, to avoid any twisting of the spine.
The goal of this technique is the manipulation of the atlas, the first vertebra, located at the top of the spine. The belief behind this method is that a misalignment of the atlas causes problems further down the spinal column, and that, once the atlas is properly aligned, the rest of the vertebra will fall naturally into place. The Palmer method stimulates the spine via a “hole in one” method that consists of using X-rays to locate the atlas’ exact position, and then systematically manipulating the atlas in various directions until its proper place is found.
The Thompson table is a specialized table that allows the chiropractor to utilize the Thompson technique to adjust the patient’s spine by high-speed thrusts. In the human body, the reticular system in the brain controls the balance of a person’s musculature throughout the body. A neurological imbalance disturbs this system, and can affect the musculature in the legs, resulting in one leg appearing shorter than the other when a person is lying face down. The difference in leg length is due to the overstimulation of various muscles, and is treated by placing the patient on a Thompson table. The Thompson table is pneumatically (air) driven, and has a segmented drop system that gently lowers the spinal area that corresponds with area affected (dorsal, lumber, or pelvic area), allowing the chiropractor to thrust at a high speed and carry your joint through its full range of motion.
The flexion–distraction technique is also facilitated by a specialized table that gently distracts (stretches) the spine, allowing the chiropractor to locate and treat the affected area by flexing the spine in a kind of pumping rhythm. The flexion-distraction technique, combined with the gentle pumping of the spine, allows the spinal discs to return to their central position in the spine and away from the nerves, decreasing the pressure on the nerves.
Though not technically a chiropractic technique, spinal decompression is used by Natural Way’s practitioners to treat a variety of spinal disc-related injuries. Common issues like bulging discs, herniated discs, pinched nerves, sciatica, degenerative discs, and pain in the arms and legs can all be caused when your spine begins to exert pressure upon your spinal discs. This pressure arises when the discs become misaligned because of poor body mechanics, bad posture, or injury. When using the decompression technique, the practitioner will strap the patient to the table, after which the decompression table is used to gently stretch the patient’s spine, elongating the spine and allowing the resulting vacuum’s pressure to move the compressed disc to move into the resulting space between the spinal discs. Spinal decompression therapy is very gradual, and it will take several treatments to totally realign your spinal discs.
An activator is a small handheld device that delivers a small impulse of 0.3 J of kinetic energy to the spine for a duration of about 3 milliseconds. The purpose of an activator is to apply just enough force to gently move the vertebrae without causing injury. The AMCT consists of having the patient lay prone (face down) and comparing the functional leg lengths. If one appears shorter than the other (called short leg), the chiropractor will have the patient move various limbs to stimulate the muscles attached to each vertebrae until they find the affected vertebra. The vertebra is then treated with the activator and gently moved back into place.
This term refers to a technique that was developed by Henri Gillet, and involves the practitioner using their hands to feel the motion of various segments of the spine while the patient performs various movements. This technique assesses extra-vertebral joint and vertebrae movement in order to diagnose any dysfunction between the joints or vertebrae.
parkscriptions
This technique is named after Clarence S. Gonstead, one of the first pioneers into the chiropractic field, and involves the correction of subluxations. A subluxation is the name for a spinal bone that is “stuck” or fixated in a certain spot, causing nerve pressure and hindering the body’s ability to stay healthy. The Gonstead technique avoids twisting or rotating the spine during chiropractic treatment because it can increase the rate of degeneration in the spinal cushion pad (disc) between the bones in the spine. A hallmark adjustment method that is typical of the Gonstead technique is the adjustment of a patient’s neck while they are seated, to avoid any twisting of the spine.
The goal of this technique is the manipulation of the atlas, the first vertebra, located at the top of the spine. The belief behind this method is that a misalignment of the atlas causes problems further down the spinal column, and that, once the atlas is properly aligned, the rest of the vertebra will fall naturally into place. The Palmer method stimulates the spine via a “hole in one” method that consists of using X-rays to locate the atlas’ exact position, and then systematically manipulating the atlas in various directions until its proper place is found.
The Thompson table is a specialized table that allows the chiropractor to utilize the Thompson technique to adjust the patient’s spine by high-speed thrusts. In the human body, the reticular system in the brain controls the balance of a person’s musculature throughout the body. A neurological imbalance disturbs this system, and can affect the musculature in the legs, resulting in one leg appearing shorter than the other when a person is lying face down. The difference in leg length is due to the overstimulation of various muscles, and is treated by placing the patient on a Thompson table. The Thompson table is pneumatically (air) driven, and has a segmented drop system that gently lowers the spinal area that corresponds with area affected (dorsal, lumber, or pelvic area), allowing the chiropractor to thrust at a high speed and carry your joint through its full range of motion.
The flexion–distraction technique is also facilitated by a specialized table that gently distracts (stretches) the spine, allowing the chiropractor to locate and treat the affected area by flexing the spine in a kind of pumping rhythm. The flexion-distraction technique, combined with the gentle pumping of the spine, allows the spinal discs to return to their central position in the spine and away from the nerves, decreasing the pressure on the nerves.
Though not technically a chiropractic technique, spinal decompression is used by Natural Way’s practitioners to treat a variety of spinal disc-related injuries. Common issues like bulging discs, herniated discs, pinched nerves, sciatica, degenerative discs, and pain in the arms and legs can all be caused when your spine begins to exert pressure upon your spinal discs. This pressure arises when the discs become misaligned because of poor body mechanics, bad posture, or injury. When using the decompression technique, the practitioner will strap the patient to the table, after which the decompression table is used to gently stretch the patient’s spine, elongating the spine and allowing the resulting vacuum’s pressure to move the compressed disc to move into the resulting space between the spinal discs. Spinal decompression therapy is very gradual, and it will take several treatments to totally realign your spinal discs.
An activator is a small handheld device that delivers a small impulse of 0.3 J of kinetic energy to the spine for a duration of about 3 milliseconds. The purpose of an activator is to apply just enough force to gently move the vertebrae without causing injury. The AMCT consists of having the patient lay prone (face down) and comparing the functional leg lengths. If one appears shorter than the other (called short leg), the chiropractor will have the patient move various limbs to stimulate the muscles attached to each vertebrae until they find the affected vertebra. The vertebra is then treated with the activator and gently moved back into place.
This term refers to a technique that was developed by Henri Gillet, and involves the practitioner using their hands to feel the motion of various segments of the spine while the patient performs various movements. This technique assesses extra-vertebral joint and vertebrae movement in order to diagnose any dysfunction between the joints or vertebrae.