Chiropractor Crevier: From stunts to spines

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BROOKINGS – Dr. Isaiah Crevier has your back ... in a manner of speaking.

After spending his life performing incredible shows featuring basketball tricks and a variety of stunts, the Elkton native knows firsthand how much a pain in the spine can hinder your life. Thanks to inspiration from his family and his innate need to help others, he's opened in Brookings his own chiropractic clinic, Champion Health Chiropractic.

Growing up, his parents and 11 siblings were well accustomed to a healthy lifestyle, with good nutrition and plenty of exercise so they could continue their shows, operating under the name of Champions Forever. Those were all important, but issues still arose from time to time with such an active lifestyle.

Back pains, neck pains or headaches were common, but because those are muscular-skeletal issues, medication could only do so much. He still remembers how his brother couldn't turn his neck because of a crick after he had fallen off his unicycle.

“My family really wanted to remain as healthy as possible for the longest period of time, and that mindset just came over. Now I'm a chiropractor because I wanted to help my family and I wanted to help them be successful in their health long term because I knew there was one thing missing, and that was chiropractic,” Crevier said.

In college, he debated for a time whether to become a medical doctor or a chiropractor, but ultimately, the one-on-one nature of the chiropractic business won him over. He received his education at Northwestern Health Sciences University in Bloomington, Minn., where he graduated in 2016.

At Champion Health, Crevier utilizes a special chiropractic approach known as torque release technique, a neurologically based chiropractic technique. It's a gentle but effective technique, distinct from the cracking, twisting and popping that typically comes to mind with visits to the chiropractor.

It's so gentle that he's used it on his own newborn daughter, Finley, and a niece, five and two hours after they were born, respectively.

“It helps a lot when you see a newborn that can't move its neck very well, and we adjust it and change happens,” he said.

For learning this technique, Crevier is thankful to his mentors, to those chiropractors he studied under and worked with. Now he's excited to put what he's learned to good work in Brookings at his own clinic.

The clinic is for anyone of any age, he said. “We see kids in the office, we see adults, grandparents. We see everybody.”

He makes use of his philosophy that health isn't simply looking well or feeling good. A more complete picture of what health is must include how well the body is able to function.

“Thankfully we have the tools to actually see how people's bodies are functioning,” he said. They pay special attention to the nervous system because that “controls everything in the body. From the brain to the body, the thing that communicates is the spinal cord. If there are any misalignments or anything that's causing interference in the nervous system, that's going to cause the body to malfunction.”

With their x-ray machine, neurological scanner and stress tests, Crevier is able to study problem areas and see what the cause is. For example, to conduct the neurological scans, he has instruments that monitor skin temperature to assess autonomic nervous system function, can provide accurate reading of paraspinal muscle activity and monitor the balance and activity of the entire autonomic system, he said.

Champion Health is truly a family establishment; his wife, Julia, works as office manager and co-owner, their 14-month old daughter, Finley, is “our No. 1 chiropractic assistant,” and his family come to him for their spinal adjustments.

“When I opened up my own business, I wanted to do chiropractic the way that I wanted to do chiropractic. I knew that to get people well, this is what it would take. … I wanted to do something that would allow people's bodies to function better, and in order to do that, I knew the only way was to open my own business,” he said.

And for all the stress that comes with opening your own business, Crevier is enjoying the fruits of his labor so far and is looking forward to what may come.

He wants Champion Health to serve as a resource for those who come in, whether they're experiencing issues or think they're healthy.

“A lot of times people have issues but don’t know what to do with it. They don’t know what they should do,” he said.

And if he can't address their issues or they had best see someone else, such as a doctor or a pediatrician, he will help them contact the right people.

What brought him to Brookings was his love for the town. Before he attended NHSU, he went to South Dakota State University, where he earned his degree in biology. He loves that he and his wife can enjoy the perks of a living in a larger community that still has kept its small-town vibe.

“It's good to be back into a community that I care about and really want to help,” he said. And he's found that the community has been happy to help him, too, as he started his business.

And as his business takes off, he hopes people will change their attitudes toward their personal health and make better choices.

“We want people to be a champion when it comes to their choices and especially when it comes to their health,” he said.

Office hours are 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 3-6 p.m. Monday, Wednesday and Thursday, 3-6 p.m. on Tuesdays, and 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Fridays. Saturdays are by appointment only. Appointments can be set online at www.getchampionhealth.com or by calling 605-695-6447.

Contact Eric Sandbulte at esandbulte@brookingsregister.com.