- Lisa M.
“I had recently moved to Iowa from California and the Lord brought me straight here. I had been receiving chiropractic care for fibromyalgia for 4 yrs and I wanted to continue with that treatment. I had also been struggling with chronic headaches and migraines for years. To my surprise, the type of chiropractic care I had been receiving had barely even touched the surface of the kind of care and healing I was about to receive at CLC. Starting here has been the best decision I have ever made for myself and my son.
I had been dealing with chronic pain for a really long time. The worst part about it all is it was preventing me from being able to do simple things with my son like going for a walk, going to the park, taking him on trips and even going to the grocery store. If it involved walking or riding on things, I just physically couldn’t keep up because as soon as my feet touched the ground it felt like a stabbing, electrical jolts throughout my entire body. I would have to bring a “chaperone” with me to help with Noah, or I would have to just send him with others. It was heartbreaking and isolating. I was at a point in my life where I had just accepted I was going to be in extreme pain forever.
At my first appointment, I thought what you guys were saying was honestly a little crazy. The treatment I was getting before was nothing like what you provide at CLC. My old chiropractor basically was like “this is all that I can do for you, you’re gonna have to seek out a medical doctor to further manage your pain”. There were no neurological scans that you do at CLC involved, there was no talk about how your nervous system actually correlates to your overall health/wellness and how your body is functioning, there wasn’t even a care plan involved with consistent adjustments. When I thought of chiropractic before, it was just something I thought I needed to do to get a LITTLE bit of relief, I had no intentions of it ending up like it has. I had no idea it was about to change the rest of my life.
The care I have received here has way surpassed what I thought it was going to be in every single way. I would have never thought to explore health in this way if it weren’t for you guys. You truly opened my eyes.
My first thought when I saw the neurological scans was honestly just being mind blown. You were connecting all the dots for me as to WHY my body had been feeling this way for so many years. It pinpointed all the areas I was feeling physical pain and emotional stress… it laid out the stress in my body like a road map. I couldn’t believe it.
Some of the frustration before was the idea I was never going to actually get full relief and be able to live “pain free”. I truly thought that was nowhere in my future. Honestly my intention when starting was simply just to be able to “tolerate” another day. And it’s completely surpassed that in every way.
Before starting at CLC, I was taking 800 mg of ibuprofen daily and gabapentin (which had horrible side effects). I was also getting B12 shots. There were several other pain medications they wanted me to take, but when I went to the pharmacy to fill them, they would say “it does help with this, but remember if you have side effects of suicidal thoughts, etc. etc…stop taking them.” I quickly decided I did not want to take something like that.
After the 1st week of adjustments, coming 3x/wk, my mobility increased by more than 50%, by week 2 it was about 80% better. In terms of my ability to just move around, it was a night and day difference after the 2nd week of care. Before starting care, even the sensation of someone just touching me lightly was enough to make me cry because of the pain it would cause. After 3 weeks of care, it didn’t hurt to put pressure on my body anymore.
You told me that was going to happen, but I honestly didn’t believe you until I experienced it.
After about 8 months of consistent, weekly adjustments, my life is completely different. I occasionally have to take ONE ibuprofen if I fall down or something extreme happens, but other than that, I’m completely off of all my medications. The biggest difference is my ability to do things with my son. Now, I can go to baseball games, the park, go on long walks and on trails with my son… I can keep up with him so much better. There were times before we’d be on a walk and I’d have to call someone to pick me up 1/2 way through because I couldn’t endure the pain any longer. Even grocery shopping was something that was extremely difficult for me before. I couldn’t even walk in a store from start to finish. There were times that I actually had to leave my cart full of groceries at the store and I wasn’t able to finish buying them because I could not endure the pain of standing up any longer. It felt like someone was taking a sharp knife and stabbing it through my back and feet. I started to get all my groceries delivered because it was just easier. That took away from me being able to get out of the house and have social interactions, I began feeling more and more isolated. Any type of movement would send me into extreme pain, it was just easier to stay home… BUT… this is NO LONGER my reality. I just don’t have those struggles anymore. I can now do something as simple as grocery shopping and playing with my son. I’m even able to finally use the stairs in my house!
Before CLC, taking trips was something I just hadn’t seen in Noah and I’s future because of how hard it was for me to get around. This is NO LONGER our reality, we’ve recently went on TWO trips to Chicago and California; it’s a gift to know I’m going to be able to explore the world with my son now.
My life has completely changed since coming here. It has opened so many doors for me not only physically, but mentally and spiritually. Being here is not just about fixing or healing the physical pain that I’ve had. What you guys do here is more than just provide medical care for people. It’s a community where people take care of each other, and love each other, and support each other. I’ve never gotten that from a medical provider EVER. This is what health care SHOULD look like. It’s gotten so far away from that.
You guys bring back the true intent of loving people through what your gift is, which is way more than just physically providing adjustments and “fixing” our bodies, it’s just way deeper than that here. I couldn’t imagine going anywhere else after experiencing the love, care and support I get when I walk through the doors at CLC.
I no longer have the chronic headaches or migraines, or the generalized chronic and throbbing pain throughout my whole body. Before, the second my feet touched the ground, I would get pains that felt like electrical shocks shooting throughout my entire body. Trying to physically move through that made life almost unbearable. I have NONE of that anymore. My physical body is no longer preventing me from LIVING. It truly is a miracle.
It’s incredible how God places people in your life. I was destined to be here to be healed.”
- Arturo’s mom
We started bringing Arturo to CLC years ago and saw amazing changes in his immune function, his sleep, his digestion, and his comfort. We were preparing to have another baby and Arturo had a hip surgery coming up, life got hectic and we had to stop coming for adjustments for a bit. Within the first month of Arturo not getting his adjustments, we started to notice he was starting to fight sleep again, he was getting really tense, and overall just more uncomfortable. He had his hip surgery and while everything went really well, it was really hard on his body. The week after his surgery, we almost lost him because his pain was so bad. He was on so many pain killers, it was making him so sleepy, he couldn’t eat, and he was getting dehydrated.
He was casted for 6 weeks and then he had to get fitted for a brace. He spent the first 24 hrs crying in pain and we had to go into the ER. The following day we had to get him recasted for another 5 weeks because things were taking longer than expected to heal. He was starting to heal after the 2nd round of casts, but he was still in a constant state of crying. The only time he would not cry was when he was asleep. He was only able to get a couple hours of sleep at a time before the pain would wake him again. From December to April, we dealt with no sleep, constantly waking up through the night crying in pain, immediate crying if you tried to reposition him or touch his hips or back. He was so tight in a frog legged position, we couldn’t get him to extend and release his legs at all. His hands were always clenched in fists because it was just so painful. We couldn’t do anything but just stay at home with him and try to keep him as comfortable as possible. This was our reality for 5-6 months. We knew at that point we needed to get him back under consistent chiropractic care at CLC.
After his first adjustment back, he had this huge sigh of relief, and so did I! After his 2nd adjustment, he slept the entire night from when we got home at 5 pm until 6 am the next day (13 hours!!). That’s the first time he slept for more than a couple hours in over 6 months. After a week of adjustments, Arturo was able to fully extend and relax his legs for the first time. His clenched fists started to open up. He was happier and wasn’t crying out in pain constantly. We were able to re-position him without causing him severe pain. I felt like “we can do this again, we’re living again”. Arturo is no longer on any pain killers!
Even though we’ve seen how well Arturo responds to adjustments in the past, I still almost couldn’t believe it. It’s amazing to see that first initial scan and how much stress he had in his body, to where he’s at now! Before we started bringing Arturo to CLC 5 years ago, he would be in the ER every WEEK with an illness. While under weekly chiropractic care, he went a full year without any illness or hospital stays! Life got busy and we had to take a 3 month break from getting adjusted, and in that 3 months without chiropractic, he had 2 hospital stays for illnesses. When we came back for a long stretch of time and began getting Arturo adjusted weekly again, sure enough he didn’t have any hospital visits while under care for 2+ years!
I feel like we are no longer living life minute to minute, having to worry about what the next few hours is going to look like, we have something to look forward to now! Care at CLC has changed Arturo’s life in such a positive way that it is so hard not to tell everyone about it. I don’t know where we would be if we wouldn’t have come back in April. Coming to CLC for us is like a little kid opening his present on Christmas morning. We love everyone here and all you’ve done for our family. Arturo is flourishing!
- Marjorie
My daughter talked me into coming to CLC because she saw how much pain I was in just to try and make a dinner for company. I would have to hang onto the counter while I was standing to do the dishes because the pain was so bad. She finally said “That’s it! You’re going! I don’t care if I have to pay for it!”
When I initially came into the office and saw my scans, I just didn’t know what to think because I had been told in the past that I could never be touched by a chiropractor again after my surgeries. I was overwhelmed by emotions to find out that you guys could help me. But I was skeptical!
I had back surgery 4 years before finding Congruent. The doctors were looking at doing surgery again and I couldn’t go through that a second time. The first surgery did help me, I’m able to walk… but I had a lot of nerve damage from the surgery that they said would never go away.
Living with the pain I was in every day was really hard. I had such a hard time sleeping and getting out of bed in the morning because I was always in so much pain. I could not wait for my next dose of gabapentin and baclofen. At the time I was on 900 mg of gabapentin 4x/day, baclofen 3x/day, plus taking piroxicam on top of that. I’d been doing that for 4 years, ever since my back surgery. I felt like my brain was gone, it was effecting my memory terribly, and I know it was because of the stuff I was taking.
I was grasping for anything that could give me relief because I was devastated when they told me my nerve damage would never go away and I’d just have to live with it. I knew I had to start at CLC. It took a little bit for the changes to happen, but 6 months in, I stopped feeling what I would call the “butt burn”. I didn’t have that radiating pain going down through my hips and legs anymore.
After a year of care, my life is drastically different. I can stand a lot longer when I’m cooking dinner without feeling like I need to sit down. I can walk a lot longer and am able to be much more active. I’m able to wrestle around with my grandkids and not have to think, “oh gosh, this is really going to hurt me”. I don’t have to have my husband vacuum the house anymore because I’m able to do it now. The simple things in life like being able to clean the house and not worry about how much pain I will be in that night when I go to bed is life changing.
I’m no longer taking piroxicam anymore. I’m also down to 600 mg of gabapentin 2x/day, compared to 900 mg 4x/day before care. I just thank God for the daughter that I have that is so persistent, because she talked about you guys from the moment she started coming to you. I thank God I have her, and that she encouraged me so much to seek care from Congruent. You guys are all so amazing. I feel pretty fortunate and lucky.
I want to say that when I first came, what I experienced the most was fear. My fear was that it wouldn’t work. And now, I know that IT WORKS! And I’m never going to give it up. You guys have me for life! I’m living such a healthier and HAPPIER life! Joy comes out of me now, and before it didn’t. The pain was too much to bear. I feel like I’m actually living again.
- Marcie
“Before I started at CLC, the accumulation of stress on my body was out of control. I was in constant, debilitating pain; everything hurt from head to toe, I felt broken. At that point, I had been in pain for so long I thought this was my “forever” reality. It was affecting my relationship with my husband, my family… even my job. The pain was preventing me from being the grandma I always wanted to be.
I was in a car accident when I was 18 and I messed up my neck and lower back. Over time, the stress on my system kept building. I worked in skilled rehab as a therapist; I was lifting and transferring patients when we were doing treatment sessions until one day my back “went out” and I just fell to the ground, my coworker had to take me to the ER. Since then, every 2 years my back would just “go out” again and I would be in horrendous spasms and pain. The last time it happened to me I was just carrying my laptop and all of the sudden my back just snapped with no warning at all. It was so bad I couldn’t walk and I had to crawl up my basement steps. The pain continued to get worse and worse over the years. It would keep me up at night and got so bad to a point that every time I tried to turn in bed, I would just howl out in pain.
I couldn’t enjoy the time I had with my family because I was in so much pain. Last year, I tried taking my grandkids to the zoo, I wanted to enjoy this precious time with them but I couldn’t, I just felt miserable the whole day. I wanted to be the grandma that could be really involved with my grandkids, read them stories, take them on adventures… I couldn’t even hold my grandchildren or read to them, I couldn’t get on the ground to play with them because I knew I wouldn’t be able to get back up. I was being robbed of making these memories.
In the workspace, sitting in long meetings was getting to a point it was almost unbearable… at the rate I was going, I wasn’t going to be able to keep up with my workload much longer. My career was in jeopardy.
I was tired of feeling this way. Nothing was getting better. The debilitation it caused was embarrassing. I’m not that old. I shouldn’t feel THIS bad, but I thought this was going to be the way I was going to have to live forever.
I had been following you guys for a while and continued to see the amazing patient testimonials; even though I had tried physical therapy for a year and chiropractic care many times over without seeing results, I knew what you had to offer here was just so much different. I knew I had to come CLC to get better.
When I saw how stressed my nervous system was (and my husband’s) on the neurological scans on our first visit, my husband and I both felt so validated. Like “OMG, we aren’t crazy, this is really, really bad.”
So many people accept this as their reality all the time, I mean, I did for years and years. And now that I see what life can be like on the other side, I try to tell as many people as possible they NEED to do this. They CAN feel better.
I was amazed at how quickly I started feeling better after starting. When I go home at night after my adjustments, I always joke that you did your voodoo on me because I’m just so shocked at how instantaneously I feel so much better.
The first few weeks of care were life changing. I finally had HOPE. I kept waiting for things to turn back and get worse. I truly thought how good I was feeling was too good to be true, but it’s been a year now and I still feel amazing. I can’t even remember the last time I was in pain.
I have so much more hope for growing older now. I know that whatever comes up in the future internally, neurologically, that you will help me be the healthiest I can be. I always thought I had “bad luck”, this was just how I was going to feel forever, but I know now that simply isn’t true..
The quality of life for my husband and I has changed drastically. Things as simple as having a family get together are so much more enjoyable, between the cooking and cleaning, and standing… before we would be in pain for days after that, we couldn’t enjoy the family time we were getting, my husband and I would get irritable, I would have to sit down and not be able to interact with my family like I wanted to…but that has all changed now. My family is my WHY. I can finally be that grandma I’ve always wanted to be. I can read my grandchildren stories, I can hold them and play with them, I can take them on trips and truly ENJOY my time.
It’s truly a miracle and I feel so blessed I can enjoy life now, I can be present with my family and involved with my grandkids… I have to thank CLC for everything, for my LIFE, for my MARRIAGE, for my FAMILY, for my WORK… it wouldn’t be possible without the care we’ve both received here.
Now that my husband and I have experienced the healing we have here, we’re never going back to how we used to live, we are committed to making this a part of our forever wellness journey. Chiropractic has CHANGED my life and I refuse to go back to my old reality. Once you experience this, why would you ever want to go back.”
- Mason
“Mason was born with severe Acid Reflux and has been on an adult dose of Prilosec since he was 10 months old. This made it very difficult for him to gain weight appropriately his first 2 years of life. Shortly after Mason turned 2 he was diagnosed with Celiac’s Disease and has since then struggled with severe constipation, in which he had to take Miralax daily. Mason was also diagnosed with arthritis so he has been dealing with joint pain and stiffness, and had to take medication to help deal with this as well. If that wasn’t enough, Mason also has struggled with Abdominal Migraines and has had to take medications the last 4 years to prevent them. He also struggles with speech, which causes extreme anxiety when he has to read aloud.
Over the summer we have seen some amazing changes in Mason…
– Completely off Reflux & Constipation meds
– No issues with constipation anymore
– Hasn’t had to take meds for arthritis all summer
– No pain & stiffness!!
– No abdominal migraines
– Improvements with speech
We truly feel so blessed to have met everyone at Congruent. The staff is so extremely caring, helpful and sincere. They are all so welcoming and made us all feel right at home. Dr. Mike is so good with Mason. He is always asking him about his dirt bike riding and what track we were at over the weekend. He takes time to explain to Mason what he is doing, therefore Mason has never felt nervous. I will never forget when we were leaving after Mason’s first adjustment, he said “Mom, my head feels so light, my neck has never felt this good before!” My husband and I knew in that moment we had to continue coming and so thankful we did!”
- Tammy
“I hobbled into CLC with crutches and a knee brace. My orthopedic surgeon said I need major surgery, but my radiographs and radiologist didn’t support it so I decided to look elsewhere. I was swollen, in pain, had to close my business and was frustrated with doctors arguing over my care and not listening to me! I felt like crap, absolutely no energy, tired all the time, blood-work showing high inflammation… but nothing being done! I felt like I wasn’t being heard! It was the same thing every time. It was like I was talking to a wall, expecting it to move!
Mady was my first contact at CLC! She listened to me cry, and I actually felt heard! That was the huge difference with CLC, they listened! My daughter suggested CLC & I couldn’t be happier! What Dr. Nikki has done, there just isn’t enough words to describe her and her care!
The first moment I realized my care was actually working was the first time I unhooked my bra without spinning it around to the front (something guys will never understand). It was simply heaven to me! As an older, heavyset woman, who has had frozen shoulder a couple times…this was huge! You never realize the little things like that until you can do them again!
I’m calmer, happier and much healthier! I’ve even lost a bit of weight without even really trying! No knee surgery, and swelling is almost completely gone now! I reopened my business and even my family has noticed a change in me! I’m a work in progress! I’m nearing the end of my first phase of care with CLC, and will be entering wellness care to continue my steps towards health! We have decided that wellness care will be a lifelong thing, and as long as CLC will have me, I will be there!
Chiropractic care isn’t just a “I tweaked my back” thing, it’s lifelong health care! It’s adjustments to your nervous system which controls EVERYTHING! It’s the extension cord that lights your life, that powers your “cell phone”! Unplug it, and guess what?! No power, no lights, no phone! It’s ESSENTIAL! I can’t recommend CLC enough! The staff and docs are truly the best of the best! Call them today!! You will not be sorry!! :)”
- Danielle
In January, I was to a point where I wasn’t able to move. I was having to work from my bed and was in tears from how bad the pain was. I knew there was something wrong. I have a high tolerance for pain so I just let things continue to get worse and worse over the course of the last year until I couldn’t function anymore.
It was so frustrating to feel like I couldn’t be myself, do the things I wanted to do, even just move around because of the pain. I was honestly scared because I knew something had to be seriously wrong. I don’t really like to take pain meds, but at my worst I was having to rely on them just to get through the day.
When I had my first appointment at CLC and we went over the neurological scans, there was A LOT of stress. The scans don’t lie. They really helped to identify and target where all the pain I was having was stemming from. I was able to understand how my body was responding to traumatic things I’ve been through over the last 20 years. It put everything into a nutshell for me and I was able to have this light bulb moment. Things that I didn’t really think were impacting me were actually having a way bigger impact on how my brain and nervous system were functioning than I realized.
I had been in a perpetual fight or flight state over the last few years. After my first adjustment, I just felt this huge release of stress being lifted off my nervous system. I feel like I have a TON of energy now compared to when I first started. The “aches and pains” I was contributing to just getting older are no longer present for me. Chiropractic has helped regulate my moods and has allowed me to handle situations that would normally make me very upset or emotional a lot better. I have a much bigger capacity to really address stressful things in my life, and I’ve made some huge life changes to get me into a much better place. It’s also helped with my sleep.
I recently fell down some stairs after I started care, and I was really nervous that was going to take me a long time to recover from, but after about 2 adjustments I felt completely back to normal! In the past, something like that would’ve been a lot longer recovery for me.
Before care I was in a cycle of pain, and then it was hard to move, and then it would just snowball. It was so hard to break the cycle. Chiropractic was the missing piece. I haven’t had any situations where I’ve been bed ridden from pain since beginning care, and I’ve lost almost 20 lbs! The doctors at CLC have helped educate me that if there is pain happening, there is something going on underneath the surface that needs to be addressed to actually heal.
I continue to get adjusted on a weekly basis to help maintain all the positive changes I’ve seen in my life. Life is stressful! I have to travel often for work and meet a lot of deadlines, I want to do what I can to stay on top of it so I don’t end up back in a place like I was before starting. Every one is so kind, knows me by name, and are genuinely interested in how I am doing. The environment is so great at CLC!
- Marsha
When I started care here, I was dealing with severe chronic back pain and stiffness. I couldn’t even walk 30 feet without being in unbearable pain. It changed my lifestyle and quality of life significantly. I had to spend too much time fighting pain. I wanted to be able to walk my dogs, garden, and cook without being in pain all the time. The pain was interfering with my sleep and every morning was so painful. I didn’t know how to avoid that.
Coming to CLC has changed my life for the better. The neurological scans were really helpful to gain an understanding of where my pain was coming from and other organs of my body that were being affected by the stress in my nervous system. I learned that a lot of the inflammation in my body was coming from neurological interference in my digestive tract and detoxification organs like my liver and kidneys.
Once I began my care plan, I was coming 3x/week for several months and that helped tremendously. No other chiropractor I had been to ever told me to come that frequently, and I found myself stuck in this continued cycle of pain because of that. I’d get adjusted, I’d get a little relief, but a few days later the pain would be just as bad again. What you had to offer was so different because I had more frequent adjustments so my body wouldn’t just revert back to all the old patterns. Within that first month I was starting to notice my pain levels decreasing significantly and I was constantly getting a little bit better every week.
A couple months into care, I had my annual labs drawn at the doctors and it was the first time in over 20 years that I didn’t have blood in my urine!!
A few months ago I had a dental appointment where my jaw was held open for 2-3 hours. The next day I got up and I could hardly move my mouth because of the pain; I could hardly chew. My dentist ended up giving me a mouth guard which helped a little bit, but when I told the doctors at CLC what was going on and we started working on my TMJ I started noticing a tremendous difference and it is completely back to normal now. I don’t even have to wear my mouth guard anymore with the continued adjustments I’ve received in the TMJ area. The mouth guard wasn’t nearly as helpful as the adjustments that I got.
I’ve been coming for a year now and I feel so much better! If I do injure myself, an adjustment helps almost immediately and I don’t have that constant pain like I used to. I am able to take my dogs for walks, garden and cook again without pain! I am sleeping so much better. I always used to be kind of afraid to get out of bed because of how much pain I would feel in the mornings, but now I can get out of the bed in the morning with no pain.
My husband and I drive to Florida every year, and the drive used to about kill me. My back would be ruined by the time we got there and it would make it really hard to enjoy vacation. But this last time we went to Florida I handled it so much better. I recovered so much more quickly. We recently went to Hawaii and my back didn’t hurt at all while I was there!
I’ve learned so many things from the doctors here, and I have been eating much better to avoid inflammatory foods that influence how much stress we see on my nervous system. I appreciate the spirit, the knowledge, the friendliness and the welcoming environment that CLC has to offer!
- Tom
“I was navigating a lot of struggles before starting care here. I had debilitating pain in my lower back that would cause shooting pain down my leg. The pain started years ago and really increased about a year ago. It made it difficult to get around, to walk the dog, to do chores, to garden and can, to grill and cook… I wasn’t able to enjoy these things without experiencing this debilitating pain. At work, I was in pain all day long.
Once we did the scans I found out there was a lot more stress going on than just in my low back. The amount of stress in my neck was off the charts, and I learned through you guys, how it’s so important to address the body as a whole because everything is so connected.
It was interesting because I actually had a surgery in my neck years ago, I was losing feeling in my left side and they found out I had severe cervical stenosis. I ended up having to get my neck fused. It was crazy to see all of the stress come up on my scans in these areas from so long ago, and how that could be affecting my low back.
I was scared at the thought of having to go through another surgery, it’s a lot of money and time off work… I’m just so glad I took the chance and came here.
The other chiros I had been to never really helped to the extent I needed. It was always a come in when it hurts and we’ll “crack” you. You guys had the scans to actually measure how my body was functioning, how much stress and where that stress was at in my nervous system, and what I actually NEEDED to heal. You looked at how everything was functioning TOGETHER.
Once I started coming here, it didn’t take long for me to start feeling better… It was only about 2 weeks and I knew I had made the right choice. I finally felt hope again.
I love gardening and canning, being able to hold and pick up my grandchildren, being able to walk the dog and to do simple things like grilling without being in extreme pain.
I feel like I have gotten my life back. It literally feels like a miracle. Life is just so much more enjoyable now. So many people live their whole life feeling like “this is just how this is going to be from now on.” But it doesn’t have to be that way. I am living proof of that.”