Services & Techniques
| At Alternative Family Medicine & Chiropractic, Dr. Barter has a passion for providing the comprehensive chiropractic and alternative medicine to each patient. We have included information below about the different techniques we offer in our Longmont chiropractic office, but please call us at 303-652-0900 if you have any questions or a technique is not listed that you are interested in having provided. |
Chiropractic Care We provide advanced spinal correction and chiropractic adjustments utilizing “state of the art” chiropractic techniques. At Alternative Family Medicine & Chiropractic, we not only focus on the spine but also specialize in extremity adjusting. Many of the new chiropractic techniques utilized by Dr. Barter are actually safer, more comfortable and more effective. Dr. Barter is focused on getting results using the most advanced and effective chiropractic techniques. She has had years of training, expertise and experience in helping patients not only get out of pain but also eliminating chronic conditions. She is extremely effective with helping her patients get relief from chronic and acute neck pain, headaches, back pain, TMJ, extremity complaints, and other related conditions originating from the spine and extremities. Chiropractic care also can be used to prevent injuries and help you achieve total health. Dr. Barter treats patients of all ages from pediatric patients to geriatric patients and everyone in between. |
| Conditions Benefiting from Chiropractic Adjusting [table id=1 /] Many people who have never experienced chiropractic care may be nervous about being adjusted, but chiropractic is both safe and extremely effective. Dr. Ann Barter has seen many people who have never experienced chiropractic before, and she works within what patients are comfortable with utilizing lower force techniques. |
Applied Kinesiology Applied Kinesiology (AK) is a powerful diagnostic system that focuses on finding the weak muscle and determining why that muscle is not functioning properly. AK was developed using Chinese meridian therapy where every muscle correlates with an organ. Utilizing manual muscle testing, the doctor can determine what muscles are weak. Therapies utilized to correct the imbalance in the weak muscle can include, but are not limited to, specific joint manipulation or mobilization, muscle work, meridian therapy, clinical nutrition, and dietary management. When the structural, emotional, and biochemical factors are in balance, the body is able to function optimally.Patients are able to see the immediate changes from a weak to a strong muscle. AK is not only diagnostic but also functional medicine. |
Functional Blood Chemistry Analysis Functional Blood Chemistry is the most effective, efficient, and affordable way to analysis the degree of health or disease your blood. Using a comprehensive blood chemistry panel will provide us with results to evaluate your blood sugar, thyroid, cardiovascular system, renal function, gut integrality, liver health, and much more. This is different than the traditional medical model with is focused on disease management verses looking at a narrower reference range to focus on disease prevention. |
Supplements & Whole Food Nutrition Whole food nutrition supplementation is derived from food versus synthetic isolates. In today’s society, Americans are over-consuming processed foods and skipping the vegetables and fruits. With the soil continuing to be depleted, Americans are basically starving because of malnutrition. Whole food nutrition is so important because it utilizes the entire complex of nutrients in the correct balance, and is easily assimilated by the body. If a consumer goes into a health food store shopping for Vitamin C and reads the back of the label it shows ascorbic acid as the main ingredient. Consuming ascorbic acid would be like eating an orange peel only and not the whole orange. Ascorbic acid is only a small portion of the C complex and definitely not the most important. The human body is not designed to consume isolated nutrients and then use them effectively. Vitamins and minerals are found in combination in nature, not alone.The quality of supplements sold in this office follow FDA standards and are pharmaceutical grade. Do you know which supplements and vitamins are good for you? Do you know how these supplements and vitamins interact with one another? At our Niwot Chiropractic, Dr. Barter can provide each patient with a structured nutritional program that is based on their individual needs because everyone’s needs are different. |
Herbs Herbs are derived from plants and have been used in the treatment of just about every ailment known to humankind for thousands of years. It is believed by many traditional cultures, and by many sages as well, that for every “dis-ease” suffered by people, there is a cure in the natural world. Studies show that about 25 to 50 percent of the prescription drugs dispensed in the United States contain at least one active ingredient derived from herbal material, either herbal extracts or synthesized to imitate a natural herb compound. Herbs are extremely powerful medicine in their natural form. Herbal therapy is safe, effective, and a proven means to treat a variety of complaints.Alternative Family Medicine has one of the most complete herbal pharmacies in the area and is extremely diligent about the companies from which herbs are sourced with a focus on laboratory-confirmed presence of active ingredients, purity and strength, from sustainable and organic sources. All herbs sold in this office are pharmaceutical grade. Herbs can be magical medicines, but only if they are properly manufactured and contaminant free! |
Detox Americans are exposed to 80,000 – 85,000 chemicals every 7 days. The Center of Disease Control and Prevention reports that hundreds of these chemicals are present in our bodies, and the research also suggests that many of these chemicals can disrupt our immune, endocrine, nervous, and reproductive systems.Livers become overworked, free radicals become common, weight gain occurs, aging occurs, and disease occurs because an increased burden is put on the liver, kidneys and digestive system to remove all the excessive free radicals. It is so important to be on a detoxification program that is tailored to the individual. Certain people need a little more help cleaning out the liver, others need to remove toxic fat, and some people need to clean out their bowel. Most people need to do some sort of detoxification to combat the toxicity of the world lived in today. |
| Benefits of Detox [table id=2 /] |
Nutritional Counseling & Weight Loss What does nutrition have to do with chiropractic care? The goal of chiropractic care is to help patients achieve total health and balance with their body, and as part of that goal we provide specific recommendations on nutritional supplements and healthy food choices. Nutritional counseling by our experienced chiropractic health professionals can assist a patient on their return to optimal health.“Life expectancy in the US, one of the richest countries in the world, is ranked 48thin the world. Among developed countries Americans are the most obese and overweight people.” This statistic demonstrates that people need guidance on how to eat. Americans get many mixed messages about diet from so called “experts”. Dr. Ann believes in a lifestyle change based on scientific research not only to lose weight but to avoid chronic debilitating diseases. Diet is the single most controllable factor. She does not put you on a crash diet that is impossible to maintain but instead she teaches you a sustainable way to eat. At Niwot Chiropractic, Dr. Barter educates you about diet and puts you on a specialized program based on your individual needs. |
Corrective Exercises At Alternative Family Medicine and Chiropractic, we teach our patients how to perform strengthening exercises which help strengthen and correct the irregularities in their body. Chiropractic care in conjunction with exercises has been demonstrated by many studies in the literature to be very effective in eliminating pain, decreasing chronic injuries and improving ability to perform activities of daily living. If you do not have access to a gym, we can tailor these exercises to be performed at home.Bones and muscles move together. Corrective exercises will address chronic compensation patterns your body has adapted to creating pain and tension. We will add specific exercises and stretches for your specific conditions to help alleviate neck pain, back pain, foot pain, chronic problems, and many other conditions. We identify these muscle weaknesses through specific muscle testing. We want you to feel great while we are also helping to bring your body back to balance and health. |
Lifestyle Advice Many of our patients come to see Dr. Barter to address a specific complaint like back pain or co-management for a more chronic disease complaint like high blood pressure. Dr. Barter addresses each complaint and ultimately wants each patient to reach their maximum potential. She does this by addressing lifestyle changes that need to be correctly. It can be a simple change like increasing the amount of physical activity, changing sleeping position or the height of a keyboard. Something the changes include eliminating a type of food or avoiding a certain environmental exposure.Our goal is for every patient to feel better than they thought they could feel. If you are interested in Dr. Barter evaluating your lifestyle, please fill out all forms under New Patient Center, drop down online forms. |
Scar Tissue Chronic-pain old injuries all have one thing in common, scar tissue. When an injury occurs in a person’s body, the body tries to stabilize the area quickly as possible by laying down collagen fibers in every direction. Collagen fibers should be running parallel to each other. If the fibers are not parallel, then the muscle fibers cannot stretch properly, ultimately creating pain, discomfort, or reinjures to the same area. In order to allow the area to heal, it is important to use a stainless steel tool externally to break up the adhesions and perform a series of muscle testing and muscle stretching to stimulate the new collagen fibers in the appropriate direction. |
| The Benefits of Scar Tissue Work [table id=3 /] |
Cupping & Far-Infrared Lamps Infrared energy is converted to heat in the body and increases blood circulation and oxygen supply to damaged tissue (aiding in reduction of chronic joint and muscle pain or sport injuries), promotes relaxation and comfort, induces sleep, relieves stress, and removes toxins. It can be difficult to remove toxins once they enter the body because they have a water encapsulation but through the vibration of the far infrared wave, toxic materials are released. Cupping helps also remove excess toxins from the tissues. It is normally performed to alleviate muscular tension by lifting the skin and fascia away from the muscle. It is performed to decrease muscular tension. When cupping and far infrared are used in combination together the results are more effective and patients are extremely relaxed following treatment. |
| Other Conditions Treated Using Far Infrared Lamps [table id=4 /] |
Deep Tissue Work Focused trigger point work helps your body achieve better muscular balance in conjunction with chiropractic. Deep tissue is designed to address the unique injury or condition performed by Dr. Barter. Deep tissue work has many benefits including the increase of blood circulation, relaxation of muscles, and balance to the muscles. Deep tissue can also help to increase a patient’s range of motion. |
Copyright by Alternative Family Medicine 2019. All rights reserved.
Copyright by Alternative Family Medicine 2019. All rights reserved.