By Ben Rodgers
Staff Writer
HOBART – Hobart has a new chiropractor who is ready to make people well again.
Dr. Marie Andree Gelinas, or Dr. Marie as her patients call her, is open for business at Hobart Family Chiropractic on Centennial Centre Boulevard.
“I want to help people with their pain,” Dr. Marie said. “I want to make people feel better.”
She is certified to treat people of all ages, including newborns and toddlers.
“I care for all ages,” she said. “We have newborns, we have elderly people, it’s definitely helping all generations.”
Once she became a mother, Dr. Marie felt the need to help children, so she obtained advanced training for pediatric chiropractic.
“Like everyone else, newborns have vertebrae in their spines that can move out of place and that can affect the nervous system,” she said.
While in the womb, or even during birth, babies can develop problems with their spines.
That can lead to pinched nerves which can cause colic, ear infections and sleep disturbances.
Problems can continue for toddlers as they learn how to walk with the constant falling down.
Older children can face issues with scoliosis, or a sideways curvature of the spine. This can be caused by heavy backpacks.
Dr. Marie is also certified for pregnancy chiropractic care.
“If the pelvis is out of place, it limits the amount of space available in the uterus for the baby and causes discomfort for the mother,” she said.
Part of her training was to be able to identify these problems and how to use a more gentle technique when dealing with children and pregnant mothers.
She also treats adults, who typically have pain after a traumatic event.
Dr. Marie said the worst thing to do is to ignore the back pain, as it will only get worse.
“Some people come in here with back pain and we will take X-rays and find out it was caused due to issues years earlier,” she said. “… If it takes years to get there obviously it’s not one adjustment that will fix it.”
When new patients come in they undergo an exam, a history of the problem, possible causes and X-rays if they are needed. Dr. Marie then sets up a follow up appointment to report her findings.
When she was growing up in in Quebec, Dr. Marie found part time work in an aluminum factory, filling in for adults. After her first summer of work, she had upper back problems and discovered her calling as a chiropractor.
She has been practicing for more than a decade, previously in Neenah and then Green Bay.
That changed when she received a postcard advertising Hobart as open for business.
“I love it here, people are so nice,” she said. “It has that small village feel. I grew up in a small village and it reminds me of that.”
More information about Hobart Family Chiropractic can be found online at hlchiroclinic.com, or on Facebook by searching Hobart Family Chiropractic. They can also be reached by phone at 920-865-7225.