This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Health & Fitness

For Chiropractic Office, Community's Health Inextricably Intertwined With Its Own

By Heikki (Herb) Perry
Green Alliance Correspondent

SOUTH BERWICK, Maine — Coinciding with an office expansion that further strengthens his ties to the community and the history of the Berwicks, a local chiropractor will celebrate a milestone for his successful and growing practice.

On July 1, Dr. Seth LaFlamme — known to his patients as “Dr. Seth” — and his wife, Dr. Briana Duga — aka “Dr. Bri” — will celebrate the third anniversary of the opening of Great Works Chiropractic & Health with a Hawaiian luau, replete with South Pacific decorations, surf music and tropical fruit. Dr. Seth and staff will wear Hawaiian shirts and leis “just to make it a little fun party while we’re having a regular business day,” he said. Current and potential patients are invited to the event which will be held during normal business hours.

Find out what's happening in Portsmouthwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The day will celebrate not only the success of the practice, but also the people who support it.

“We haven’t done it alone; the community helped us get there,” said Dr. Seth, adding that the public is welcome to check out the celebration.

Find out what's happening in Portsmouthwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

After graduating valedictorian of his class in 2010, Dr. Seth moved home to Maine to start his practice. For him, chiropractic care is not only about simply treating symptoms, but also about treating the overall wellness of a person to the optimal level possible.

Many don't realize that their everyday aches and pains can stem from stressors encountered years prior. The lasting symptoms can take years to surface and, when they do, treating them with pills might not be the answer. Great Works Chiropractic provides holistic alternatives to medication for patients and teaches them about the effects of choices they make can have on themselves and others.

“Chiropractic is a healing art — separate from and outside of medicine — that seeks to correct the underlying cause of health concerns by returning the nervous system to proper function. I do not treat effects or mask symptoms. Your body heals itself," said Dr. Seth. "My job as a chiropractor is to restore law and order."

Dr. Seth welcomes new patients interested in maintaining a healthy lifestyle, currently ill or hurting and those seeking healthier alternatives to wellness.

Bringing sustainability down to the individual level, and spreading awareness, creates a healthier planet for all. Dr. Seth's belief that a healthier world starts with a healthy population is why he joined the Green Alliance, an organization connecting green-minded consumers with businesses that work to lessen their impact on the environment.

Family is the best way to describe the community that Dr. Seth's practice has nurtured. He services whole families, from the eldest member to the newest, each receiving personalized treatment. As a father of three, Dr. Seth's knows it’s important for a child to receive chiropractic care as much as an adult. Even newborns can suffer from misalignment and unintended muscle strains during delivery, especially if forceps are used.

“It’s particularly encouraging that I’m seeing more patients bring their kids in to see me prior to seeking conventional medical care,” he said.

The third anniversary celebrates Great Works Chiropractic’s transformation from its humble beginnings in the living room of a little Berwick house, to a 500-square-foot office on Main Street in downtown South Berwick, to a larger storefront at 249 Main Street to the recent addition and expansion of office space from the adjoining 251 Main St. to the practice.

“The community really came out in force to support us and check out what we had to offer, and has really allowed us to build the kind of space that we wanted for them, and for ourselves, to make a comfortable and nice working environment, and really to have not just a functional space to take care of people, but also a nice space in which to host them. That’s finally come,” said Dr. Seth.

The extra space also will allow Great Works Chiropractic to hold regular seminars looking at a long-term health picture for people. “So, it will be providing what we think is a valuable counterpoint to a lot of the conventional wisdom out there to nutrition, ways to properly move your body, or various aspects of self-care,” Dr. Seth said.

Dr. Seth added that the office “will be a little bit more prominent in a downtown that we love,” and that the practice has doubled its space and has “plenty of elbow room to work in, plenty of space now for those times when it gets busy around here.”

Historically, 249 and 251 Main St. were both one space dating back to the 1800s. So, it was fortuitous that the second day after the expansion was completed, Great Works Chiropractic served as a stop for Hike through History, a South Berwick history program for school children.

“I thought that was kind of neat, that we were helping host an historical event for the school while we were restoring the space to its historical size and restoring the storefront,” said Dr. Seth.

Great Works Chiropractic & Health also sponsors the Strawberry Festival 5-mile run, which takes place June 28 and supports a local pee-wee soccer team as part of its commitment to our community.

“It's really exciting to really become a permanent part of this community and to be able to create a nice space where people can get great care. It’s cool to be three years old. We look forward to being five, and 10 and 20 years old, to have a great space secured for the long haul,” said Dr. Seth.

To learn how you can become a Great Works Chiropractic & Health patient, or get more information, visit www.greatworkschiro.com.

For more information about the Green Alliance, visit www.greenalliance.biz.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?