Dr. Ramona Pleva, owner of Northern Lights Chiropractic, offers technology-driven services that transcend the idea that chiropractic care is only a means of relieving pain, improving range of motion and enhancing overall physical function. It is true that by using controlled adjustments to the spinal column, she can help a patient resolve low back pain, neck pain, chronic headaches and other similar issues, but in addition to pain management, there has also been research suggesting that chiropractic care can alleviate symptoms of some types of mental illness.

            Pleva states, “As a chiropractor, my scope of practice focuses on the brain and the nervous system. When the brain is out of balance, we can address some of those imbalances with the new technologies that we’re offering in our office.” Wireless Audio Video Interaction (WAVi) is a multifaceted tool comprising a helmet with 20 electrodes for practitioners to measure brain performance. Northern Lights is the only clinic in northern Michigan that offers it.

            “This is brain scanning technology,” says Pleva. “What it does is it helps to measure the electrical activity in the brain. (It tells) whether the brain is functioning well, in a balanced manner; and if (the brain) is not balanced, why is that? Somebody might be suffering with PTSD or they might have anxiety and depression, and the electrical activity in the brain can shift when people are struggling with these types of imbalances.” She sees WAVi primarily as an assessment tool that can offer a pathway for treatment or even show whether that treatment pathway is having the intended effect in as little as 30 minutes.

            Another innovation, the drug-free, pain-free Clarity Chair, uses sensory therapy to harness the brain’s neuroplasticity in as little as five days. Treatments are intended to help the brain heal and improve its own function by exposing the patient to simulated sensory experiences. “The brain has to take in information from the world around us, assess it, and then respond accordingly,” Pleva says. “If there is something that is deficient in our ability to sense the world around us, our response (to sensory impulses) is going to be aberrant or sometimes a little off-kilter.” Northern Lights is the only clinic in the Midwest with a Clarity Chair and one of only 11 clinics in the United States.

            Pleva is hoping to get a proof-of-concept demonstration for the WAVi and Clarity Chair technologies in the form of a new pilot program aimed at helping veterans struggling with PTSD through a foundation called Where the Light Is, with a focus on giving veterans access to alternative treatments.

Northern Lights Chiropractic is located at 510 Depot View Dr., Unit 13, in Traverse City. For appointments and more information, call 231-668-5050 or visit RamonaPlevaDC.com.