Doug Hare EBS Staff
BIG SKY – Since moving to Big Sky four years ago, Dr. Andrea Wick has been using her hands and chiropractic knowledge to heal Big Sky locals. Whether patients are suffering from physical ailments like ski injuries or mental maladies like headaches, Wick is confident in her ability to help patients heal, or refer them to a health professional who can.
After visiting Yellowstone National Park and skiing Big Sky Resort with her father at the age of 14, Wick said she fell in love with this part of the country. “I had a picture of Lone Peak in my locker in high school,” the Big Bend, Wisconsin, native said. When looking for a place to practice her craft, Big Sky was on top of her list.
After operating out of Santosha Wellness Center, Wick opened her own shop, Healing Hands Chiropractic in the Meadow Village in December. She combines her background in chiropractic studies with functional applied kinesiology, a form of muscle testing that identifies the root cause of patients’ diseases and dysfunctions.
“With chiropractic or kinesiology, what we learn is that we are not treating a symptom or disease, we are treating the cause of the symptoms or disease,” says Wick about her holistic approach.
As an undergraduate at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, having issues with her own immune system, Wick found herself on a regimen of different medications with no clear diagnosis. “My mom and dad are both in the medical field … Finally my mom said, ‘Let’s try something else.’ And I went to see an applied kinesiologist,” she said.
After seeing a dramatic improvement in her health, Wick decided to change her career path from pharmacology to chiropractic. Chiropractors try to find the underlying cause of “subluxation” by analyzing the structural integrity of the spine. Although the field is considered by some as an “alternative” form of medicine, Wick is quick to note that recent studies have given chiropractors much more credibility in the medical world.
According to at least one of Wick’s patients, she has a uniquely healing touch.
“Unlike other chiropractors I’ve seen, [Wick] does more than structural realignment, which can be a temporary fix. She looks at all factors that can contribute to your individual problems—diet, allergies, emotions—treating the problem from the inside out,” said Jill McNamara, a patient who affectionately refers to her as “Dr. Dre.”
With a broad arsenal of naturopathic cures on hand and chiropractic skills learned from leaders in the field, Wick says her techniques have alleviated pain and inflammation, digestive issues, depression, ADHD, anxiety, hormonal imbalances, skin disorders, headaches, fatigue and other problems without prescription drugs.
Wick recommends realignments about every six weeks in order to prevent illness and help the body function at an optimal level. While there is a misperception that realignments might be painful or scary, patient-by-patient, Wick tries to show people that chiropractors can be gentle and offer immediate relief to a host of health problems.
Healing Hands Chiropractic is located at 145 Center Lane, Unit B in Big Sky’s Meadow Village Center.
