This review is on Dr. Jon Bjarnason, who has just joined this location. Let me tell you the story…read morehow he saved my sanity and why Dr. Jon is a superhero.
I first met Dr. Bjarnason in September 2015 and I was at a pretty low point. Despite having a chronic pain condition, I was actually being derailed by freak symptoms. My life was being taken over by constant migraines and multiple dizzy spells each day, that had come out of nowhere. After 10 months of seeing multiple specialists and having countless tests done, I was feeling pretty desperate.
All these specialists were telling me that the sudden onset of symptoms was a mystery and I would probably never know the reason, nor would they go away. I was in constant pain, my vision would blur while driving or doing equally scary things, I felt like my life was hijacked and nobody was helping me- it was terrifying and my quality of life was diminished significantly.
Dr. Bjarnason was the very first person to have a reasonable diagnosis that he arrived at by just talking to me and looking at me. He is very diligent, so this was confirmed by x rays.
The best part for me was he didn't want to keep pumping me full of pills or do a surgery, and he had a logical explanation for why these symptoms came on suddenly and took over my life, despite having no past history.
To be honest I found the idea of seeing any chiropractor very unnerving and I was extremely nervous about the idea of adjustments. I really had no reason to think poorly of chiropractors, I didn't know anyone who had a bad experience, nor did I have a bad experience, I just got it in my head that it wasn't for me.
I was originally looking for a massage therapist when I met him, and he just happened to care enough to get to the bottom of the situation. That was fantastic... but it didn't mean I thought I was ready to let go of my OCD tendencies and have someone put their hands on my neck! The thought filled me with a lot of anxiety, mostly because I hadn't really considered it before.
I could see his patients in the waiting room loved him, but that didn't make me feel much better about the idea of getting adjusted myself either. I was thrilled to finally know what was wrong with, especially since it was physical and could be managed with treatment... but I was still really scared.
It's kind of shocking to learn you've lost 40 degrees of curvature in your neck and kind of creepy to know your upper vertebrae are putting pressure on your brain stem leading to all these crazy symptoms and basically bringing you to your knees. I had been through hell though, and deep down I wanted to exhaust all options and believe that there was a way to be myself again.
He consulted with me multiple times without adjusting me until I was comfortable with it, which I highly doubt could be said at most places! A patient volunteered to be adjusted while I watched the process. She was clearly satisfied and relaxed, but I felt startled. I've told that specific story a few times and it always makes me laugh now. Let's just say that after doing a lot of research, talking to lots of people with experience and him explaining the process many times, I finally gave it a chance- THANK GOD!
It took me a few times to get used to it, I'm a high strung person by nature, so I'm terrible at relaxing. My symptoms were pretty severe, and due to my work schedule I took things slower than recommended, but I started to see a change after a few weeks of adjustments and doing assigned exercises. Eventually, I was actually having some migraine free days.
Around that time I also noticed my body wasn't just responsive to the treatments, but had loosened enough that I could start picking up on signals and sometimes head off the symptoms before they fully developed. I started to learn what activities I was doing that would bring them on. He helped me eventually see true causes, instead of solely responding to triggers.
In case you can't tell yet, Dr. Bjarnason is amazing! He is very patient, asks the right questions, listens to me thoughtfully and does careful adjustments.
He also makes suggestions on therapy and everyday things like posture, or how to do activities differently to help. It's not the same thing every time, he tailors your visit to your actual needs. I feel educated and relieved when I leave a session, instead of confused about what was done and why.
Things aren't exactly the same as before everything started, but the progress is mind boggling! I got my life back, I got hope back, and it was such a relief. I eventually found the sweet spot in frequency that allowed me to go for maintenance more often than an emergency.
I trust him implicitly and have recommended him to several acquaintances, but would 110% recommend him to anyone, especially someone who has never met a chiropractor before and is anxious about it like I was.
If you only ever meet or get treated by one chiropractor, I pray it's him.
