Meeting Dr. Emily Canfield has been one of the most important events of the past six months for me. As you may know, I experienced a shoulder injury (a torn labrum) that took me out of work last summer. I was convinced that my AC joint was compromised, although the X-rays didn’t reveal that in the ER. I had a brief recuperation time, but returned before I was healed due to financial necessity. Seven or eight months later, I transitioned into a different space and practice while I prepared to go out on my own with Honeybee Healing Arts. I was physically depleted, feeling pain in areas that surprised me. It was sudden low back pain that brought me to Dr. Emily, which she resolved quickly and efficiently, but there was so much more to her approach than I’d expected.
Dr. Emily performed the most thorough and thoughtful intake exam I have experienced in at least a decade, perhaps longer. After listening to my health background, she took X-rays. She walked me through what she was seeing, including noting that at some point I’d had muscle damage in the left side of my neck and the tendons hadn’t healed in exactly the right places (which made a lot of sense to me, having had several instances of neck trauma that came readily to mind). I felt included in the process. I felt that my subjective experience of my body was respected and allowed to complete the picture for her objective analysis. With that level of communication established, we approached the table. She adjusted me, addressing my right clavicle and adjusting the AC joint — after eight months, my shoulder felt like it was in the right place again! I was absolutely elated!
I have been seeing her more consistently than I have ever seen a healthcare practitioner before. In addition to helping me heal my shoulder, she has relieved me of so many other issues that have presented themselves. I was in excruciating pain with what I suspected might be carpal tunnel syndrome, barely able to exert pressure with my left hand. Dr. Emily applied kinesiotape to my elbow, explaining that it would help by lifting the skin, improving circulation, and providing supplemental support so the underlying structures could experience less strain. After two days, my arm was pain-free and fully functional again, all strength restored. Also, I have had issues with my left knee since elementary school and with my left ankle since I was hit by a car several years ago and tore ligaments. She has adjusted both, which has helped restore and maximize function. She has adjusted my SI joints (at the sacrum), which has improved the balance of my walk. She has adjusted my ribs, which has done wonders for my ability to breathe without restriction (an issue for me since having had a severe respiratory infection two years ago, which was treated successfully last May with Visceral Manipulation, but which has been bothering me since the humidity has increased again this summer).
I cannot express how much working with her has benefited me. She’s remarkably knowledgeable about anatomy and physiology, which is incredibly important! (My range of experiences with nearly a dozen chiropractors has included an individual who misidentified ‘pecs’ as ‘lats,’ which are among the more commonly recognized muscles, and this mistake, along with her cookie-cutter, spine-only, no-palpation approach, destroyed my confidence in her expertise. My other experiences have been on a spectrum between that experience and my experiences with Dr. Emily.) Dr. Emily is exceptionally efficient, effective, and professional, and beyond that, has a warm and welcoming demeanor. She genuinely cares, and that in itself is transformative. It’s a joy to find someone who relates to the body with as much humor and geekery as I do. I feel so fortunate to have found her!
