Riva Sharples | Editor
Once again, Alcester residents needn’t leave town to find quality chiropractic care. Dr. Jonathon Kunz has just opened Alcester Chiropractic & Acupuncture in downtown Alcester, taking over the chiropractic building once owned by Dr. Val, who retired in December. The center is open two days per week, offering a variety of services.
“I offer chiropractic care, acupuncture, dry needling, gua sha (a type of deep, instrument assisted soft tissue therapy), kinesio taping and food sensitivity testing,” Dr. Kunz said. “I also offer a limited number of lab tests including Vit D, Hemoglobin A1C, and Omega-3. I’m also big on high quality supplements. I think it’s super important to make sure you’re not wasting money on synthetic or cheaply made products full of fillers. The supplement industry is not regulated by the FDA and while there are some very good products out there, unfortunately, they are not generally found at the big box stores. … I also offer CBD products from Charlotte’s Web and CBD Clinic which includes a line of topical pain relievers that are incredibly effective.”
Dr. Kunz has been in practice for 21 years in Sioux Falls. There, he owns Wellspring Chiropractic and Acupuncture, located at the intersection of 69th Street and Southeastern Avenue. His Sioux Falls practice will continue three days per week, with him devoting two days per week to practice in Alcester.
Dr. Kunz grew up in Eureka, SD. He and his wife left Sioux Falls 2 ½ years ago for small town living.
“My wife, Emilee, is originally from Alcester, so we decided to move not only to get our kids (an 11-year-old daughter and 7-year-old twin boys) into a smaller school district, but to have the slower, safer, and less hectic lifestyle compared to Sioux Falls,” said Kunz. “My wife still has lots of family around so that’s been fun. She owns a salon in Sioux Falls but has recently started to take a few appointments in Alcester as well. For both of us, it’s been fun starting to give back to the area and provide services that may not have been available before. The first couple of summers here have been a blast with the kids, golfing the local course and finding some fishing holes here and there. Again, it’s a small town, so cruising the golf cart down to the store to get ice cream cones would never be something we could do in Sioux Falls. It’s been a lot of fun getting to know local people–there’s a level of connection here that you just don’t get in a bigger city. After our car accident a few months back, we had so many people reach out with well wishes. People prayed, people brought food, people were constantly reaching out to check on us–what an incredible experience that I just don’t think we would have had if we still lived in Sioux Falls!”
Dr. Kunz purchased the Alcester Chiropractic building from Dr. Val Beeck in December. Since then, he’s made some updates to the building and given it a new look and is ready to see clients.
“We’ve got a warm and inviting front reception area and two treatment rooms–one for chiropractic and one for acupuncture,” Dr. Kunz said. “The result is modern, clean and comfortable. I think people will be surprised when they see the inside. But besides the look and feel of the physical clinic, I’m bringing a whole new set of skills in the way I practice. I always tell patients that the delivery of care is an art and every practitioner practices their art differently. I think some people make the mistake of lumping all chiropractors together and assume if you’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all. That couldn’t be farther from the truth!”
Chiropractic care can treat a variety of ailments.
“I think people are really looking for care that bridges the gap between doing nothing and needing to get on prescription meds or waiting until they need expensive or invasive procedures,” Kunz said. “I’m bringing the same care model that I’ve developed in Sioux Falls to Alcester — one on one care that offers something different than just a wait-and-see approach, pain medications or surgery. Chiropractic care is excellent for providing pain relief, but regular care also prevents pain, which is the key. After we get them feeling good, I love it when patients make the decision to come in for an adjustment every 2, 3, 4 weeks—whatever—and the pain stays away. It’s fun to transition people from always being reactive to being proactive. It’s a difficult mindset though, because our healthcare system is very reactive. People don’t think about going in to see a doctor usually until they are sick. I love to get people thinking about advancing their health and being proactive.”
Some ailments that can be treated with chiropractic care include neck pain, back pain, headaches, sports injuries, sciatica, joint pain, pinched nerve, plantar fasciitis, tennis elbow, and car accident injuries (whiplash and sprain and strains).
Kunz is excited to be offering care in Alcester.
“I feel really good about it,” he said. “It’s been 2 1/2 years in the making. I started talking with Dr. Val after we first moved here. From the outset, I envisioned starting a practice here because I have quite a few people that drive from Alcester and the surrounding communities to see me in Sioux Falls. I knew it would provide a convenience to them if I opened here in Alcester. Plus, it’s been nice not having to commute to Sioux Falls a couple of days a week. It’s nice to drop the kids off at school and pull up to work 2 minutes later!”
For veterans, Kunz offers a special service: he is a provider in the VA Care in the Community Program.
“In a nutshell, the VA provides chiropractic and acupuncture services to their patients at the Sioux Falls VA hospital, but they have a significant backlog and it can be very difficult to get an appointment,” he explains. “As a result, if approved, they will send their patients into the community to receive care. They do it in Sioux Falls, but they will especially do it outside of Sioux Falls where it is more convenient for people to be seen locally. I have been providing chiropractic and acupuncture services to veterans through this program for over 10 years. We are happy to discuss this in more detail if any local veterans are interested.”
Alcester Chiropractic & Acupuncture is open on Tuesdays and Thursdays in Alcester.