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If you like a more feminine touch during your chiropractic visits, Dr. Kara Birdwell is the person you need to see.

Birdwell, daughter of long-time Maryville chiropractor Dr. Joseph Birdwell, is now practicing with her father at the Maryville office on E. Lamar Alexander Parkway. She received her undergraduate degree at Lenoir-Rhyne College in Hickory, N.C., and received her Doctor of Chiropractic in February this year from Palmer College of Chiropractic, Davenport, Iowa.

Birdwell is believed to be the only female chiropractor in Blount County, according to Denice Birdwell, office manager -- and Kara's mother.

"I grew up with chiropractic," Kara said recently, with her father and two uncles in the profession. "I knew anytime I felt a little bit of sickness coming on, I needed to get adjusted. In college, of course, I needed to try my own thing but I spent most of my time talking to people about chiropractic and was more passionate about chiropractic than I was about my own field. I decided three weeks before graduation that I needed to switch gears. It was a good thing that I had chiropractic in the back of mind because I took classes just in case I switched so I could switch easier. I was originally in communications, broadcast journalism. Completely different."

Relieving 'traffic jam'

Birdwell said the biggest draw to her of her field is to help people feel better.

"Everything is connected," she explained. "It's kind of like an interstate system. The cars are flowing, going to different organs, muscles, everything working, making it all flow. Now, if there's a little bit of congestion, a traffic jam, things start slowing down, things don't operate properly. You may start feeling pain, getting headaches or feeling sick. What chiropractic does is try to clear up that traffic jam, get the flow going to the nerves again."

Chiropractic is defined by the American Chiropractic Association (www.amerchiro.org) as a health care profession that focuses on disorders of the musculoskeletal system and the nervous system, and the effects of these disorders on general health. Chiropractic care is used most often to treat neuromusculoskeletal complaints, including but not limited to back pain, neck pain, pain in the joints of the arms or legs, and headaches. Chiropractors practice a drug-free, hands-on approach to health care that includes patient examination, diagnosis and treatment.

The most common therapeutic procedure performed by doctors of chiropractic is known as "spinal manipulation," also called "chiropractic adjustment." The purpose of manipulation is to restore joint mobility by manually applying a controlled force into joints that have become restricted in their movement as a result of a tissue injury. Tissue injury can be caused by a single traumatic event, such as improper lifting of a heavy object, or through repetitive stresses, such as sitting in an awkward position with poor spinal posture for an extended period of time. In either case, injured tissues undergo physical and chemical changes that can cause inflammation, pain and diminished function for the sufferer. Manipulation, or adjustment of the affected joint and tissues, restores mobility, thereby alleviating pain and muscle tightness, and allowing tissues to heal.

Staying well

Birdwell provided some words of advice to help people manage their own health.

"Definitely, first off is posture," she said. "Proper posture is a good thing -- sitting up straight, standing up straight, shoulders back. Always lift with your knees, instead of bending from the waist."

The most frequent visits to a chiropractor take place in fall and spring.

"In the fall when people are raking leaves and then again when mowing season starts, people are planting and mowing," Birdwell said. "Take it easy, and ice (affected joints). Ice helps keep the inflammation and swelling to a minimum."

The most common complaints heard by chiropractors are pain in the lower back and headaches. Treatment begins with an exam followed by X-rays, if needed, to see if chiropractic can help with the problem.

"And then we adjust," Birdwell said, describing an adjustment as spinal manipulation either manually or with a DTS table, a therapeutic table that is connected to a computer to electronically stretch and decompress the spinal structures. "It puts the spine in alignment and relaxes the muscles around the bones, takes the pressure off the nerves."

According to the Birdwell Chiropractic Web site at birdwellchiropractic.com, chiropractic does more than just treat back pain. Because the body's innate recuperative powers are affected by and integrated through the nervous system, correcting spinal abnormalities which irritate the nervous system can lead to favorable results in patients suffering from various, seemingly non-spinal health conditions.

"The whole body system in general is just a very intricate thing," Birdwell said. "We worked with cadavers and it was very interesting to see the different layers of the body and how everything was connected."

Good to be home

Birdwell said she has enjoyed working in the family business with her mom, dad and brother, Josh, who handles computer issues. Her father's input has been very valuable.

"I feel comfortable asking him questions and that's a big plus," Birdwell said. "He's been in practice for 33 years and he's seen just about everything."

Is it difficult working with your parents?

"Not really," Birdwell said. "Some of the things my dad can do, I've had to change so I can do them."

Being a female in a male-dominated profession hasn't been an obstacle.

"As far as people's opinions, I haven't really seen a big difference," Birdwell said. "I think sometimes they would rather see a female because they feel like a female will listen to them better than a male will."

Denice Birdwell agreed, saying, "She's definitely had requests, to see 'Dr. Birdwell, the daughter.' There are definitely people who want a female chiropractor working on them."

Although some people believe chiropractic isn't effective, Birdwell said, "Don't knock it until you try it. We've heard it all. People come in here every day and they walk away very happy, take back words they've previously said."