Sudbury chiropractor targets chronic pain and how to treat it

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There’s a new chiropractor in town. But Michelle Myre sees the health profession as much more than the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of mechanical disorders of the musculoskeletal system. Part health coach and part patient advocate, Myre strives to help patients achieve better mobility, empowering them with knowledge and skills to continue the work she initiates in her office.

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“I’m the catalyst to help you get there,” Myre said about her role in a patient’s journey to better health. “Then I send you home with the tools to continue to work on yourself for the rest of the day.”

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Born and raised in Sudbury, Myre is a first-generation Canadian whose mother is from Mexico City. She attended high school in Hanmer, winning a Governor General medal, went on to study health promotion at Laurentian University and then ventured across the border to Northwestern Health Sciences University in Bloomington, Minn., on a full scholarship to study chiropractic care. She graduated at the top of her class and moved back to Sudbury to start her practice, now working out of Emote Yoga Wellness Studio in the city’s south end.

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“It’s been a wild ride, but I’m on cloud nine,” said Myre about her journey to reach her professional goals.

She said it was only through OSAP and scholarships that she was able to pursue her studies because she didn’t have the financial means to pay for her education.

“You can do anything you put your mind to,” she said.

In addition to starting her own practice, Myre is working on a memoir with the hope of inspiring others to overcome adversity.

“I don’t want anyone to sell themselves short or hit a barrier and say they can’t move forward,” she said. “If I did that, I wouldn’t have gone to Laurentian, I wouldn’t have gone to Northwestern, I wouldn’t have become a chiropractor or open my own business.”

Interest began at pharmacy

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Myre’s interest in chiropractic care started while working in a pharmacy during her studies at Laurentian.

“I would see people coming in for one prescription for pain and then maybe a month later, it was a higher dose,” she said. “Then a year later, there were two different prescriptions.”

Myre worked at the pharmacy for four years and witnessed the amount and types of medications prescribed increase. She noted one common thread: chronic pain.

“Just seeing the multiplication of meds and knowing that the original dosage was for pain relief, I remember thinking to myself, there must be a better way that we can deal with pain,” she said.

Myre investigated chiropractic care as a possible next step in her education. She considered medical school but opted for the holistic approach to wellness.

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Although the chiropractic school she attended specialized in sports chiropractic care, Myre furthered her education to provide care for babies, children and patients during pregnancy.

For Myre, chiropractic care goes beyond providing adjustments; she approaches wellness holistically. She is a firm believer in the power of stretching and relaxation.

“I always say, you’ve glued yourself together, now you have to relax,” she said.

“I feel we live in this society where everything is on fast forward. From the moment we wake up to the moment we go to bed, we’re checking notifications. Then if you go on social media, you’re just not good enough.”

Myre said teaching her patients to breathe, and “loosening what’s tight” to produce a calm body, is the first step. Once that is achieved, she goes to work on strengthening. “It’s about rehabilitative care where maybe when you walk, your knee hurts because your glute needs to fire up a little more,” she explained.

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And when it comes to health care, Myre said it takes a village. The more people on your health-care team, whether that includes a chiropractor, naturopath, physician, or nurse practitioner, the better.

Myre said many of her patients are women with back pain who have been through the “washing machine” of the health-care system, living with chronic pain. Myre said she plays the role of investigator and advocates for her patients’ health, encouraging them to obtain referrals and diagnostic scans for proper diagnoses.

And to those people with a preconceived notion of what the health profession is all about, she has this to say: “Chiropractic care is a huge spectrum. If you don’t want any noises or manual adjustments, it doesn’t have to be a manual adjustment. We could do manual therapy while working on the muscles or we can adjust the joints with my activator or through mobilizing.

“I talk you through the whole process, so nothing is a surprise.”

You can find Myre at www.thesudburychiropractor.ca or follow her on social media at @thesudburychiropractor.

The Local Journalism Initiative is made possible through funding from the federal government.

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X: @SudburyStar

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