As part of my health and wellness journey, also know as “the keep Brad sane plan,” I check in with physiotherapists, chiropractors, and massage therapists and ask them to perform their magic on me. Since moving to our new location, I have become a patient, and dare I say friend, of Dr. Shenaigh Newman (on Twitter @drshenaigh) a chiropractor who practices at ChiroCare Centre in Edmonton.

I tease Dr. Newman about being my witch doctor but I have really appreciated her help with a handful of injuries I have had. I like how she’s patient focused, doesn’t take herself too seriously, and she laughs at my jokes. Recently, I had the crazy idea that I would interview her about being healthy and share her answers with all of you so that we can both become internet famous.

These are the last five of ten questions. You should read the first five if you missed them.

BD: Let’s say I’m not injured, should I come see you anyway?

SN: I am a firm believer in something called “maintenance care.” Most of my patients live very active lifestyles either at work or at home and in order to continue doing what they love, they find that seeing me every month or so can really enhance their performance or help them stay pain-free. For example, I have a patient who used to get migraines once a week. Once she started to see me the migraines went away. She now comes in every six weeks for preventative treatment and no longer gets migraines. Once she missed an appointment because she was sick and the next week, her migraine returned. Now this doesn’t mean that every patient would respond like this but it is what this patient has found works for her.

I also find that if I am seeing someone on a fairly regular basis then if they do get injured somehow, then they tend to respond to the treatment quicker than if I hadn’t seen them in awhile. For patients like you that are really active, I find that they benefit from seeing me every few weeks so I can check how everything is moving and help prevent injury if there is some dysfunction building that may cause pain in the future.

BD: If someone wanted to fight crime, what key exercises should they do? I’m asking for a friend.

SN: Not the Superman! A superhero requires a lot of strength and stamina so focus on any exercises that work the muscles while giving them a good cardio workout as well.

BD: Do you see different injuries between men and women? What can we learn from each other?

SN: I find that traditionally women come in a lot sooner than men do when they start feeling pain. I’ll usually need less treatments with women because they’re not as bad as when the men come in. Women also usually listen better and will do the education or rehab exercises I prescribe them. Usually my male patients come in with an acute pain (from shovelling or lifting something at work) where they cannot move and their wife made them come in or I see them with chronic pain (usually from doing something at the gym) and their wife was sick of hearing their husband complain and they make them come in. Either way, they’re usually really happy when I can help them out!

BD: As a patient, how can I make your life easier?

SN: Referrals always help! Also reviewing me and the clinic on Google and Facebook would be awesome. The best form of advertising is word-of-mouth! I really love what I do and want to be able to help as many people as I possibly can.

BD: When you become a rich and famous chiropractor, do you think that will change you?

SN: Of course. Mansions and Ferrari’s all around. Haha! But honestly- I went into this profession to help people, not make money so I hope that I can continue to do that throughout my career.

I hope this interview was helpful as you pursue your journey towards health and wellness.