Dr. Tom’s Inspiration…
Dr. Tom Schmidt, Life Wellness Center founder, was exposed to Chiropractic care as a teenager.
It was senior year on the football field. A very good season meant the Rosemount High Irish had their eye on the state championships. Three weeks out, Tom went down on the field. X-rays at the ER revealed a severe ankle sprain. The prognosis? Out for four to six weeks! Not acceptable to this devoted three-sport athlete.
“At that time in my life, sports was my reason for existence so I was determined to get back onto the field and help my team to get to State,” recalls Tom. A coach advised him to see a sports Chiropractor. The Chiropractor, after 3 days of acute inflammation, had him walking on it. “He was adjusting it and doing therapies to speed the healing process and get me back on the field.” After only two weeks Tom was back in the game.
“This being my first experience with Chiropractic, I felt awakened to a whole new way of thinking,” says Tom. “I realized there are potentially differing views on the treatment of sports injuries.” After graduation, he played college football and pursued a chiropractic career. He earned a major in biology and a minor in chemistry at Concordia College Moorhead Minnesota (1994), continued to Chiropractic College at Northwestern Health Sciences University (1998), and founded Life Wellness Center in 1999, where he serves as a Doctor of Chiropractic and Clinic Director.
During his Chiropractic college years he realized his path lay in combining the disciplines of Chiropractic, physical therapy and massage therapy. “My reasoning for this was that a problem with someone’s spine or other joints commonly involves muscles: some too tight, some not strong enough. So combining the disciplines–joint alignment (chiropractic), stretched and loosened tight muscles (massage therapy) and strengthened weak or inhibited muscles (physical therapy)–would help patients get better faster, and–importantly–stay better!”
In 2005 Life Wellness expanded from 1600 square feet to 7200 square feet, combining these disciplines as well as adding a full workout gym with Puravida fitness to offer patients exercise plans after completing treatment. They’ve also have added a doctor-supervised weight-loss component to the clinic, because excess weight is often a core contributor to back pain.
The two Life Wellness clinics, in Lakeville and Eagan, focus on patients who are motivated to get well and stay well, from the elite athlete to the workout mom. Says Dr. Tom, “because of my introduction to chiropractic being from my high school coach, we support, partner with and sponsor many local sport teams and develop relationships with as many coaches as possible.”
One of the greatest legacies Tom carries from high school remains: “I had a couple of special coaches as a youth who helped me see that hard work on and off the field leads to greater results on in sports and in life. I’m very grateful for that.”
If you are looking for a chiropractor who’s passionate about athletes young and old, please give us a call to schedule an appointment today. We’re here to help you get back in the game (pun intended)!