Women Today

Women's magazine would like to show all of you the efforts and successes of chiropractors around the area through the Women Who Inspire feature. Today we present Dr. Krhisti Otto and Dr. Aprill Rykal:

Dr. Khristi Otto
Dr. Aprill Rykal
Otto Chiropractic, S.C.
Appleton

Khristi: What made you become a chiropractor? I followed my parents’ path, as they are both chiropractors, as are my brother and sister and 38 other uncles and cousins.
Growing up in a small town in Iowa, I would see patients literally crawling into my parents’ office after working long hours in the fields.
I saw first-hand the dramatic changes in people's conditions in such a small time. I knew that was what I wanted to do as well.

If you could change one thing about your job, what would it be? To have the opportunity to see more patients before back surgery, rather than after.
Once a patient has had back surgery and it fails, it limits the body's ability to regain function as well as eliminate pain without exploring other options.
My heart goes out to those patients whose situation may have been avoided by having other options before surgery.

What is the best part of your job? There are too many to list. I enjoy empowering patients to make a choice regarding their health. I feel like a proud parent when a patient can take the information we give them and make an informed decision on what's best for their individual needs.

Aprill: If you could change one thing about your job, what would it be? That more parents would seek chiropractic care for their children.
It's a common misconception that chiropractic is only for back pain. All the bumps and falls of childhood can cause problems in the spine that often won't show up for years or even decades later.
Imagine being able to save your kids from chronic health problems later in life by having them checked by a chiropractor. So many common ailments seen in kids respond and improve dramatically with chiropractic care.

Do you feel chiropractors get the respect they deserve? I feel that respect has to be earned, regardless of your profession or your title.
I believe that if I am caring for my patients to the best of my ability, then respect follows.

Where do you see your profession heading? Definitely up. More people are searching for a different form of health care that sees them as a whole person, rather than just broken pieces and parts.
Word about the benefits of chiropractic care is spreading and our profession has one of the highest patient satisfaction ratings out there.
I can only see it growing as more people experience first-hand the positive impact chiropractic care has on their health and the health of their families.