The main method of chiropractic care used in our clinic is called Gonstead.  Gonstead chiropractic care offers specific analysis of your problem with gentle corrections made by your doctor's hands.  The Gonstead method boasts excellent results with conditions like low back pain, neck pain, numbness, arm or leg pain, headaches and herniated or bulged discs.  Because of the accuracy and monitoring methods of Gonstead, we can take care of extremely complicated cases with confidence, like post-surgery cases, or patients who haven't responded to chiropractic care in the past.  It's this method of chiropractic that has helped Dr. Levesque, DC to get such great results with many degenerative disc, disability and fibromyalgia cases.

Gonstead represents the ultimate standard in "hands on" spinal adjusting and remains the leader in chiropractic techniques. Adhering to the definition of true chiropractic as defined by D. D. Palmer, the founder of Chiropractic in 1895, Dr. Gonstead found there was no substitute or better method for analyzing or correcting spinal misalignments than with a pair of skilled chiropractic hands. This remains true today.

Dr. Clarence S. Gonstead (1898-1978) began practicing chiropractic in 1923 in Mt. Horeb, Wisconsin, a small farming community of 1,200 residents in south central Wisconsin.  Dr. Gonstead's reputation spread throughout the state, the country and ultimately around the world, as a multitude of patient's health problems were corrected remarkably fast by his brand of chiropractic treatment.  Hundreds of patients were seeking his care on a daily basis, and with his dedication to helping these patients, Dr. Gonstead worked from 8 a.m. to midnight six days a week plus every Sunday morning from 5 to 10 a.m. to be able to accommodate these growing patient numbers.  When Dr. Gonstead's schedule was at the limit of his physical capability, he knew the only solution to meet the public's health needs on the scale the public was demanding, was to build an unparalleled chiropractic treatment facility and staff it with Gonstead trained associates. 

The Gonstead Clinic of Chiropractic, completed in 1964, was the third and final clinic Dr. Gonstead would design and treat patients from in this little town of Mt. Horeb before his death in 1978. Dr. Gonstead built the largest chiropractic facility in the world. A 22,000 square foot clinic, it had a waiting room to seat over100 patients, 11 adjusting rooms, x-ray facilities and lab, and a lower level to hold Chiropractic seminars. It was to become the most renowned chiropractic facility in the world. Next to his new clinic, Dr. Gonstead added a 78 room, full-service motel to accommodate the clinic's numerous long distance patients. Dr. Gonstead and his fellow staff members attended 300 to 400 patients on a daily basis. This huge following of patients led Dr. Gonstead to start the Gonstead Seminar of Chiropractic, helping to teach and develop even more Chiropractors in the art and philosophy of the Gonstead system of chiropractic treatment.

The Gonstead practitioner is well educated in the teachings and application of this tremendously successful technique and case management system. Beyond the eight years of chiropractic and college education required to become a Chiropractor, followed by national and state board licensing requirements to be a practicing Chiropractor, the Gonstead practitioner has spent additional time attending Gonstead Seminars to help perfect their application of chiropractic within the Gonstead System. For example, to achieve "Diplomat" status in the Gonstead System, a minimum of 200 hours of class room and practical study must be completed through the seminar. Testing and evaluation by the Gonstead Staff must also be passed. As a patient, to be treated by an individual who has achieved the status of diplomat, you are insured of receiving the Gonstead System as intended by Dr. Gonstead and the current staff of the Gonstead Seminar.  Dr. Levesque, DC has nearly 700 hours of extra study from the Gonstead Seminar (he has been to 40 Gonstead Seminars) and practices Gonstead as his main treatment at Blue Ridge Family Chiropractic.

The Gonstead Doctor has set the standard in Chiropractic for patient examination and treatment.  Examination of the patient includes complete patient history, static palpation, motion palpation, instrumentation of the spinal column, orthopedic and neurological testing, x-ray analysis and, if necessary, laboratory analysis.  When all this information is combined, a trained Gonstead Doctor will immediately let you know if your health situation is a Chiropractic case.  If it is not, a referral to the appropriate health provider will be given.  If your case is a Chiropractic case, the trained Gonstead practitioner's goal is to utilize the dynamics of the effectual Gonstead Specific Adjustment to get you back to optimal health as quickly as possible, with no "pre-planned" treatment programs.  The goal of a Gonstead practitioner is to get a patient back on the road to health as quickly as possible and then leave the patient alone.