—Daily Freeman-Journal photo by Adri Sietstra Dr. Kyle Heffernan is pictured above Tindall Chiropractic. Heffernan started at the practice last September.

“I’m just really excited to be back in the area,” said Dr. Kyle Heffernan. “When you work hard to become proficient and excel at your craft and then get a chance to move back to an area like this and give back to the area that gave so much to you, it’s a pretty rewarding thing.”

Heffernan, originally from Eagle Grove, is now working alongside Dr. Mike Tindall at Tindall Chiropractic in Webster City.

“To be able to practice with a guy like Dr. Tindall who has practiced at a very high level for as long as he has – he’s one of the best chiropractors in the state and we’re lucky to have him around here.”

Heffernan started at Tindall Chiropractic on Sept. 27. Before returning to his Iowa roots, Heffernan owned his own chiropractic clinic in Apple Valley, MN for the last three years.

“It was a wonderful clinic with a lot of wonderful patients. We were really blessed to have a lot of success up there,” said Heffernan. “With our daughter getting to be five years old – we really liked it up there, it wasn’t anything like that, we wanted a smaller town for her.”

Heffernan, 31, and his wife, Lindsay, have three children; Elsie, 5, Louis, 18 months, and Patrick, four months. Lindsay is the Director of Radiology at Iowa Central Community College.

“With my wife working in Fort Dodge, we could have really gone anywhere in the region, but I just always really like Webster City. I just think it’s a great community, especially to raise kids in. The schools are vibrant and active. There are just a lot of great people here.”

“There’s something about Iowa. I really wanted to raise my kids in Iowa somewhere,” said Heffernan. “It was a tough decision to leave, but that’s what you do for your kids. I wanted my kids to have a real similar upbringing to mine.”

Heffernan’s wife encouraged him to call Dr. Tindall and see if there was a possibility of working at his office.

“One day I just called him up and told him I was thinking about moving back to the area and asked if he had any room in his office for somebody,” Heffernan said.

Tindall, as a matter of fact, did have room.

“This is kind of unique in our profession,” said Heffernan. “There’s not a lot of situations like this.”

After hearing that Tindall had space for a second doctor at his practice, Heffernan jumped at the chance to come back to Iowa.

Heffernan noted his background as an x-ray technician is an added benefit for patients he sees.

“In my young adult life, I grew up working in hospitals and seeing that side of health care so to know how that runs and to have a strong understanding of that, I think really makes me stronger on this side of things.”

Heffernan attended the University of Iowa and got a degree in biology. After graduation, he went on to the Palmer College of Chiropractic in Davenport.

“I started looking at grad schools and knew I wanted to stay in healthcare because that where I had been. I worked in Fort Dodge at the hospital and then in Iowa City at Mercy Hospital because that’s what I liked to do. So I knew I wanted to stay in health care.”

“It just made a lot of sense. It was one of those light bulb moments where I thought, ‘why didn’t I think of this before?'” said Heffernan. “I generally tend to promote a healthy lifestyle and like to be active, so it just kind of fit with what I now do.”

“It’s been great for me to just pair up with him,” said Heffernan. “It’s been a good relationship for everybody.”

Heffernan encourages individuals of all ages to come to the clinic for adjustments.

“In the Twin Cities, we had a really really active pregnancy and pediatric clinic. We still see a lot of pregnant women and babies here, but I think that is something that is a little off people’s radar,” said Heffernan. “Especially after birth is a really important time to get checked out.”

This is a great way to prevent future injury and to foster healthy habits in youth, according to Heffernan.

“I think one of the neatest things about our profession is that my next patient could be a two-day-old infant and the one after that could be a 90-year-old,” said Heffernan. “Just to have that kind of a finesse and technique to go from one end of the spectrum to the other, I think that’s just important to be able to take care of a wide variety of people.”

The birthing process, whether natural or C-section, can take a toll on both the mother and baby, according to Heffernan.

“A lot of times babies might have some nervous system irritation just from the birthing process,” said Heffernan. “It’s pretty intense for the little ones. It’s a really smart thing just to get them checked.”

“We see babies all the time that are not sleeping for good periods of time, fussy or just having a hard time eating. Simple stuff like that,” Heffernan said.

Both doctors also offer DOT physicals

“It’s another service we can offer,” said Heffernan.

Heffernan is available at Tindall Chiropractic on Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Thursday afternoons, and Saturday mornings from 8 a.m. to noon.

Those who wish to set up an appointment can call Tindall Chiropractic at (515) 832-3033. Tindall Chiropractic is located at 1527 Superior St.