When Dr. Carolyn Fancher was six years old she was exercising on some gym equipment and had a terrible accident, breaking her neck and back. Her recovery was long but she did find that some level of discomfort was there and in the process of seeking relief discovered chiropractic. She had the great good fortune to be treated by Dr. Dan Lewis in Fremont. What he did changed her life for the better.

"When he adjusted me I saw colors brighter I had just an amazing experience about the third or fourth time he adjusted me he got it just right," Fancher said. That was in 2001. On the day her vision changed she stood up and told him, "I'm going to be a chiropractor." She took information home and eight months later she was going to school.

She's been in the field since 2007 and later joined Dr. Lewis in his office at Healing Hands Chiropractic.

She offers the same specialty in the field, used by Lewis, that is an upper cervical technique called "Atlas Orthogonal". "Orthogonal means balanced at 90 degrees which is what we look at when we look at the head's relationship to the neck," Fancher said. Atlas Chiropractic is the study of the spine with specific concentration on the first bone in the neck, the Atlas vertebrae.

"I use it as the foundational approach to what I do although I work the full spine and correct other things in the spine," she said. It's not a commonly taught technique at chiropractic colleges and requires extra training. "I'm board certified," Fancher said having spent a year in training with the founder of the technique Dr. Roy W. Sweat. The concept is to offer a consistent spinal adjustment regardless of the size of the patient or of the doctor and to provide it using minimal force.

He developed what is called the Atlas Orthogonal Adjusting Instrument which is a table with an adjusting arm that delivers the adjusting impulse through a stylus. They first take X-Rays of the upper neck and calculate what the coordinated vectors are to "slide the Atlas under the head to give the best possible support for the body to correct," Fancher said. "What it allows me to do," she continued, " is to adjust people who typically might not think they could go to a chiropractor." Because no twisting or turning of the neck is required she can even adjust people who have been injured in accidents. "I've seen people in wheelchairs and others who have had tremendous trauma and because the instrument adjusts in a neutral position and is so gentle it allows access to many other people." It permits very finely tuned adjustments.

She will open the office in the beginning of April at 2140 California Ave. s.w. The location "has been a yoga studio for about 12 years," Fancher said. It was formerly known as Temple Yoga and massage.

She spent time walking through various Seattle neighborhoods and kept coming back to West Seattle.

She is planning a website for the business but it is not functional yet.

"Chiropractic is about living your life to the fullest. It's about having your life be the passion that you live.."