Today we’d like to introduce you to Lexi Gessell
Hi Lexi, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
For as long as I can remember I’ve been interested in health. In seventh grade all of the girls in the grade took a trip to Iowa State University to listen to women talk about their careers. I remember listening to the chiropractor talk about her job and thinking that was what I wanted to do! I had gone to chiropractors throughout my childhood so was familiar with the profession but had never considered it until that day. Over the next 10 or so years I never changed my mind. I completed my undergraduate degree in Exercise Science at Minnesota State University, Mankato and then went onto chiropractic school at Northwestern Health Sciences in Bloomington Minnesota.
While in chiropractic school I had a nutrition professor that taught from more of a functional perspective. I remember being very interested in that way of thinking in terms of health and wellness. Chiropractic is amazing and can do a lot for patients but I knew that if I wanted to help people really address the root cause of their chronic illness I would need to learn more.
As I was finishing up with chiropractic school I started looking into education for functional medicine and came across the Institute for Functional Medicine (IFM). Almost immediately upon graduating from chiropractic school, I started the IFM certification program which I worked through for the next two years while also working as a chiropractic associate at Bergren Family Chiropractic in Bovey Minnesota. I completed my certification and became a certified functional medicine practitioner in December of 2023.
In 2024 I decided to break out on my own and open a practice in Grand Rapids. I opened Foundations of Health in October of 2024 where I focus on treating patients with chiropractic and functional medicine. It was always a dream of mine to open my own practice so it has been really exciting to be living out that dream.
I am so passionate about wellness care and it brings me a lot of joy to help patients figure out the root of their chronic illness and give them the tools to bring wellness and function back to their lives.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
I’m currently living out a huge goal I set for myself over 15 years ago – to become a chiropractor and own my own practice. It’s interesting to think about all that it took to get here because it certainly wasn’t easy but I don’t think I ever expected it to be. I was raised by two hard working parents who were business owners so I knew it would take a lot of hard work to get to this point.
I think setting this goal so long ago gave me plenty of time to plan out how I would get here. I enjoy planning and creating lists and then checking things off the list so these past 15 years have really just been an ongoing to do list.
Now that I’ve reached this huge goal I think the biggest challenge will be an ongoing one of continuing to overcome the stigma that “chiropractors aren’t real doctors” or that you can’t treat disease with diet and lifestyle. Providers like me tend to be a last resort option that people seek out once they’ve exhausted all other options in a conventional medicine setting and don’t know what else to do. I’m okay with that though, bring on the challenge.
Thankfully, I think we are at a time where people are learning that they have other options and that there are providers out there that want to help them get to the bottom of their dysfunction instead of just treating their symptoms.
This type of medicine can truly help change peoples’ lives so I plan to continue working through any challenges that come my way in order to be able to offer this type of care to the people who need it.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
I practice chiropractic and functional medicine.
As a chiropractor I treat a wide variety of people but most enjoy working with women during pregnancy as well as infants and children. I am certified in the Webster Technique which is a technique specific to pregnancy that focuses on the pelvis and it’s surrounding muscles and ligaments. The technique creates better motion and alignment within the pelvis which allows optimal space for the baby, which in turn reduces discomfort for the mom. Working with pregnant women is very rewarding because they typically experiences immediate relief after adjustments. I enjoy being a part of their pregnancy journey.
Similarly, children and infants have great results from chiropractic care that is sometimes immediate. They can’t always articulate what they’re feeling so it’s really amazing to see positive symptom and behavior changes after adjustments.
I would say it is the work I do through functional medicine that really sets me apart from other chiropractors in the area. I am the only certified functional medicine practitioner in this area and I am also able to treat people via tele-health in Minnesota and Iowa. As functional medicine becomes more widely talked about more and more people are seeking out that type of care. People are really becoming curious about what is causing their chronic disease. They are tired of trying to treat symptoms with medication that leads to no improvement.
Functional medicine is investigative and educational in nature so my goal is to always look upstream and determine which physiological processes are not functioning as they should and therefore causing imbalances and disease symptoms. I also do my best to educate and help patients understand what is causing their symptoms so they can start to feel more empowered.
I spend a lot of time with people discussing their history in depth, asking questions, going over lab work or diagnostic testing results. My goal is to gather as much information as possible to really be able to look at the person as a whole instead of just individual systems or parts.
Treatment is then very personalized. I focus on optimizing diet and food intake because food is medicine. I give tools to manage stress and to help them become more resilient to the stressors they encounter in their daily life. We work on improving sleep quality because without proper rest and recovery it becomes hard to implement other tools throughout the day. We increase movement and exercise as appropriate and create healthy and supportive relationships. I also utilize supplements and supplement protocols when necessary.
It’s amazing to see the impact that consistent lifestyle changes have on health!
Is there something surprising that you feel even people who know you might not know about?
Something that might surprise people is that I was an athlete through college (unintentionally). My parents signed me up for the local club swim team in Iowa when I was young and fell in love with the sport. I never planned on swimming in college but during my first semester at MSU Mankato I went to open lap swim and the head coach approached me and asked if I wanted to join the team. It was always kind of a funny joke that I was recruited out of lap swim. I ended up joining and swam for the rest of my college career!
Pricing:
- Chiropractic Adjustments: $60 for adults and $25 for children under 12
- Functional Medicine Initial 2 hour Visit: $350
- Functional Medicine Follow-up Visits: $200/hour
- More pricing & visit structure information available on my website
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.foundationsofhealthmn.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/foundationsofhealthmn/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61563934583416
