Dr. Alaina Rowswell-Kulikowski is our leasing owner. Her passion is to help families from conception to college pursue optimal health. A native of Grand Island, Dr. Alaina felt God’s calling on her life for a ministry of healing.

   After completing her undergraduate studies at SUNY Brockport, She graduated in 1990 from Palmer University-West in San Jose California. At that time, females in chiropractic constituted  2% of providers. It seemed a natural progression that Dr. Alaina provided chiropractic care for pregnant women and children.

  As chiropractic grew as a profession and specialty education opportunities were promoted,  Dr. Alaina was a founding mother for present chiropractic accreditation associations in pediatric as well as pre and postnatal care. The ICA (International Chiropractic Association) Council on Pediatrics,  The ICPA (International Chiropractic Pediatric Association) and the ACA (American Chiropractic Association) Pediatric Council * all began to offer post graduate education that she attended. She learned from Dr Webster a “breech turning” technique that later became Webster’s technique of Pregnancy.  She learned CranioSacral Therapy from Drs. Carol Phillips, Don Cohen and Upledger Institute. She learned specific non surgical scoliosis techniques and many other specific pediatric techniques. In late 2001 she completed her board examination that culminated in Pediatric Board Certification in 2002.  She has authored in the JCCP Pediatric journal as well has had the opportunity to teach in the International Pediatric Conference.

Dr. Alaina is a humble follower of Jesus her King.  She enjoys worship, reading her bible, playing guitar,working in the nursery at church, leading WYLDlife (Jr. high ministry) on Grand Island, skiing, community theater, dancing, enjoying the Niagara River and visiting her extensive family.  Her husband Kevin is the area director of Buffalo North Young Life.  They have 3 grown children that bring them joy beyond measure.

Please follow the navigational tabs to learn more of the services she provides.

Chiropractic care for Children

Reflexive Locomotion

Craniosacral Therapy

Oral Facial Airway Integration

Myomunchee

Pregnancy and chiropractic

Non Surgical Scoliosis Technique

Dr. Alaina is happy to take care of Pediatric patients and women during the pre and post natal period.  However, she has limited any new patient care exclusively to this demographic.

*1. Www.icapediatrics.com, https://icpa4kids.com, acapedscouncil.org

All parents want to maximize their children’s health and would like them to achieve an optimal state. There are 4 major strategies that parents can implement for that goal. 1st and foremost is the understanding that the child’s brain and nervous system controls and coordinates every function of the body. The immune system, nervous system, circulatory system,  lymphatic system, and the glymphatic system are the information highway for keeping your child healthy.

 The cranium, the spinal column, and all of our joints encapsulate these highways. If there is a lack of joint motion, or joint interaction, then that information highway is compromised. The Chiropractic adjustment is designed  to restore that information by restoring normal movement to those joints.

   When your infant or child visits the chiropractor, an extensive history is required from parents. The doctor will also talk with a child if they are of age.  Sometimes, it is difficult to communicate with children when they are pre verbal, so reflexes are used to assess.  After a thorough examination, the chiropractor will determine whether adjusting joints will help your child to gain optimal health. As long as there are no contraindications then a treatment plan can be formulated immediately.

 While it is important to note any symptoms, discomfort, or dysfunction, all children can benefit from improving joint motion that is restricted.  Treatment plans vary by individual.  Once a maintenance level of  Chiropractic care is established, if the child experiences any trauma, falls, or illness, often that treatment plan will need to be re assessed for frequency.

A 2nd strategy is to be vigilant about what goes into your child’s body that influences health. Your chiropractor has unique education to be able to maximize your child’s nutritional journey. From breastfeeding and childhood food allergies, to protein intolerance and digestive issues, your chiropractor can influence and educate your family on a healthy lifestyle.

Exercise is the 3rd strategy for optimal health. Of course it is imperative to limit a child’s screen time. Getting children involved in various sports, martial arts, dance and movement is super important. However, injuries arise when fatigue, growth spurts, difficulty with sensory processes or proprioception challenge our developing children. A chiropractor is a great resource when those challenges arise.

 Last but certainly not least you want your children to be raised in a loving, positive, and supportive environment where there is a connection between parents and children and a purpose of serving others. You will always want to ensure that your children feel safe and protected. This creates a sense of well being for children to flourish. Children are designed to be healthy but the better understanding we have as parents the more we will be able to take control and make better decisions for their health and well being

Vaclav Vojta was a physician from Czechoslovakia who discovered that it was possible to trigger reflexive locomotion. Being able to provoke reflexes in healthy newborns and then adults he documented  innate motor patterns of locomotion.  Vojta developed a method that allows easy access to these elementary patterns whereby the doctor selectively presses certain areas of the body as a stimulus with a response of movement complexes.  These complexes initiate ambulatory function to assist with locomotion.

Looking at these reflexes throughout the first year of life gives the chiropractic provider insight into the nervous system and how it develops. Knowing what reflexes to test and what to expect at developmental milestones enables proper chiropractic diagnosis and care.  In many cases of children that face challenges of developmental milestones,  this technique helps to get the child back on track for locomotion development of sitting, crawling and walking.

Dr. Alaina is one of the Myomunchee certified practitioners in Western New York.  A visit to the following web page can be extremely helpful.  https://myomunchee.com/

After becoming familiar with the Myomunchee story https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-_WT-3HW3E

Dr. Alaina was moved to further her education in Chiropractic to help children exercise their jaw, enhance their cranial movement while improving their dental occlusion with the Myomunchee.  Before college, Dr. Alaina had the privilege of being an assistant of Dr. Lawrence Wright orthodontist.  The brilliance of this doctor and his passion for children’s smiles imprinted Dr. Alaina for her entire professional career.  Making the connection to cranial motion of the face with the musculoskeletal knowledge of Myomunchee University seemed to complete a circle in her own pursuit of optimal health.  As a customer and practitioner the Myomunchee has been an amazing journey.

Pregnancy is a special time in a woman’s life where she has  to prepare her own body as a temporary home for her developing child.   Sacrificially, she is one who changes her  sleep schedule, nutrition, exercise, work and life balance to accommodate this new person.  Due to these changes her entire body takes on a new form.   She will structurally change at every level, her joints  soften and become more elastic throughout a 40 week process.   It is so important to have a chiropractor who understands these mechanical changes  to continually pursue optimal function.  Discomfort  and pain are common symptoms of pregnancy. The chiropractor has an opportunity to provide non pharmaceutical assistance to help comfort and heal the mother as well as support her goals for labor, delivery, nursing and beyond.

While Dr. Alaina took classes with Dr. Webster in the 1990’s, the now proprietary ICPA provides certification for this technique through their post graduate programs.  https://icpa4kids.com/training/webster-certification/webster-technique/  We are blessed in these offices to have 3 providers who are trained in this technique to help expectant mothers achieve proper pelvic motion and alignment for delivery.  It is recommended for all pregnant chiropractic patients to avoid intra uterine constraint with sacral analysis and proper pelvic motion.

Recommended reference: https://www.jmptonline.org/article/S0161-4754(02)00015-5/references

Symptoms that are common during pregnancy vary from headaches, nausea,  vomiting,  constipation,  rib pain etc.  Chiropractic is an excellent drug free approach to managing these challenges that are constantly changing on the journey to new life.

Chiropractic has long been an outstanding therapeutic intervention for children who are challenged with curvature of the spine.  Scoliosis is a progressive disease of curvature of the spine. It can affect people of all ages; not only children and adolescents, but also adults. Scoliosis can result not only in an unlevel body, it can cause headaches, shortness of breath, back pain, digestive problems, menstrual-cycle disturbances, leg, hip and knee pain, chronic fatigue and mood swings. The majority of scoliosis cases do not require surgery; they require non-surgical treatment of the scoliosis as a progressive disease of curvature of the spine.

 Dr. Alaina has taken courses with Dr. Deutchman and Lamantia for appropriate chiropractic care as part of a non-surgical approach to scoliosis.  Local Schroth providers, and the Scoli-Fit team in NYC can provide a state of the art approach to idiopathic adolescent scoliosis.  Recommended reference: https://scoliosissystems.com

The suck, swallow, breathe reflex is ideally functional in early infancy.  However, due to restricted oral tissue, cranial motion, or musculoskeletal development many children suffer with symptoms of dysfunctional breathing, poor tongue posture, sleep disruption, hypertrophic adenoid or tonsil tissue, ankyloglossia, poor dental occlusion, food aversions, difficulty swallowing, and facial shape many children have a need to have Oral Facial Airway Integration.  Evaluating the soft and hard tissue mobility of the orofacial structures can shed some light on why some children aren’t thriving.  Working with the Speech and Language pathologist, Occupational and Physical Therapist a chiropractor can often provide that mechanical assistance for therapeutic success.

Craniosacral Therapy is a gentle, hands-on, whole-body method of releasing restrictions around the brain and spinal cord to enhance central nervous system performance and allow the body to self-correct.  Craniosacral Therapy strengthens the body’s natural healing processes to bolster resistance to disease and improve overall health.  Breastfeeding difficulties in babies, Plagiocephaly in babies and children, Migraines, Post-concussion syndrome, Autism spectrum disorder, Sensory processing disorders, Scoliosis in children, Neurological difficulties, TMJ and jaw pain have all been challenges that Craniosacral Therapy has been studied to improve.  By enhancing cerebrospinal fluid flow around the brain and spinal cord the body’s ability to self-correct, alleviates a wide variety of dysfunctions.