Dr. Bonnie Verhunce

Dr. Bonnie Verhunce graduated from Palmer College of Chiropractic (the Fountainhead of Chiropractic) in Davenport, Iowa. She started Vitality Chiropractic in Des Moines, Washington 5 years ago and is active in the community. She has been the Secretary of the Des Moines Rotary for two years, and was the first female President of the West Seattle Early Birds Toastmasters group, a group that started in 1954. Dr. Bonnie, as her patients affectionately call her, is an avid runner and cyclist. She has participated in many triathlons (Seattle and Austin, TX) and has a goal of running another half-marathon, this time in Chicago, in October 2007. She also rode in the RSVP, a two-day bike trip from Seattle to Vancouver, B.C., in August 2006.

Dr. Bonnie is a member of the Washington State Chiropractic Association (WSCA) as well as the International Chiropractic Association (ICA). She received certification from the International Pediatric Chiropractic Association (ICPA) as a pediatric/obstetric chiropractor, and has adjusted hundreds of infants and expectant mothers. Dr. Bonnie specializes in helping women balance their hormones naturally through the use of saliva testing and supplementation.

About nineteen years ago, Dr. Bonnie Verhunce's life changed forever. She was attending college in Madison, Wisconsin and was having a difficult time with her classes because of daily headaches and migraines. By the age of 20, she had already been under medical care for several years and was constantly medicated with the “latest and greatest drug.” Not only were the medications ineffective at reducing her pain, they actually caused more problems and seemed to increase the intensity of the headaches.

It was a friend that suggested she see a doctor of chiropractic. He explained that his entire family saw a chiropractor regularly for all types of health problems. They began chiropractic care because his mother had suffered from headaches and severe dizziness for several years. Before that his mother had been shuffled around from doctor to doctor, taking all sorts of different medications only to find that her headaches gradually got worse. After thousands of dollars spent on tests and medications, medical doctors told her “there was nothing more they could do.” Eventually a neighbor suggested she try a doctor of chiropractic, and even though she didn't believe in it, her pain had gotten so intense by then that she was willing to give it a try. After only a few treatments her headaches and dizziness were gone. After hearing this story, Bonnie asked her friend why he saw a doctor of chiropractic when it was his mother that suffered from headaches. He explained that his mother had learned from a neurologist that headaches and migraines could be hereditary and she didn't want any of her children to grow up experiencing the kind of problems she had, and up to then he had never had problems with headaches.

Frustrated by her experience with medical doctors and medication, and in constant pain, Bonnie decided to ignore her skepticism and take her friend's advice by trying chiropractic. Dr. McKnab did the exam, took a few x-rays, and started care that day. Bonnie was amazed to discover that the morning after her first adjustment she woke up without a migraine or headache for the first time in years. Years later she would refer to how she felt after that first adjustment and say, “it was as if someone came in to my room that night sprayed Windex on my eyeballs and squeegeed them dry because for the first time I felt clear headed.” The daily headaches, the cloudiness, and her lack of focus had all disappeared. Soon after that Bonnie started to notice her allergies, asthma, and life long digestive problems slowly disappeared as well.