Dr. Jenni Goodson, after practicing chiropractic medicine for two years in Birmingham, opened her solo practice in April, less than two full weeks after giving birth to her second child.

Her quick return to work is evidence of her commitment to the health and wellness of her patients. She said chiropractic medicine is this country’s leader in whole body health and wellness, and it’s the focus of her practice, Goodson Health and Wellness, located in the Greystone Cosmetic Center.

Goodson sees patients with a range of issues — from children with autism and ADHD to women suffering from infertility to seniors plagued by constipation. Most experience substantial relief through chiropractic spinal manipulations, improved nutrition, exercise and mental and spiritual health, she said.

“What chiropractic does is restore normal function in the spine and allows the body to heal itself,” Goodson said. “Of the women we saw last year for infertility, all of them ended up pregnant.”

Raised in the Huntsville area, Goodson earned a bachelor’s degree in biomedical sciences from Auburn University in 2001. She began a career in pharmaceutical sales after college, but it was through her own suffering with lifelong back pain and its consequences that Goodson turned to chiropractic medicine. She experienced first-hand the difference chiropractic can make in one’s health and wellbeing when she became the patient of a chiropractor in Trussville.

She went back to school, graduating from Life University School of Chiropractic in Marietta, Ga., with a doctorate in chiropractic.

As part of her commitment to health and wellness, Goodson has invested in what some think is the future of early breast cancer detection: Thermography.

“The first stage of any cancer is laying down a blood supply. The cancer cells need a blood supply to grow,” she said.

Cancer cells double about every 90 days, and their blood supply grows accordingly.

The blood supply serving cancer cells shows up as heat on infrared imaging, which is the technology used in thermography.

“Thermography does not radiate the body,” she said, so some women who don’t get mammograms for fear of the small amount of radiation they expose women to, may prefer thermography.

However, Goodson is quick to point out that thermography is a technology that should be used in addition to mammography, not instead of it. Mammography remains the gold standard for breast cancer detection.

Goodson sends the thermal images produced by thermography to a radiologist, who reads them for abnormalities.

Cost of the thermography procedure at Goodson’s clinic is $300.

“That’s not a big price to pay when you’re talking about someone’s life,” she said.

Goodson and her staff plan an open house to introduce her clinic to the community on Wednesday, June 9.

“There will be food and free massages and door prizes,” she said, as well as activities for children. Also that day, from 6 to 7 p.m., a representative from the line of supplements available at Goodson’s clinic, will make a presentation, including information on a 21-day body detox and purification, which she said helps with fatigue and those who have had trouble losing weight.

For more information, call Goodson Health and Wellness at 981-8090 or visit Jgoodsonhealth.com.