Chiropractic care for boat and charter crew in St. Thomas

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St. Thomas is a working harbor. Between Yacht Haven Grande, Red Hook, Compass Point, and the charter fleets that run to the BVI every week, there are a lot of people on this island who earn a living on deck. Plenty of them come through our door with a bad back and a boat leaving Sunday. This page is for you.

Tradewinds Chiropractic & Wellness is in Charlotte Amalie, in the VI Medical Foundation Building, Suite 202, 9150 Estate Thomas, a short drive from Yacht Haven Grande and the Havensight docks. We treat residents, visitors, and boat and charter crew. Dr. Keys is the Chair of the Virgin Islands Board of Chiropractic Examiners, a member of the Virgin Islands Chiropractic Society, and the International Chiropractors Association representative for the U.S. Virgin Islands.

What boat work does to a body

Crew injuries come from the job.

  • Low back. Hauling provisions down the dock, lifting dinghies and outboards, dragging anchor chain. The low back takes the load and eventually says no. Most of what we see is a strain or a locked facet joint, sometimes with a disc irritating a nerve. See our lower back pain page.
  • Shoulders. Grinding winches, hauling lines, passing cases up a passerelle, scrubbing hulls overhead. Rotator cuff tendons and the AC joint get ground down. See our shoulder pain page.
  • Necks. Hours hunched over a generator or a watermaker leave the neck stiff, and the headaches follow. See our neck pain page.
  • Knees and feet. A full day on a moving deck, then a dock walk carrying sixty pounds. Knees, ankles, and the soles of the feet take it.

What we can do in the window between charters

Tell us your dates when you call. If you have guests off Saturday morning and new guests on Sunday afternoon, the weekend itself is out (we are closed Sat and Sun), so the realistic windows are Friday, when we open at 7:00 am and run to 2:00 pm, and Monday through Thursday. Tuesday and Friday mornings start at 7 am, which suits crew who need to be back at the boat by mid-morning.

A first visit covers a history, an exam of how you move, and digital x-rays if something needs a closer look. Then, when it is appropriate, an adjustment. Dr. Keys uses Gonstead and Diversified techniques, extremity adjusting for shoulders, knees, and ankles, and flexion-distraction or the drop table for backs that do not want to be pushed on. Instrument assisted soft tissue mobilization helps with the forearm and shoulder tightness that comes from lines and winches. Massage therapy is available in the same office.

For stubborn tendon problems, the kind of shoulder or heel that has been nagging for months, we offer extracorporeal shockwave therapy. It is a short series of visits with no downtime; you can be back on deck the same day.

If you are here for a season, we space visits around your charters. If you are here for four days, we do what can honestly be done in four days and send you off with a program.

Rehab you can actually do on a boat

You do not have a gym. You have a cockpit and a swim platform. So we keep the home program short and realistic:

  • Hip hinge practice with a boat hook across your back, to lift with your hips instead of your spine.
  • Band work for the rotator cuff, tied off to a stanchion.
  • Thoracic extension over a rolled towel on the saloon sole, two minutes, for the engine room hunch.
  • Calf and plantar fascia stretches on the companionway step.
  • A rule for lifting outboards and provisioning cases: two people, or do not.

We write it down and show you.

Captains and whole crews

If more than one person on the boat needs to be seen, call (340) 690-4994, tell us how many of you there are and when the boat leaves, and we will tell you what is open. Visitors and boat or ship crew can pay by card. We do not have billing arrangements with charter or cruise companies, so crew pay directly or use their own insurance. We accept Medicare, Cigna, Blue Cross Blue Shield, UnitedHealthcare and Aetna, and we bill your insurance for you. Self-pay rates are $120 for the initial exam, $40 for a chiropractic adjustment, and $20 for each therapy. If a captain or employer needs something in writing, we also write return-to-work and work-restriction notes.

When to see someone else

Some of what happens on boats is not a chiropractic problem and we will say so. Go to the nearest hospital, or call 911, for any of the following:

  • A fall down a companionway or off a dock with back or neck pain afterward
  • A shoulder that popped out or will not move at all
  • Weakness in a leg or arm that is getting worse, or numbness in the saddle area
  • Loss of bowel or bladder control
  • Fever with back pain
  • A knee that locks or gives way after a twist on deck

If the exam points to a torn rotator cuff, a meniscus, or a disc compressing a nerve, Dr. Keys will tell you and refer you to an orthopedist or for an MRI rather than adjust around it. A real injury managed badly can end a season, so you will get a straight answer.

Getting seen

Call (340) 690-4994 or email info@tradewindschiropractic.com. We are in the VI Medical Foundation Building, Suite 202, 9150 Estate Thomas, St. Thomas, USVI 00802. Hours are Mon, Wed, Thu: 10:00 am to 1:00 pm and 3:00 pm to 7:00 pm; Tue, Fri: 7:00 am to 2:00 pm; closed Sat and Sun. We take walk-ins and same-day appointments. Our full list of services is on the services page. Tell us when your boat leaves.

Questions patients ask

I work on a boat in the USVI and my back is wrecked. Who treats crew?

Tradewinds Chiropractic & Wellness in Charlotte Amalie treats boat and charter crew alongside residents and visitors. Call (340) 690-4994, tell us your turnover dates, and we will work around them. We open at 7 am on Tuesday and Friday, which suits crew who need to be back on the boat by mid-morning.

Is there a chiropractor near Yacht Haven Grande or Red Hook for yacht crew?

We are in the VI Medical Foundation Building at 9150 Estate Thomas, a short drive from Yacht Haven Grande and Havensight and about twenty to thirty minutes from Red Hook depending on traffic. We take walk-ins and same-day appointments.

Can you fix my back in one visit before my next charter?

Sometimes one visit makes a big difference, especially for a locked-up low back or a stiff neck. We will not promise that, and a real strain usually needs a few visits plus home exercises. We will tell you honestly after the exam what you can expect before the boat leaves.

My shoulder has hurt for months from winches and lines. Is that something you treat?

Yes. Long-running shoulder tendon pain in crew is common and we treat it with adjusting, soft tissue work, rehab exercises you can do on the boat, and shockwave therapy for stubborn tendons. If the exam suggests a rotator cuff tear we will refer you for imaging or to an orthopedist instead.