Chiropractic care for hospitality and service workers in St. Thomas

On a cruise day, St. Thomas runs on people who stand. Servers and bartenders, cooks and dish staff, hotel housekeeping and front desk, retail staff at Havensight and Yacht Haven Grande and along Main Street, taxi and safari drivers, dive shop and beach crews. Eight to twelve hours on a hard floor, a surge when the ships tie up and no real break until they pull out. By the end of a season your heels, knees and back have an opinion about it.

Tradewinds Chiropractic & Wellness is in Charlotte Amalie, in the VI Medical Foundation Building, Suite 202, 9150 Estate Thomas, a short drive from the Havensight cruise port and Yacht Haven Grande. 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 the work does

• Heels and arches. Standing on tile or concrete for a full shift in flat shoes strains the plantar fascia. The classic sign is sharp heel pain on the first steps out of bed. The Achilles tendon takes the same beating. See our plantar fasciitis and heel pain page and our Achilles tendinitis page.
• Knees. Hard floors, stairs, crouching at low shelves, and the cruise-day rush. See our knee pain page.
• Low back. Lifting bus tubs, kegs, luggage and linen carts, reaching across tables and beds, twisting to load a safari. Most of what we see is a strain or a locked joint that keeps re-locking. See our lower back pain page.
• Shoulders and neck. Trays carried on one side for years, housekeeping carts pushed one-handed, bar work with the arms out in front. See our shoulder pain page.
• Drivers. Taxi and safari drivers get the sitting version: a sore low back and a stiff neck from the hills and the wait at the dock.

How we treat it

A first visit is a history, an exam of how you move and how you stand, and digital x-rays if something needs a closer look. Then, when it is appropriate, an adjustment. Dr. Keys uses Gonstead and Diversified techniques for the spine, extremity adjusting for knees, ankles and feet, and flexion-distraction or the drop table for sore backs. Instrument assisted soft tissue mobilization helps with calf and forearm tightness. Massage therapy is available in the same office.

For heel and tendon pain that has hung around for months, we offer extracorporeal shockwave therapy. It is a short series of visits with no downtime. You can work your shift the same day.

We fit custom foot orthotics for people who stand all day, and we will tell you what to look for in a work shoe: a firm heel counter, some arch support, and a sole that has not been flattened by a year of shifts. Bring the pair you work in.

Rehab that fits a shift

You do not have an hour for exercises before a double, so the home program is short.

• Calf stretch on a step, thirty seconds a side, before the shift and after.
• Roll the arch over a frozen water bottle.
• A hip hinge drill for the bus tub, the keg and the luggage cart: hips back, load close, knees soft.
• Chin tucks and a doorway stretch for the tray shoulder.
• A break rule on cruise days: sit for five minutes every couple of hours.

Hours that fit a split shift

Restaurant and hotel hours rarely line up with clinic hours. Tuesday and Friday we open at 7:00 am, early enough to be seen before a lunch or dinner shift. Monday, Wednesday and Thursday we run evenings to 7:00 pm, after a breakfast or day shift. We take walk-ins and same-day appointments.

We accept Medicare, Cigna, Blue Cross Blue Shield, UnitedHealthcare and Aetna, and we bill your insurance for you. If your plan is not one of those, call (340) 690-4994 with your card and we will tell you before you book. Self-pay rates are $120 for the initial exam, $40 for a chiropractic adjustment, and $20 for each therapy. We take HSA and FSA cards. We also write return-to-work and work-restriction notes.

When to see someone else

Some of what happens on a shift is not a chiropractic problem and we will say so.

• A fall on a wet floor where you cannot put weight on the foot, ankle or knee afterward. That needs an x-ray first.
• A hot, swollen, red joint, with or without fever. That can be an infection or gout and needs a physician the same day.
• A foot wound or blister that is not healing, especially if you are diabetic. See your physician or a podiatrist first.
• Chest pain or pressure, shortness of breath, or pain into the jaw or left arm. Call 911.
• The back red flags: loss of bowel or bladder control, numbness in the saddle area, weakness in a leg that is getting worse, fever with back pain, or back pain after a serious fall.

If the exam points to a stress fracture, a torn meniscus, or a disc pressing on a nerve, Dr. Keys will tell you and refer you to an orthopedist or for imaging rather than adjust around it. The free review is for spinal MRIs. Bring your MRI disc to the office. Dr. Keys reads the images himself and goes over them with you in person. Medicare patients are not eligible for it.

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.

Questions patients ask

Is there a chiropractor for people who stand all day in St. Thomas?

Yes. Tradewinds Chiropractic & Wellness in Charlotte Amalie treats servers, bartenders, cooks, hotel and retail staff, drivers and beach and dive crews, and most of them are on their feet for a full shift. Heel, knee, low back and shoulder pain are the usual reasons they come in. Call (340) 690-4994.

I am a restaurant, hotel or retail worker with back and foot pain in the USVI. What can a chiropractor do?

We examine the back and the feet together, because the two usually go together when you stand all day. Treatment is an adjustment, soft tissue work, a short home program, and for the feet, shoe advice, custom orthotics, and shockwave therapy for stubborn heel pain. If the exam shows a fracture or something that needs imaging, we refer you instead.

I am a bartender with heel pain. Can you help with that in St. Thomas?

Usually, yes. Heel pain in bartenders and servers is most often plantar fasciitis from long shifts on a hard floor. We treat it with adjusting of the foot and ankle, calf and arch work, orthotics, and shockwave therapy when it has been going on for months. Bring your work shoes to the first visit.

Can I get seen around a split shift?

Yes. We open at 7:00 am on Tuesday and Friday, which works before a lunch or dinner shift, and stay open to 7:00 pm on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday, which works after a breakfast or day shift. We take walk-ins and same-day appointments.

Do I need special shoes or orthotics for standing all day?

Not everyone does, but a firm, supportive shoe makes a real difference on a hard floor, and custom orthotics help when the arch or heel keeps flaring no matter what shoe you try. We look at your feet and your work shoes at the first visit and tell you what is worth buying and what is not.