I highly recommend Dr. Marshea Evans after seeing her on and off for several years, first through insurance and then paying cash. I've moved away, so I figured I'd share a review of everything I can remember. I'm also coming from a perspective as an experienced clinical massage therapist. She really helped my spine and joints be resilient despite my scoliosis, high levels of exercise and repetitive stress, and a variety of old and new injuries. (If you see this review on multiple sites, it's because I told Dr. Evans I wanted to write a review, and she gave me a link to a service that posts a single review to multiple locations.)
I know a lot about how to work with the body, but she did plenty that I didn't understand that just worked. Injuries were rarer and milder when under consistent care, especially for the spine. I remember falling HARD on a slippery floor that could have easily triggered my lower back to go "out" again, but instead I was completely fine. Adjustments accelerated recovery when I did do something to trigger my back. She unexpectedly opened up my breathing over a few weeks when stress was constricting my ribcage. One time allergies were muffling my hearing on one ear, then an adjustment restored my hearing. She's successfully treated numerous ankle, wrist, shoulder tweaks from my physical job and activities. Ankle problems were the worst. My ankles rarely go "out" anymore, and when they do now it's either muscular (where 2x 10m of massage undoes it), or I can pop the bone right back myself - it helps that she showed me how my talus ankle bone tends to get stuck out of place.
For my scoliosis, especially in the early months of sessions or if it had a been a while, I felt distinctly *buoyant* and taller after each adjustment. Like it takes less effort to hold my long torso up. The sideways curves itself are not "fixed" because my scoliosis is mostly structural in the bone shapes, but she restored the ability to bend and dance and make odd movements without pain. I get complimented on my posture regularly with her help, as it does reduce excessive forward and back curves along with my own efforts and massage.
I'll need regular chiropractic at my new city to sustain this, but the least I can do is recommend her care as a friendly professional who knows what she is doing. I appreciate the lack of contracts and upselling, as well. Just make your own appointment reminders if you have trouble showing up to things, since the assistant does reminder calls if she can, but not all the time.
What to expect may include... She doesn't do X-rays, and has other tech to make measurements in the beginning. Sessions tend to start with 10-20m heating pad to warm up the spine, and may include various vibrating devices. Adjustments for me were almost all done with activators, i.e. those pressure guns, along with some drop-table use (where the table section drops slightly with weight), or she used her hands or activators or mini drop devices for the limbs. No neck cracking, at least not for me. She takes many insurances, including Kaiser if your corporate plan includes that benefit. Like all bodywork, you have to find who and what works for you - I do know someone with severely dense tissue and muscular restriction where her chiropractic was unable to help much. I think that person needed deep massage and intensive physical therapy more. IMO you should know after 2-4 sessions if there's any positive movement. But if chiropractic is what you need in the greater San Leandro area, definitely consult Dr. Evans, as she was a great help to me!
