Today we’d like to introduce you to Dr. Elika Izadyar.
Dr. Elika , we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
Yes! I grew up with very strong Persian roots and always had the heart to help people. When I was little, I knew I wanted to be a doctor growing up but never knew which route to take. It was when I was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease that my whole world flipped and opened my eyes to both western and holistic medicine. I feel like God gives certain battles to His soldiers, and he gave me the strength to learn how to help my gut health in order to help others as well. The idea of making sure your own cup is filled so you have enough to fill others’ cup really comes in well with my story and my journey.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
It hasn’t been easy at all. A lot of turbulences and re-directions for sure. I always knew I wanted to be apart of something that was bigger than myself but didn’t know what. That was when I started learning more about the human anatomy and biology a little bit more. My GI told me, “Once you step out of my door, you become the doctor of your own life” and that was true because I was in charge of what went in my body and what exercises I do on the daily.
After a 15 yearlong battle, I had finally entered remission…but within the same month we learned my father was diagnosed with esophageal cancer. That was a heartache I feel like I couldn’t handle but also ignited the passion to learn more about functional medicine and how I can help my dad holistically alongside his chemotherapy. That is where I wanted to start earning my functional medicine degree. I have taken a few classes and am eager to continue my journey of learning and helping as many people as I can.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
My husband and I started Ignite Chiropractic & Wellness Clinic in 2024. We truly prioritize not only in our patient’s health and wellbeing, but we also want to make sure our patients feel like they are part of our Ignite family. We focus on the whole body such as spine, nervous system, muscles, ligaments, diet and exercise. We are proud of the way we treat our community. We absolutely love our patients and their families. Our vision is for a healthier community. We offer soft tissue work before your adjustment. Additional services we offer are e-stim, cupping, and muscle scraping. My husband, Dr. Dan, is dry needle certified so he is able to work on the upper and lower extremities and I’ve seen so many of our patients find relief from their everyday aches and pains! He is the head chiropractor for KU’s Track and Field team and has worked with many Olympic athletes! It’s really exciting to see the difference in their ability to perform at their best after receiving treatments from him. We always root for our Team USA, but we are also able to root for other countries too, as he has treated many athletes from all over the world including Russia, Sweden, Spain, Greece, Italy and more! We are passionate with our faith and everything that we do, we pray about it and we make sure that if our patients need prayers, we do that for them too. Having a faith centered practice is very important to us.
We’d love to hear about how you think about risk taking?
Absolutely. My favorite book is Jump by Steve Harvey. He talks about how you have to jump in order to fly and allow your parachute to take you to places you never thought you’d ever go. That makes me place my faith first and trust in God’s journey and path for me. Taking a risk on me was my biggest fear. I didn’t think I was good enough to have a practice of my own one day. But having the right people in my life, which is the love of my life and my family, it truly makes a difference when you have strong minded faith-driven people around you to lift you up. Watching my mom and dad take risks for me growing up was something I will always cherish, because they gave me the ability to go after the American Dream. They taught me to have the lion mentality of fighting for what is right and going after the right thing. They fought for me. That is why I want to do the same for my patients at Ignite. Ignite is not just my practice…it is my why. I want our patients to feel like I am fighting for them. I love educating myself, challenging myself and growing myself to be the best doctor I can be for my patients, because they deserve the best when they walk in the door. It is an honor to take care of them and serve them.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.ignitechirokc.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ignitechiroandwellness/
