OLD TOWN – The public is invited to Noonan Chiropractic at 227 Main Street this Thursday, June 19 to mark Dr. Michael Noonan’s 30 years of practice in Old Town. From 6-8 p.m. that day there will be food, fun, door prizes, 80s music, moves for kids and more; the public is invited.

Noonan has spent almost his entire career as a chiropractor in Old Town. He grew up in Windham and practiced briefly in Westbrook and Lewiston before deciding to give Old Town a try.

“There were two reason – one, my brother used to live in Greenbush; two, this area of the state never had had a chiropractor. The area was wide open,” he said.

Noonan started out in a small office – about 300 square feet – on North Main Street in 1984. He said business was good right from the start, and in 1987 he bought the present location for the practice with a local insurance agency (moving in the week of the great Flood that year), with the two splitting space. A few years back he bought the building outright, which he shares with an assistant.

‘Business has been good over the years,” he said. “There have been ups and downs with things like changes to workers comp laws and the shift to HMOs, but overall it’s been pretty steady. Folks in the area have been supportive, and a lot of them are patients I’ve had for years – some regularly for chronic pain, others on and off. And there always are new people coming in as well.”

The business has changed in some ways during the years, with technology, as with much else, being markedly different – although Noonan said that some things, such as x-rays, no longer are used because they weren’t changing treatment plans. He also has been doing acupuncture for about 14 year, which has offered another treatment option for patients, and nutrition for seven.

Noonan said there have been a lot of memorable events in his practice – for instance, he cited a case where a patient was in such pain that he crawled into the office for treatment, then was able to walk out on his own after – and he plans on being around for a lot more memories.

“The insurance side has been getting more complex, and I’ve had to back off a bit on the actual treatments. I can see myself doing more administrative work, but I don’t picture myself every retiring completely. I really enjoy doing this.”


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