WHERE TO Get Physical IN PRESCOTT VALLEY

by Marnie Uhl, President/CEO, Prescott Valley Chamber of Commerce

From Zumba to weight lifting to yoga; and from to martial arts to dance, you can do it all in Prescott Valley. And, don’t forget hiking, walking and biking, in our great outdoors.

The Iron King Trail is a 14-mile moderately trafficked out and back trail and is good for all skill levels.

For the more advanced hiker, there is the 4.5-mile Glassford Summit Trail with an elevation gain of 944 feet. This trail is best used from April to September.

Easily accessed year round is the Mountain Valley Park/Urban Forest Lakes Park trail. This is a 2.5-mile trail around both parks with exercise stations and beautiful lake views.

Hiking or walking with dogs is much more fun, but remember to keep them leashed and please pick up after them.

Indoor fitness programs more your thing?

The Movement Studio has been serving the Tri-City area with dance, fitness and kenpo karate for over 10 years. They have free child care, family pricing and discounts. They offer challenge programs as well as theatrical production programs.

Anytime Fitness is independently owned and their mission is to provide a total fitness experience to reach your goals. They offer solutions that incorporate a lifestyle change. Anytime Fitness is a full service, 24 hour gym. Aerobic classes are included in the membership.

FreedomCore Pilates is a studio specializing in a variety of Pilates workouts to strengthen core and obtain maximum fitness in a low-impact fashion for all ages.

Dance enthusiasts will like Lessons by Lexe who has classes for the beginner to the more advanced, and if you are a CrossFit lover, CrossFit Prescott Valley and High Desert CrossFit are there to challenge you as you reach your fitness and strength potential.

Balancing our total fitness opportunities here in the area are also Shen-Pu-Ren Family Karate and Prescott Valley Kung Fu.

For your diet, Dr. Cathy’s Nutrition and Weight Loss is a perfect way to gain control of diet with the assistance of coaching to achieve a healthy regimen and weight loss. Mental health is as important as physical health. Cyndi Uelen Coaching and Brook Miller Coaching focus on professional individual coaching for developing health and habits for a happier life. from page

For more information on the above businesses or other healthy lifestyle options contact the Prescott Valley Chamber at 928.772.8857.

After all the events were canceled, there was really no other choice than to start a brick-and-mortar location. Opening this clinic has helped significantly increase the business because people want a place to go. I have to admit, it’s so cool to see everyone from the community coming here now. We’re offering monthly health talks and education at no charge, and plan to host the first annual Prescott Health Expo this summer.

Prescott LIVING: So, how do you plan to expand and offer more health care options to our community?

Dr. Karissa Walton: We just brought on our first Nurse Practitioner, Carmen Dalton, and the plan is for people to be able to get their standard wellness visits covered by insurance. Medicare won’t cover Naturopathic Doctors for primary care but by bringing a Nurse Practitioner on, we are at least able to get coverage for patients’ wellness exams, labs, and basic screenings. That’s the biggest challenge, is being able to cover our expenses and still give the patient the option to use their insurance.

A second Naturopathic Doctor, Dr. Kristin Newell, joined our practice in October and is serving patients at the office and via the mobile clinic. We went to the same naturopathic medical school; her interests and specialties are also very similar to mine, so she will be able to help us serve more patients.

Prescott LIVING: How do you choose which treatments to offer?

Dr. Karissa Walton: The first thing was that I wanted to make sure we had everything available for primary care. The Mobile Health Doc was designed as a primary

Continued The Interview 60 PRESCOTT LIVING | WINTER 2023 care mobile clinic, which didn’t really exist. In fact, I worked with a company that specializes in mobile medical vehicles and they were like, “What? You want to do what?” Usually, there’s a specific mobile unit for a specific medical service, like an X-ray unit, phlebotomy unit, etc.

So, the company asked me, “You want to do a whole clinic on wheels?” And I said, “Yeah, we’re going to do everything.” They’re like, “OK... You want to put a hyperbaric chamber in there?” And I responded, “Yes—yes I do.”

We have a mobile hyperbaric oxygen chamber, and the mobile clinic was designed around that because we had to build a special table that extends for it to be able to hold the chamber.

After I had primary care and hyperbaric oxygen covered, I just started adding on the things that I use the most. For example, IV therapy is very important to me because it bypasses the GI tract and allows much greater absorption in much higher quantities than we can deliver orally. Physical medicine, acupuncture, cupping, and regenerative injections are also very important. I love anything hands-on.

Prescott LIVING: Which treatments are most popular?

Dr. Karissa Walton: Primary care, wellness, and prevention are the majority of what I see. IV therapy is probably next because we have the “Wellness Lounge,” where we have a whole menu of nutrient IVs and injections. Our menu shows what the ingredients and benefits are so patients can actually go in and learn about each of the IV therapies available.

Prescott LIVING: I love that, where you have kind of the bar menu.

Dr. Karissa Walton: Exactly! The next most popular service is probably the regenerative injection therapy. This therapy is designed to help reduce inflammation and stimulate the regrowth of cartilage, tendons, ligaments, and soft tissue. I would say we have been doing a lot more lately which is great because that’s really my specialty area.

Prescott LIVING: You worked with the Northern Arizona Wranglers through last season. They just won the huge championship, which is awesome.

Dr. Karissa Walton: Yes, they won! Our Wranglers are the 2022 Indoor Football League champions. I got to go to the championship game, and it was amazing to see them play their hearts out and win the big trophy. I was in charge of all of their primary care for the whole season. If they were ill, hurt themselves, or needed any physicals or screenings done, I would help take care of that.

Prescott LIVING: Are you involved in any other community services or activities in town?

Dr. Karissa Walton: I’ve been involved in the Prescott Area Young Professionals Group. I’m a member of the Chamber of Commerce and go to those events occasionally.

I’m mostly involved with our jiu-jitsu community. They’ve become like family to me, and we do a lot of events together. I am involved with the whole Founding Fathers Collective as much as I can be, but especially with Mountain Tribe Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

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