meet the team

Dr. Betzina has completed over 400+ hours of post-graduate training and holds advanced certifications in:

• Correlating Bodily Injury to Causality
• Crash Dynamics
• MRI Spine Interpretation
• Whiplash and Brain Injury Traumatology

As a result of his extended education training, research studies, and clinical efforts he has developed a reputation for dealing with difficult cases such as:

• Whiplash & Automobile Injuries
• Chronic Neck and Back Pain
• Radiculitis/Sciatica
• Headaches and Migraines
• S.I. Joint Pain/Dysfunction

He often receives referrals from family practitioners, orthopedic surgeons, neurologists, and pain management doctors.

Several times per year, he teaches advanced treatment and adjusting techniques to young chiropractors and students.

He has been voted “Lakeville’s Best Chiropractor” and a “Minnesota Top Chiropractor” every year since 2014.

Ryan M. Betzina DC
7644 160th St. West
Lakeville, MN 55044

SELECTED OCCUPATIONAL HISTORY

Clinic Director, Chiropractor, Alpha Spine Health and Injury Center, Lakeville, MN, 2008-present

Associate Faculty Clinician, Northwestern Health Sciences University, Bloomington, MN 2022-present

Chiropractor, Acu-Chiropractic Wellness Center, Eagan, MN, 2007-2008

Clinical Intern, Vital Injury Care, St. Paul, MN, 2006-2007

EDUCATION AND LICENSURE

Doctor of Chiropractic, Licensed in the State of Minnesota, License #4946, 2007-present

Acupuncture, Licensed in the State of Minnesota, License #841, 2007-present

Doctor of Chiropractic, Northwestern Health Sciences University, Bloomington, MN, 2007

Bachelor of Science in Human Biology, Northwestern Health Sciences University, Bloomington, MN, 2007

National Board of Chiropractic Examiners, Part IV, 2007

National Board of Chiropractic Examiners, Part III, 2006

National Board of Chiropractic Examiners, Part II, 2006

National Board of Chiropractic Examiners, Part I, 2005

Bachelor of Science in Chemistry, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, 2003

POST- GRADUATE EDUCATION AND CERTIFICATIONS

Soft Tissue Injuries and their Treatment. Pathological conditions of the bony structures, joints, ligaments, tendons, bursa and muscles of the shoulder. Pain patterns of neurological injury for differential diagnosis. Strain/counterstrain. Postisometric relaxation. Exercise rehabilitation and muscle strengthening. Patterns of musculoskeletal relationships of recruiting other structures after injury and their effects on functionality. Compensation and recruitment of healthy tissue to the broader scope of complications and the effective treatment of primary and now secondary effects of injury. American Occupational Therapy Association. Minneapolis, MN 2023

Medical Laser Therapy for Busy Providers. Common med-legal concerns. Examining and documenting common Personal Injury traumatic injuries. Minimizing patient risk and improving provider outcomes. Developing clinical protocols for low level laser application and documentation for musculoskeletal injuries. Conditions, injuries, and symptoms requiring advanced imaging. Identifying opportunities for improved clinical decision making and case management. American Occupational Therapy Association. Minneapolis, MN 2023

Personal Injury, symptoms and clinical history for common PI traumatic brain injuries, Identify and examine common motor vehicle crash shoulder conditions, Develop a traumatic brain injury examination screening protocol. American Institute of Personal Injury Physicians, Radnor, PA 2021

Contemporary Weight Loss and Fitness. Exercise and Heart Physiology, In Depth Examination of Aerobic and Anaerobic Exercise; Joint Flexibility Exercise, The Science of Homeostatic Hunger and Hedonistic Hunger; Appetite Hormone Physiology. PACE Program of the Federation of Chiropractic Licensing Boards, Long Island, NY, 2019

Modern Ergonomics. Using Biomechanics and common sense to make your home and workplace a safer and more productive environment. American Occupational Therapy Association. Radnor, PA 2018

Whiplash and Brain Injury Traumatology, Biomechanics for forensic experts, Impairment Scales, Seat Belt and Shoulder harness effects, Temporal Mandibular Disorder (TMD), Thoracic Outlet Syndrome (TOS), Mild Traumatic Brain Injury (MTBI), Post-Concussion Syndrome (PCS), Myofascial Pain Disorder (MPD). Spine Research Institute of San Diego, Seattle, WA 2017

Utilization of Research in the Clinical setting, Utilizing peer reviewed scientific literature in creating a diagnosis, prognosis and treatment plan for the chronic and acute patient. How to implement and stay current on techniques and technology in healthcare. Texas Chiropractic College, Academy of Chiropractic Post-Doctoral Division, Long Island, NY, 2017

Triaging the Trauma and Non-Trauma Patients, correlating clinical findings and the patient history in determining the correct course of care in triaging the patient utilizing orthopedic and neurological evaluations in the clinical setting. Understanding the parameters for immediate referrals vs. following the continuum of care to determine the necessity for referrals. Texas Chiropractic College, Academy of Chiropractic Post-Doctoral Division, Long Island, NY, 2017

MRI Spinal Anatomy, Protocols and Disc Pathology, Normal anatomy of axial and sagittal views utilizing T1, T2, gradient and STIR sequences of imaging. Degeneration and annular fissures of discs in both trauma and non-trauma patients and the biochemical properties of joints in age dating pathology. Disc bulges from degenerative and sequella to osseous issues, herniation pathology and protrusion, extrusion, migrated and sequestered variations. Clinical scenarios as sequella to disc and pre-existing pathologies. Academy of Chiropractic Post Doctoral Division, Recognized by PACE Program of the Federation of Chiropractic Licensing Boards, Long Island, NY, 2015

Neurodiagnostics, Imaging Protocols and Pathology of the Trauma Patient, An in-depth understanding of the protocols in triaging and reporting the clinical findings of the trauma patient. Maintaining ethical relationships with the medical-legal community. Academy of Chiropractic Post Doctoral Division, Recognized by PACE Program of the Federation of Chiropractic Licensing Boards, Long Island, NY, 2014

Diagnostics, Risk Factors, Clinical Presentation and Triaging the Trauma Patient, An extensive understanding of the injured with clinically coordinating the history, physical findings and when to integrate neurodiagnostics. An understanding on how to utilize emergency room records in creating an accurate diagnosis and the significance of “risk factors” in spinal injury. Academy of Chiropractic Post Doctoral Division, Recognized by PACE Program of the Federation of Chiropractic Licensing Boards, Long Island, NY, 2014

Crash Dynamics and Its Relationship to Causality, an extensive understanding of the physics involved in the transference of energy from the bullet car to the target car. This includes G's of force, Newtons, gravity, energy, skid marks, crumple zones, spring factors, event data recorder and the graphing of the movement of the vehicle before, during and after the crash. Determining the clinical correlation of forces and bodily injury. Academy of Chiropractic Post Doctoral Division, Recognized by PACE Program of the Federation of Chiropractic Licensing Boards, Long Island, NY, 2014

MRI, Bone Scan & X-Ray Protocols, Physiology and Indications for the Trauma Patient, MRI interpretation, physiology, history and clinical indications, Bone Scan interpretation, physiology and clinical indications, x-ray clinical indications for the trauma patient. Academy of Chiropractic Post Doctoral Division, Recognized by PACE Program of the Federation of Chiropractic Licensing Boards, Long Island, NY, 2014

Neurodiagnostic Testing Protocols, Physiology and Indications for the Trauma Patient, Electromyography (EMG,) Nerve Conduction Velocity (NCV,) Somato Sensory Evoked Potential (SSEP,) Visual Evoked Potential (VEP,) Brain Stem Auditory Evoked Potential (BAER) and Visual-Electronystagmography (V-ENG) interpretation, protocols and clinical indications for the trauma patient/ Academy of Chiropractic Post Doctoral Division, Recognized by PACE Program of the Federation of Chiropractic Licensing Boards, Long Island, NY, 2014

Documentation and Reporting for the Trauma Victim, Understanding the necessity for accurate documentation and diagnosis utilizing the ICD-9 and the CPT to accurately describe the injury through diagnosis. Understanding and utilizing state regulations on reimbursement issues pertaining to healthcare. Academy of Chiropractic Post Doctoral Division, Recognized by PACE Program of the Federation of Chiropractic Licensing Boards, Long Island, NY, 2014

Documenting Clinically Correlated Bodily Injury to Causality, Understanding the necessity for accurate documentation, diagnosis and clinical correlation to the injury when reporting injuries in the medical-legal community. Documenting the kinesiopathology, myopathology, neuropathology, pathophysiology in both a functional and structural paradigm. Academy of Chiropractic Post Doctoral Division, Recognized by PACE Program of the Federation of Chiropractic Licensing Boards, Long Island, NY, 2014

Understanding Whiplash, Biomechanics of low-speed rear impact collisions. The S-shaped curve of the spine, general magnitudes of force, factors associated with increased risk of injury and the types of injuries that result from these collisions. DCHours, Hilton Head, SC, 2013

Radiculopathy: Patient Assessment, Necessary tools to effectively evaluate radiculopathies, including neuropathic pain syndromes, orthopedic evaluation, neurological work up and MRI. DCHours, Hilton Head, SC, 2013

Cervicogenic Headache, Clinical presentation of cervicogenic headache, proposed diagnostic criteria, pathophysiologic mechanisms and methods of diagnostic evaluation. Guidelines for developing a successful multidisciplinary pain management program using medication, physical therapy, osteopathic manipulative treatment, and other non pharmacologic modes of treatment and anesthetic interventions. DCHours, Hilton Head, SC, 2013

Basic MRI, The multiplanar images of MRI, the shades of gray and the differences between T1 and T2 weighted images. Exploring the MRI studies that have been created to help identify different pathologies including fat suppression, contrast enhanced and functional MRI studies. Contraindications to MRI, how to read an MRI report, the MRI appearance of degenerative disc disease, ligamentum flavum hypertrophy, disc herniations, annular tears and post-disc surgical cases. DCHours, Hilton Head, SC, 2013

Lifestyle Medicine: Acute Low Back Pain, Managing acute back pain episodes and thus improving patient care with increased confidence and competence. The role of lifestyle -- physical activity, body mass index, smoking, recreational sports and heavy lifting and providing effective recommendations to patients that will impact their recovery from an episode of acute back pain. Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 2012

Assessing Medical Fitness to Return to Work, Developing a more accurate assessment of medical readiness for return to employment after illness or injury. The impact of work and unemployment on health. Features of both functioning and impairment in an individual’s clinical presentation. Communicating meaningful and useful information on limitations and restrictions to the requesting party. Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 2012

Fundamentals of Clinical Nutrition, Comprehensive analysis of the major nutrients. Health implications of dietary fat / cholesterol and vitamins. Overview of the essential vitamins and disease processes caused by improper nutrition, body morphology and weight loss methodologies. Texas Chiropractic College: Division of Postgraduate Studies, Pasadena, TX, 2012

Chiropractic Treatment of Auto Accident Injuries, Biomechanics of cervical acceleration / deceleration injury, diagnosis, pathology and physiology of auto related injuries. Evaluation and management of head trauma and spinal injuries and auto injury diagnostic testing procedures, Texas Chiropractic College, Division of Postgraduate Studies, Pasadena, TX, 2011

Genetics: Familial Hypercholesterolemia, The differential diagnosis of early coronary artery disease contains a number of genetic and environmental etiologies. An important genetic condition which needs to be considered and ruled out when evaluating patients and families with histories of early heart attacks. Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 2010

Lifestyle Medicine for Stress Management, How to effectively recommend stress management and lifestyle medicine interventions for patients. Assess key issues in the patient’s presentation and identify current positive and negative lifestyle factors influencing an individual’s response to a significant stressor. Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 2010

Pain Management, Pain management in elderly persons. Central Medical, St. Paul, MN, 2010

Pediatrics, Pediatric pain management techniques for the chiropractor. Central Medical, St. Paul, MN, 2010

Auto Collision Injuries, Soft tissue Injury types, techniques, and treatment protocols for post-collision care. Central Medical, St. Paul, MN, 2010

Pain Intervention, Interventional pain and the chiropractor. Assessment of when to recommend use of therapies including facet joint injections, nerve blocks, neuroaugmentation and implantable drug delivery systems. Suma MRI, Golden Valley, MN, 2009

Injury Assessment, Assessment, diagnosis, imaging protocols and treatment of common acute injuries. Suma MRI, Golden Valley, MN, 2009

Spinal Injuries, Problems that can occur in the cervical spine. Suma MRI, Golden Valley, MN, 2009

Acupuncture Strategies, Common conditions that a chiropractor sees and how to treat them using acupuncture modalities. Northwestern Health Sciences University, Bloomington, MN, 2008

SELECTED MEMBERSHIPS

American Academy of Pain Management, Member, 2015-present

American Academy of Medical Legal Professionals, Member, 2015-present

Academy of Chiropractic, Member, 2015-present

Minnesota Chiropractic Association, Member, 2007-2009

American Chiropractic Association, Member, 2007-2009

SELECTED COMMUNITY SERVICE

The Open Door, Fundraiser, Lakeville, MN 2018

Big Brothers Big Sisters, Fundraiser, Lakeville, MN 2011

Farmington School District #192, Fundraiser, Lakeville, MN 2010

Chamber of Commerce, Member, Lakeville, MN 2008-2010

SELECTED HONORS AND AWARDS

Top Chiropractor, Minnesota Monthly Magazine, 2023

Lakeville's Best Chiropractor, City of Lakeville, 2023

Top Chiropractor, Minnesota Monthly Magazine, 2022

Lakeville's Best Chiropractor, City of Lakeville, 2022

Top Chiropractor, Minnesota Monthly Magazine, 2021

Lakeville's Best Chiropractor, City of Lakeville, 2021

Top Chiropractor, Minnesota Monthly Magazine, 2020

Lakeville's Best Chiropractor, City of Lakeville, 2020

Top Chiropractor, Minnesota Monthly Magazine, 2019

Lakeville's Best Chiropractor, City of Lakeville, 2019

Top Chiropractor, Minnesota Monthly Magazine, 2018

Lakeville's Best Chiropractor, City of Lakeville, 2018

Lakeville Business Hall of Fame, City of Lakeville, 2018

Top Chiropractor, Minnesota Monthly Magazine, 2017

Lakeville's Best Chiropractor, City of Lakeville, 2017

Top Chiropractor, Minnesota Monthly Magazine, 2016

Lakeville's Best Chiropractor, City of Lakeville, 2016

Top Chiropractor, Minnesota Monthly Magazine, 2015

Lakeville's Best Chiropractor, City of Lakeville, 2015

Lakeville's Best Chiropractor, City of Lakeville, 2014