What do you do when surgery and/or traditional physical therapy fails? What if surgery is not an option for your patient? At What Every Body Needs Chiropractic & Rehabilitation we employ a different approach than traditional rehabilitation. Not everyone with lower back pain requires rehabilitation. In fact many times rehabilitation is the wrong thing to do. For example, a patient receives a prescription for physical therapy from their primary care provider. After a thorough assessment the therapist proceeds with lumbopelvic stabilization protocols which the patient follows diligently while they are under care. Sometimes they feel improvement but many times they do not. There are multiple explanations for this.

1 - How long is their office visit? Even if it is an hour there are 23 hours in the rest of the day; what are they doing during that time?
2 - Do they belong to a gym? Dr. Runco can not even say how many times he has done great work with a patient only to have them perform exercises in the gym that were causing or contributing to the problem.
3 - Patient memory retention. Dr. Runco regularly sees patients whose physical therapists taught them certain universal stability exercises. When the patient demonstrates how they perform the movement, many times not only are they performing them incorrectly but are potentially hurting themselves.
4 - Maybe they were not unstable to begin with!

How Do We Address This?
At our facility we coordinate with the patient's medical doctor, chiropractor, acupuncturist and personal trainer to ensure the patient is receiving the best possible care. If they do not have a personal trainer and requires one, we will supply one. They will work with the patient either in our facility or in the patient's gym under our supervision and recommendations. Sometimes neither one of these options is possible due to financial reasons etc. We will teach the patient in a few sessions a home program which they will do. We will follow up with in 4-6 weeks. During this time the patient is free to call or contact us by e-mail to ask questions or gain guidance.

Why are we capable of doing this?
The doctor works with 24 Hour Fitness gyms, YMCA's and LA Fitness providing continuing education for personal trainers as well as caring for many of their clients. By coordinating and communicating with the personal trainers, we have been successful in ensuring the patient receives maximum benefit from their treatment and rehabilitation. Communicating with the trainers is of vital importance to Dr. Runco.

"Having been a personal trainer and being certified through 3 national organizations I really understand some of the obstacles trainers face with their clients. Sometimes doctors tell their patients to avoid exercise. The patient does not tell the doctor they are going to the gym so the doctor is neither aware of the situation or in a position to dictate restrictions or limitations. Many trainers do not have enough skills to know they may be hurting the patient so in their earnest attempt to help the patient they actually hurt them. We have removed this as a problem. The trainers know me. They know I understand their problems with clients and their injuries. We have a great relationship. I work with them by recommending certain exercises and/or discouraging others based on physical exam findings. The trainer is networking with the health care community and further helping their client as well as their own understanding of the problem, the patient is happy because there is communication between the doctor and their trainer. Lack of communication is a serious problem in the health care industry. It's not a problem with our office".

How do you communicate with other health care practioners and personal trainers?
We communicate either by phone, e-mail or letter. A report is written and sent to the primary provider or trainer with an evaluation, recommendations etc. The patient is encouraged to continue with care from the treating provider and continue with their workout regimen with their trainer.

Do you accept insurance?
We are NOT in-network with ANY insurance company. For those who have PPO-type plans, or Flexible Spending plans we will provide them with a complete detailed receipt and show them how to get reimbursed directly, depending on the insurance plan they have selected.

Can someone pay cash?
Of course! Many people opt for cash payment. In fact many clients following rehabilitation continue with personal training on a cash basis. However, we also accept checks, MasterCard, Visa, and Debit cards.

What Every Body Needs Chiropractic & Rehabilitation

For further information call (619) 516-0421 or e-mail Dr. Runco at drrunco@whateverybodyneeds.net