All Doubts Removed

After reading the Haydel Brothers’ feature story (Practice Profile, page 16), I realized that I had something in common with the identical twins from Torrance, Calif. Terry Haydel, DC, and Kerry Haydel, DC, enrolled in chiropractic college without first having experienced a chiropractic treatment, and I had been associated with Chiropractic Products for more than 2 years before visiting a chiropractor. As Kerry Haydel would say, all three of us took a leap of faith.

Prior to my first visit with Terry Haydel, I was slightly uneasy about seeking help and treatment from a chiropractor for low back pain, which I experienced intermittently over the past 15 years. Too much heavy weightlifting in my teens, 20s, and 30s, and not enough stretching before and after running had more than likely contributed to my bouts with low back pain that, at times, literally brought me to my knees. In the past, I would seek the assistance of a physical therapist (PT) and muscle relaxing medication, perform the PT-prescribed floor exercises, and try my best to work out the kinks in my back. More often than not, it took weeks for me to feel somewhat normal again, but within 6 months to a year, I was back where I started.

One day, I took the advice of a coworker who saw me walking around resembling the hunchback of Notre Dame and made an appointment with Haydel & Haydel. This word-of-mouth referral from an existing patient is how the Haydel brothers have made their business into one of the most well-respected and busy chiropractic offices in the South Bay area of Los Angeles. I saw Terry Haydel because he was the one who had treated my coworker. Had I first seen Kerry Haydel, Terry’s identical twin, I doubt if I would have noticed the difference, both in appearance and treatment.

The idea that Haydel and Haydel used the Activator Method® to adjust patients was slightly more appealing to me than manual manipulation in the sense that I perceived it as a more conservative approach to care.

When I arrived for my first visit, I could not even touch my knees; I had to bend and twist my way out of the car. Getting from the parking lot to the front door took me longer than it takes most people to run a 5K race. After seeing Terry Haydel for less than 30 minutes, I was able to touch my toes and walk upright to my car. I could not believe that I had been putting up with long bouts of low back pain and avoiding chiropractic care for so many years.

Terry’s approach to patient care is just the way I like it—fast-paced, direct, positive, and straight to the point. Even better was the fact that my insurance provider allowed 12 chiropractic visits per year with a nominal $10 copay. Based on the way I felt before I entered Haydel & Haydel and how I felt upon leaving, I would have been willing to pay a $100 copay. My current insurance carrier provides for 30 visits per year, which is a clear sign that chiropractic care is growing in acceptance amongst the payor community.

Since my first visit to Haydel & Haydel, I returned three more times, all with the same results. My low back pain has gone away, and I am left with a much more relaxed and flexible skeletal frame, even though my overall flexibility is nothing to write home about. In addition to the treatments, Terry always gives me good advice on proper stretching for pre- and post-exercising, and on my second visit, he diagnosed that one side of my gluteous maximus is weaker than the other. After recommending a few effective exercises, my weaker gluteous is now stronger.

After my first visit in 2000, I recalled that in 1966, my dad had dealt with a pinched nerve in his neck for more than 6 months before finally seeking treatment from a chiropractor. After a couple of visits, my dad was completely healed of the pinched nerve and was pain-free for the first time in over half a year. At the time, I was 10 years old.

And there I was, 43 years old and going to see a chiropractor for the very first time. When are kids ever going to listen to their parents?

Tony Ramos
tramos@medpubs.com