Two Studio City, Calif, DCs create a unique show business niche in their new 3,000-sq-ft facility.

In the golden age of Hollywood, the most physically punishing thing a stuntwoman ever had to do was slap an uncouth ruffian in the face, rush from a burning building, or maybe act helpless while riding in the back of a runaway buckboard.

Institute of Health and Sports Chiropractic staff (clockwise from left): Annie Levinson, office manager; Daniel M. Zucker, DC; Greg Vanvakaris, DC; Stephanie Sledd, administrative assistant; Andrea Roche, filing coordinator; and Aline Terezian, insurance specialist.

Nowadays, a stuntwoman has to fight her way out of a threatening circle of 300-lb musclemen, dive for cover mere inches ahead of a massive fireball, and avoid being run over by the speeding bus beneath whose chassis she is dangling while trying to defuse a bomb. As such, many a modern stuntwoman is deeply thankful for the help offered at the Institute of Health and Sports Chiropractic (IHSC), the Studio City, Calif, practice of Daniel M. Zucker, DC, and Greg Vanvakaris, DC, CSCS, QME, SNS.

“Given the nature of the stuntwomen’s jobs, their injuries are anything but typical, and usually they present with multiple traumas,” says Vanvakaris. “It’s common to see low back disc injuries and multiple subluxations of the spine combined with extremity injuries, such as rotator cuff strains, MCL knee sprains, IT band friction syndrome, and many others.”

The good news is that growing numbers of the IHSC’s stuntwoman patients are not waiting to be injured before coming in. Thanks to good education provided by Zucker and Vanvakaris, stuntwomen are getting the message that they can reduce their chances of sustaining serious hurt by using chiropractic prophylactically. “What we’re seeing is that the stuntwomen who are being proactive about care are being injured less often,” says Zucker.

Star Quality
Of course, stuntwomen are not the only Hollywood types flocking to the IHSC. Stuntmen are well represented, as are celebrities, rock musicians, and sports stars. That might seem a bit surprising in light of the fact that the 3,000-sq-ft IHSC opened only this past July.

Suffice to know that the facility consists of eight adjusting rooms (each outfitted with top-of-the-line flexion-distraction tables), three massage-therapy rooms, and an acupuncture space. There is also a suite with full, on-site x-ray capability as well as a gym that includes a treadmill, stationary bike, free weights, therapy balls and bands, sliding cable units, and more.

Zucker and Vanvakaris (both proponents of Diversified technique) provide adjunctive therapies—ultrasound, muscle stimulation, Russian stimulation, hydroculator packs, ice packs, and stretching exercises. Additionally, there are always at least three massage therapists on hand (IHSC maintains relationships with some 10 massage therapists, independent contractors all, who each work only 4 or 5 hours per day, 2 days a week—this, as a way to be able to offer patients a variety of expertise and techniques).

The chic, earth-toned waiting room features a 42-inch plasma TV on which are shown educational videos. Occasionally, the doctors dispense with the teachings and flip the channel to a network sportscast.

No doubt about it, says Vanvakaris, “this is a health-and-sports-oriented office. But we’ve made it so that anybody coming here will feel right at home. We’ve created a place for healing. You walk in and instantly feel relaxed and on your way to being healed.”

Zucker works with a patient on muscle strengthening exercises in IHSC’s gym.

The Betting Men
Zucker and Vanvakaris have been friends since they were classmates at Cleveland Chiropractic College in Los Angeles back in the early 1990s. After graduation in 1996, Zucker entered private practice by renting space in the offices of a long-established Los Angeles DC. Vanvakaris, who graduated 6 months later, did likewise, taking out rented space alongside Zucker.

A large part of the reason they wanted to practice together even then was that they shared a similar vision for chiropractic. Eventually, they decided to pool resources in order to open a state-of-the-art chiropractic facility of their own.

Naturally, in order to be state of the art (and be located in upscale Studio City, a district of Los Angeles), the partners would first have to spend a lot of money—borrowing extensively against their homes, cars, and other possessions. “We took a big gamble on this place,” says Zucker.

However, it looks to have been a safe bet. Each doctor brought an established following of about 2,000 satisfied patients, largely from the fields of entertainment and sports. As it turned out, most of those prior patients continued utilizing Zucker’s and Vanvakaris’ services at the new location. And now, many of those same patients function as zealous promoters of IHSC. “We noticed early in our careers that if you’re really good to your patients, you spend a lot of time with them, you get rewarded with great referrals,” says Zucker. “That’s especially true when you’re dealing with celebrities. They have a very close-knit community, and when one of them finds a good thing, the first thing they do is tell all their friends and relatives, and really strongly urge them to go see for themselves.”

Routinely, Zucker and Vanvakaris spend on average 30 minutes with each patient. “Obviously, at that rate, we can’t see 100 patients a day,” Zucker concedes. “But that’s OK. A high-volume practice, that’s not who we are.”

The first 5 minutes of the typical patient encounter is devoted to obtaining a proper history and putting the patient at ease. Then it is 10 minutes of hot packs, another 10 of muscle stimulation, and the remainder of the session devoted to soft-tissue work and adjustment. “It is our mission to create an environment for our patients that is the most conducive to facilitate maximum healing,” says Vanvakaris.

Because referrals yield so steady a flow of new patients into the practice, there is no need to advertise. “We tried advertising in the past and found it brought us a lot of patients who lacked true motivation to get well,” Zucker says. “Those weren’t the kind of patients we wanted.”

It helps that the Institute occupies the front-corner suite on the upper floor of a two-story mixed-use building at one of the busiest intersections in all of Los Angeles.

“You look out our windows at rush hour and it’s gridlock, that’s how many cars pass by here,” says Zucker. “We’ve got signage out front calling attention to the Institute, and those cars stuck in traffic have a lot of time to be able to read it.

“Also, everybody knows this corner. I meet people, they ask where I’m located, I tell them Ventura Boulevard and Coldwater Canyon and they say they know exactly where I am because they drive past here at least once a day.”

The ground floor of the building is home to one of Southern California’s swankiest restaurants—movers-and-shakers with names like Spielberg and Hanks are among the eatery’s habitués, according to Zucker. Even better, upstairs with the Institute is a Pilates studio and a nationally known weight-loss center, both of which regularly refer clients to Zucker and Vanvakaris. “It was strictly happenstance, but the entire floor is filled with health-focused enterprises, which is a big advantage for us,” Zucker says.

On-Set Yourself Apart
Another way the duo drum up business is by making on-set calls. That means if Zucker and Vanvakaris are given at least a day’s notice, they will drop by the soundstages or nearby locations where movie and TV shows are shooting in order to provide treatment to the stars and others.

“I love doing on-set calls because it allows me to meet more people and get out the word about what we do and how we treat patients,” says Zucker. “For example, every time I go out to the set to work on a star’s back, he’ll introduce me to 10 people. Because it’s the star of the show doing the introducing, that carries a lot of weight with the people I’m meeting.”

Shows at which Zucker has made on-set calls include Home Improvement, My Wife and Kids, Just Shoot Me, Moesha, The Bold and the Beautiful, and The Young and the Restless. Interestingly, one of the shows where Zucker regularly delivers chiropractic care is NBC-TV’s Scrubs, about young medical doctors in training. “And the set is an actual hospital, too,” says Zucker, savoring the irony.

The downside to doing on-set calls is that it requires time away from the office. However, the potential for disruption of the schedule is minimal because Zucker and Vanvakaris cover for one another: one does the on-set call while the other remains behind to hold down the fort.

“That’s one of the best things about having a partner whose approach to practice is the same as mine. He can treat my patients and I can treat his, and the vast majority of patients are perfectly comfortable with that,” says Zucker.

Three times a year, Vanvakaris covers for Zucker during charity events. One of those occasions finds Zucker heading out to lend his support to an annual fund-raiser on behalf of St Jude Children’s Hospital in Los Angeles. Zucker’s contribution entails offering free spinal screenings and analyses. He also brings along a massage therapist; event-goers pay for the massages, but those proceeds are then donated to the hospital.

Much the same arrangement comes into play when Zucker attends the Stuntwomen’s Association’s once-a-year charity bowling tournament to help pay the expenses of female fall gals so badly hurt on the job that they no longer are able to work in that field. Zucker also journeys to Valencia Country Club just north of Los Angeles for a celebrity golf tournament to benefit the Los Angeles Special Olympics. In this instance, he sets up a booth outside the clubhouse; as participants complete their round of golf, Zucker and the massage therapist are there to provide relief to sore and strained muscles.

The Future Is Now
Today, Vanvakaris and Zucker’s practice is 50% insurance based. They accept most insurances, including those specific to the entertainment industry, such as coverage provided by the Screen Actors Guild, the Directors Guild of America, and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists. The remainder of the payor mix is 25% cash and 25% a split between personal injury and workers’ compensation. However, the mix isn’t static—the cash side is growing as the others shrink.

“We deal with a lot of very affluent patients, and they don’t mind paying cash,” Zucker says.

At this stage of the game, it is perhaps a tad premature for Zucker and Vanvakaris to be thinking much about the future, since the future is now, having arrived with the opening of their long-dreamed-of office. Even so, because of the rate at which the practice is growing, they are already talking about adding a partner.

Meanwhile and for the time being, Zucker and Vanvakaris will simply concentrate their energies on treating, healing and helping those in and out of celebrity circles. Especially the stuntwomen. Their bodies may seem indestructible on the silver screen, but the reality is something entirely different, as Zucker and Vanvakaris know only too well. CP

Rich Smith is a contributing writer for Chiropractic Products.