Healing patients around the world is at your fingertips

As a Palmer College campus guide in the early 1990s, I loved to tell stories about BJ Palmer and his travels around the world. My favorite story involved his working on the leader of an aboriginal-like tribe in a far-reaching corner of the planet. The “chief” of the tribe had severe neck pain, and Palmer volunteered to help him out.

Jeff Donatello, DC, adjusts a Chilean native (far left). He and his wife enjoy a hike through the Andes (left).

Unfortunately, because of the language barrier and the inability to understand how he was to perform the adjustment, all was lost in translation. With the entire tribe curiously watching, Palmer put his hands on the chief’s neck and racked his spine. After the chief screamed, spears were drawn; and just as quickly, a smile formed on his face. The chief could now turn his head for the first time in months. Palmer instantly went from being the evening’s dinner to the guest of honor.

While I have never performed such a dramatic adjustment, I have traveled extensively and have never been shy when it comes to talking about what I do with the local people. Sometimes it leads to me adjusting them, while other times it does not; but it never fails to produce a fun story—or at least a new friend.

Last year, I was staying at an eco-lodge deep in the rain forests of Costa Rica when I was approached by the lodge’s massage therapist. Her neck was killing her; she had heard I was a chiropractor and wondered if I could help her out. Her massage studio was located in a place I would consider to be the most perfect location that I had ever adjusted someone. We were in a small, open-air thatched roof hut perched high above the Pacific Ocean on a cliff. While I was adjusting her, a small group of squirrel monkeys hopped around above us in the trees as a cool breeze blew in, which was a far cry from my snowed-in office back in Maine. While some may consider this type of volunteerism “working” while on vacation, I look at it as a way to make a personal connection with those around me in a new place. Once you adjust patients, they tend to repay you with kindness (or piña coladas, as was the case here), which always makes the trip more personal.

Two years earlier, my wife and I hired a guide in Chile to help us find our way to a mountain hut we had rented. Our 2-hour boat ride and 15-mile hike through the Andes looked like something out of an Ansel Adams picture book. The guide brought two apprentices along so they might learn the route. All three of these young men were very shy and quiet, but they carried a ton of weight and moved quickly. After 10 minutes, it became apparent the younger of the two apprentices was in horrible pain. He had all of the tell-tale signs of an acute back flare-up, but my ability to talk to him was stunted at best. (I will blame this communication gap on my parents’ insistence that I take Latin in high school.) While I can now conjugate pre-Roman verbs with the best of them, I can barely order chicken in a restaurant if I am south of the equator; therefore, to describe the art of chiropractic was nearly impossible. An hour or two later, I gained his trust and found myself improvising a side posture maneuver on a fallen log. Picture yourself—a young person allowing some crazy American tourist to jump on top of you while putting pressure on an area that feels like it is being poked with a knife. The young man’s look of fear was quickly replaced by a look of astonishment as his pain was alleviated. Not only that, but the other two suddenly came to life and wanted me to “fix” them also. It was a turning point for our trip, as we became their amigos after the adjustment instead of just clients.

I have never been much into philosophy, but as I approach my 10-year anniversary as a chiropractor, I admit to taking steps towards the Reggie Gold end of the philosophical spectrum. I leave you with this thought: Never take for granted the gift you were given as a chiropractor. You have the unique ability to heal other human beings with just your hands. At the very least, you can put a smile on their faces. CP

Jeff Donatello, DC, is a 1995 graduate of Palmer College. He owns York Chiropractic Health Center in York, Me, and can be reached via email at jdonatello@yorkchiropractic.com.