About

Our practice specializes in evaluating and treating a variety of conditions, from chronic low back and neck pain, to rehabilitation following an accident or injury, to proper nutrition and detoxification. We also provide rehabilitation and education designed for improving or correcting your diet or posture, creating a healthier workplace, and increasing the overall quality of your health. Our goal is to help you achieve and maintain optimal health by shifting emphasis toward creating 100% function and not simply removal of symptoms. By improving your posture and removing the blockages in the nervous system that prevent normal healing from occurring, the mind and body can communicate clearly and the healing process can be complete.

Dr. David Dow's Story

The story of my back problems begins at my birth. I was born premature and breach. As I was being delivered the obstetrician found it necessary to use forceps and as my shoulder wouldn't release easily more force was used. My right neck and shoulder (brachial plexus) nerves were damaged and I developed a condition called Erb's palsy and my right arm was paralyzed for about a month. All my life my right arm has never felt a part of me and when my first writing teacher handed me a pencil to write with I chose to use my left hand. I developed a sideways tilt in my head and shoulders and a curvature of the spine (scoliosis) which is a result of the birth injury.

As a young teenager a trampoline injury tore a ligament in my left upper back and I interestingly developed intense heartburn symptoms right away after. Low back pain was soon to follow.

About that time I began running cross-country and quickly developed shin splints. The advice from my coach was to try to run through it. That didn't work and I had to give up running. Over the next six or seven years my upper and lower back pain became worse and my heartburn was daily. I had seen a couple different chiropractors over the years and while only getting temporary relief I knew the misalignment in my spine was the problem. I could feel it. So, when it became time to choose a career path I decided  to go to school for both chiropractic and acupuncture. I chose a school that offered training in both. My health problems continued through school and actually seemed to worsen. After chiropractic school I started acupuncture school. At graduation I still had my health problems. I studied and received many types of massage with only temporary relief and after my first ten years of my private practice a chiropractor friend recommended I try a corrective chiropractic technique. So, I went to my first Pettibon chiropractic workshop. After the drive from Madison to Chicago my lower back was hurting. The instructor was talking about a rehabilitation tool for lower back pain called a wobble chair and how it was for strengthening the stabilizing muscles in the lower back and how the movement benefited lumbar disc pain. I tried the chair at the break and it felt so good I bought one right away. Over the next two weeks I got the most relief for my low back that I had ever had. I started studying the technique and discovered Dr. Pettibon is a genius. He was a mechanical engineer before becoming a chiropractor and that taught him how to adapt the theories about how to correct the spine and make them a reality. I learned how the head and shoulder body weights could correct the ligament damage in my middle back and how the neck traction could be used to restore thin discs in the neck and how combined with the head weights could restore a lost curve in the neck!

I still had some lower back pain and was not able to run or do martial arts yet but was out of most of the pain. I practiced with this technique for several years and learned about a type of foot orthotic that was designed to allow the muscles in your foot that support the arch to contract so your foot could move properly with every step. I bought a pair and over six months could feel my lower back and pelvis realigning and different muscles in my legs to work. I felt good enough to run and a patient suggested I read "Born to run" and try barefoot running as that was seeming to help some runners with their back problems. I read the book which was great and I highly recommend and started some barefoot style running. My back pain went away completely for the first time since I was a kid. I discovered that it is the technique you use when you run this way that helps. I learned how to combine this technique with Dr. Pettibon's work to correct forward head posture even better. I learned how to shift the stress of gravity from one side of your body to the other to correct problems up and down your whole body and I learned how this can correct terrible health problems like fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, lupus and rheumatoid by strengthening the postural muscles and reducing spinal cord and brainstem, cranial nerve, and cerebellar irritation.