Move Toward Chiropractic is Consumer-Driven

From the November 18, 2002 issue of New York Magazine comes a feature article about many famous New Yorkers receiving chiropractic care. The article starts off by dropping the names of famous people who depend on chiropractic care. Those names include the likes of Henry and Nancy Kissinger, Ralph and Ricky Lauren, and Oscar de la Renta.

De la Renta recounts his story for the article, "I had back surgery a year and a half ago, but after the surgery, I was in a car accident and had whiplash and horrible pain in my elbows and arms. The doctor said I would need another surgery on my cervical vertebrae, and I have to tell you, I went to my chiropractor every day for six weeks and not only did I not have to have the surgery, I have never again had any pain."

In the article, Woodson Merrell, executive director of the Continuum Center for Health and Healing states, "A lot of patients are really ticked off with medicine right now. They want nothing to do with conventional therapy." The Continuum Center for Health and Healing is a lower Fifth Avenue outpost of Beth Israel Medical Center, offering chiropractic, acupuncture, and aromatherapy along with their standard services of pediatrics, gynecology, and internal medicine.

Playwright Warren Leight, whose play Side Man won the Tony in 1999, is another advocate of chiropractic care. He related his story in the article when he stated, "I was sent to the chiropractor by a friend who had migraines. I was skeptical, but I'm a writer. I'm skeptical of everything. I thought I'd give it a try because the painkillers were a drag. It had not occurred to me that you could go to someone who would run her hand down your spine and know where it's hurting. She always knows where it hurts. I go to my chiropractor like an 80-year-old and come out like a 45-year-old. I also haven't gotten as sick as often since seeing her," Leight adds, saying of his visits with her, "It seems to re-center your body's immune system."