July 29, 2026 • 32 mins
Hosted by Laurie Alverio, The Still Blooming Radio Show is a warm, honest and empowering space for conversations about aging, caregiving, wellness, relationships and community
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
The following is paid programming by The Still Blooming Radio Show.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
The content of this show is that of The Still
Blooming Radio Show and does not reflect the views or
policies of this station or iHeartMedia. News Radio WAM 1180
welcomes you to this still-blooming radio show, Aging, Living, Thriving,
presented by Hand in Hand in your home. Join in
with your comments or questions. Call 222-1180 or 1-800-295-1180. Now
(00:29):
live from the News Radio WAM 1180 studios in downtown Rochester,
here's your host, Lori Alvareal.
Speaker 1 (00:37):
Good morning, everyone, and welcome to the Still Blooming Radio Show, Aging, Living, Thriving.
I'm your host, Lori Alverio, and thank you for spending
part of your Saturday morning with us on NewsRadio WAM 1180.
Whether you are joining us from home, out for a walk,
or driving to visit family, we're so glad you're here.
(00:57):
Every week on the Still Blooming Radio Show, we have
conversations that help us age with confidence. purpose, and connection.
We believe growing older isn't about slowing down. It's about
continuing to live well, stay engaged, and make the most
of every season. Today's topic is one that affects almost
all of us at some point, aches, pains, stiffness, and
(01:20):
maintaining our mobility and independence as we age. We'll be
talking with Dr. Collins, our guest from Crossroads Chiropractic and
Health Center, about how chiropractic care can support healthy aging,
improve movement, and help us continue doing the things we love.
Before we begin, I'd like to thank our presenting sponsor,
(01:41):
Hand in Hand in Your Home. Every day, they help
older adults remain safe, independent, and connected through compassionate care, advocacy, transportation,
and personalized support. Their mission is to help people age
with dignity while continuing to live life on their own terms.
And we're proud to have them as the presenting sponsor
of the Still Blooming Radio Show. I'd also like to
(02:04):
recognize the Greater Rochester Area Partnership for the Elderly, or GRAPE,
for bringing together professionals and organizations dedicated to improving the
lives of older adults throughout our community. We're grateful for
all that you do to educate, collaborate, and advocate on
behalf of older adults and caregivers. Now, let's get started.
(02:26):
Joining me this morning is is our guest, Dr. Collins
from Crossroads Chiropractic and Healthcare. Welcome, Dr. Collins.
Speaker 3 (02:35):
Thank you for having me.
Speaker 1 (02:38):
You're welcome. We're glad to have you. So today's conversation
is really about helping people continue living active, independent lives.
Whether someone is gardening, playing with grandchildren, traveling, volunteering, or
simply wanting to move without pain, maintaining our health and
mobility is Makes all the difference. I'd love for our
(03:00):
listeners to learn a little bit about you. So if
you'd like to just spend a few minutes just kind
of talking about you.
Speaker 3 (03:08):
Absolutely. So I'm a Scranton, Pennsylvania native. I came up
here to Ithaca College for my undergrad in exercise science
and then continued up Canandaigua Lake to the once was NYCC,
the chiropractic school, now HealthSource of Science. And, uh, From there,
(03:28):
I always knew I kind of wanted to go into chiropractic.
One of the big things is growing up, working with
my parents, working with my hands and having that creative
side from both of them. I really wanted to continue that.
And one of the big events that happened in my life,
especially in high school, I had a soccer accident where
(03:48):
I went down to a squirrel goal. I got twisted
up by two defenders. My neck got spun one way.
My back got spun the other. And I ended up
having to go to the hospital and, you know, the
athletic trainer was helpful. Uh, going to the neurologist was helpful,
but it wasn't until one of the boys on the team,
he suggested going to see his dad who was a
chiropractor locally. And, uh, thank you, Dr. Schmidt, because he
(04:11):
really helped, you know, set me on this path to
where I am now because he was able to, you know,
really help work with me and get me back onto
the field same season and continue on that way. Wow.
Speaker 1 (04:21):
That's great. So, uh, so. dealer's fan in the bills
nation is that is that what we're talking about no.
Speaker 3 (04:28):
We're now a full bills fan.
Speaker 1 (04:30):
Too okay we just wanted to clarify um so can
you tell us a little bit about uh crossroads chiropractic
and health center.
Speaker 3 (04:39):
Yeah absolutely so we have three locations i'm working predominantly
in the hilton location there's also lem and west henrietta
so between the three of our offices we like to
have a very thorough approach to a lot of things
A lot of it comes down to how we want
to treat everybody. But to do that, we really have
to do a bigger deep dive into your health history.
(05:00):
You know, so many things happen throughout your life that
you want to take the time to really understand everybody.
And I really want to take the time to understand
our patients because it's important to me to know more
than just, you know, this aches and pain that's going on.
There's always a little bit more to what's going on together.
So through our individualized approach to everybody, I like to spend,
you know, a lot more quality time with everybody as
(05:23):
much as I can because that's what everybody deserves.
Speaker 1 (05:26):
Yeah, yeah. I completely agree. You know, more holistic care.
You're looking at the whole body, not just whatever ache
and pain necessarily that came in. You're really looking at
treating the root cause. That makes complete sense. So can
you tell me, has the practice evolved over the years
or has this just always been the philosophy for Crossroads? Yes.
Speaker 3 (05:51):
I would say ever since Dr. Joe, the owner, had
taken over from Dr. Redding, he's really been able to
grow the practice and evolve it pretty much consistently throughout time.
But I think that goes hand in hand with health care.
It shouldn't ever remain stagnant as things grow, as things
progress and even our understanding of the body changes. grows,
we should do more for everybody. So we should be
(06:13):
able to continue to offer different things. We should do
just more altogether because it's hard in New York being
limited in what we can do, but that's why what
we can do is evolve not only with techniques, with
our own philosophy and just doing what we can to
continue to help and serve the community.
Speaker 1 (06:31):
Yeah, yeah. So what is the primary demographic, the primary
population that you see? Are you dealing with with really
young people or older people?
Speaker 3 (06:43):
I'd say anywhere between the 40- and 60-year-old population is
predominantly what's coming in, but I have seen as young
as a few weeks old. I've seen people into their 90s,
so a little bit of everywhere in between, but predominantly
we're seeing 40- and 60-year-old.
Speaker 1 (07:00):
Do you have any idea or any thoughts on why,
what that trend is from?
Speaker 3 (07:04):
I think a lot of it comes down to we're
still into that, grind mindset we want to work for
a living we want to get up and do what
we can but after a certain point you know that's
this aches and pains that starts to unravel and snowball
into more of an issue i think now we're starting
to see a better trend of where we need to
(07:24):
better take care of our health and around that time
is when things start to maybe shift more personally families
start to grow up and get a little bit more
or even now you start to look into like grandchildren
again so You want to maintain that activity level past
what you used to do, and now you want to
continue to do more, and you don't want to be
debilitated or stopped because you're suffering from something.
Speaker 1 (07:46):
Yeah, absolutely. Are there common concerns that people typically come
in with you're seeing more often than maybe something else? Definitely.
Speaker 3 (07:59):
Always the back pain, commonly for chiropractors, but it's more
than just the back pain itself. There's sciatica and there's
plantar fasciitis and knee pains. A lot of it comes
from lower extremity things because we have to get up
and move. But then now, predominantly, I'm seeing a lot
more upper body, neck strain, headaches, a lot of shoulder
and elbow pain, even down into the wrist because we're
(08:20):
so much more focused on technology nowadays than we have
been in the past. So having that seems to be
more of an issue just because... with technology evolving too,
we're so much more focused inward than we are outward.
Speaker 1 (08:34):
Yeah. So when you say inward, if you're listening, they
don't see your body mechanics and your movement. So just
tell me a little bit about that inward. I watched
you just go inward. So tell me what that looks like.
Speaker 3 (08:49):
Yes, I do like to talk a lot with my hands.
Unfortunately for my voice, rounding inward is one of the
big things. So whether it be Upper cross syndrome, where
you're rounding your shoulders inward, you're bringing your neck forward.
Or if your pelvis is starting to drop in for
lower cross syndrome, all that's starting to inwardly fold the body.
And then if you factor, you're looking at your phone,
(09:10):
you're looking at a computer screen, you tend to bring
yourself forward or inward that way. So a lot of
the times it would be beneficial to go outward, extending
backwards to take a lot of that pressure and pain
off of the body.
Speaker 1 (09:24):
Yeah, yeah. So one thing that I hear all the
time with clients that I'm seeing and people out in
the field is, I guess I'm getting older and that
just means living with pain. But does it really?
Speaker 3 (09:37):
No, it does not. As we age, pain isn't necessarily
a part of life. There has to be other things
going on because part of our education is when we're
looking at x-rays a lot, we've seen people even in
the elderly demographic can have what would be quote unquote
a normal looking spine without a whole lot of pain,
(09:59):
but we've also seen the reverse too, where there could
be a lot more arthritic changes in there, a lot
more degenerative changes, and still somebody coming in with no pain.
So it really comes down to what like is happening
outside of it, which is why I like to know
more because given what habits we do, what we like
to do for fun, what we do for a living,
all that there could be something going on or as
(10:21):
simple as like sleeping with a pillow and just make
your neck like a 60 degree angle instead of like
lying a little bit lower. All that plays a big
factor into why we start to get a lot of
these aches and pains more than just like general aging.
Speaker 1 (10:35):
Right. So just shifting your pillow or changing your pillow
out could make a difference in how you feel the
next day.
Speaker 3 (10:41):
Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (10:41):
Very simple solution. So at what point do you think
someone should consider seeing a chiropractor and instead of continuing
to live with pain or hoping it will just go away?
Speaker 3 (10:54):
I'd say it's always the sooner the better aspect, right?
Because you shouldn't want to continue to live in pain,
even if you're hoping for it to go away. You know,
let's say you try to give it, you know, let's
say a week it might go away. It feels better
if you take like an over-the-counter medicine. But the sooner
the better is always, to me, the best way to
go about it.
Speaker 1 (11:14):
Yeah, great. We are just getting started, and we will
go off to a commercial break, and we'll be back
here on WAM 1180. Welcome back to the Still Blooming
Radio Show, Aging, Living, Thriving. I'm Lori Alverio, and thank
(11:35):
you for joining us on News Radio WAM 1180. If
you're just joining us, today's conversation is all about staying active,
maintaining our independence, and understanding how chiropractic care can support
healthy aging. Now, let's jump back into today's conversation. So, Dr. Collins,
one of the things we talk about often on this
(11:58):
show is how healthy aging isn't just about living longer.
It's about living better. It's about maintaining our independence, staying active,
and continuing to do the things that bring us joy.
Let's talk about how chiropractic care fits into that picture.
So many people begin noticing changes in their mobility as
(12:19):
they get older. How can the chiropractic care help older
adults stay active and maintain their independence?
Speaker 3 (12:26):
A lot of that boils down to what chiropractic at
least means to me and what it is a lot
in general. We're working a lot with joints. It's not
just the bones, the muscle. Everything is being put together.
The whole body as a system is where we're really
trying to build into it. So one thing that mobility
to me is like when it starts to break down
(12:47):
is you have to look at a few different layers
of things. So kind of breaking it down tier by
tier is not just I guess the skeleton, right, is
where in lies the chiropractic, but then the nerves that
are coming out that's being housed in there, that's affecting
the muscles, the ligaments, and the joint itself to where
things are having a dysfunction or some kind of disease
(13:08):
in there. So if we can try to find a way,
looking at it both on the outside externally, through the skin,
if there's any bruising, swelling, different parts of inflammation like that,
or if we can look more internally... through like an x-ray,
see if maybe something more is at play that we're
not outwardly seeing ourselves. But then if we're looking kind
of through our eyes with our hands, palpation is a
(13:29):
big part of what we're doing too. So if we
can find a way to bring back joint ease and
less dysfunction in that, that's our ultimate goal.
Speaker 1 (13:38):
Yeah, great. So how much does posture really affect our
overall health balance and even our confidence? I know you
started to kind of talk about that in that last segment.
Speaker 3 (13:49):
Very much. Posture is boiling down to what we do
on a day-to-day basis, whether you're driving the car for 15,
20 minutes, a lot of that kind of relaxation in
the spine. Over time, things are going to start to
build up in not a great way. You can start
to get malformation or muscles where they become taut or hypertonic.
(14:10):
That's that extra tightness that we're feeling that we can't
just shake away with just stretching because now the body
is starting to reshape itself internally to then adapt to
these changes. So posture, whether we're working at a computer,
I know for myself, I love to play video games
with my friends like on the weekends and is finding
a time to then, you know, get up and stretch because,
(14:31):
you know, an hour or two can fly by just
like that. And you might not even realize it, but
you've been staring at the screen for so long that
you need to get up and like open up your neck,
open up your chest, just because that's going to start
to build up day in and day out. And especially
during COVID, our education turned more online. So we were
(14:51):
doing Zoom for anywhere from six to eight hours a day.
And then that's a lot of people's jobs nowadays. So partially,
if you're not taking that time to at least like
stand up, open up, it's going to affect more internally,
which is why we like to do our thorough evaluation. See,
is it more hypertonic because something's going on with work
(15:12):
or is there something structurally different? Yeah.
Speaker 1 (15:15):
So I'm sitting here in the studio watching you when
you say open up and I watch you bring your
shoulders back, right? It looks like you're kind of stretching
them out. So are there simple posture corrections that people
can make, um, just in their everyday starting today. Absolutely.
Speaker 3 (15:37):
The first one would be the chin tucks is when
you're trying to bring your lower chin up to like
the base of your skull, almost like you're creating a
double chin, as funny as that sounds. It really does
take a lot of the strain off of the suboccipital
muscles and muscles, not only in the deep neck flexors,
but everything else in and around there on top of
what would be like the rhomboids and the traps on
(15:57):
the back, trying to bring your shoulder blades together. You
don't have to make them. kiss per se, but just
taking it where it takes pressure off of it altogether.
And then lastly, with your hips, if you're trying to
move them around and you're feeling like uncomfortable in your
seat and you're trying to shift from one hip to
the other, a lot of it is maybe seeing is
your one leg maybe tucked underneath yourself and untucking your
(16:18):
legs is actually one very common thing outside of what
I see more in like gentlemen who wear their wallet
in their back pocket. That's going to push their pelvis
way off. So tucking the leg or having that on
having the wallet in their pocket is one simple thing
that you can alter there alone to take pressure off
the joints there too.
Speaker 1 (16:37):
Wow, that's great information. So we're doing double chins, we're
making our back kiss, and we're switching our wallets from
our back pockets.
Speaker 2 (16:46):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (16:47):
Simple, easy things that we can do right away to
make some changes or moving our legs when we're shifting things.
in our seats.
Speaker 3 (16:57):
And that's what I like to talk to a lot
of my patients about is like, I'm not here to
alter a lot of what's going on in your life
because if we can boil it down to a few
different things that are really affecting your life and it's
small changes like that, that we can be made even
like the pillow, small things, small water droplets to make
with big waves down the line is the way I
(17:18):
like to look at it. These little things will add
up over time, but it's the little things that we
don't realize we're doing. like letting our shoulders sink in,
like letting our neck come forward, like letting the hips
kind of sit in one position for so long that
then generate these aches and pains down the line.
Speaker 1 (17:33):
Yeah, yeah. So, you know, one of the other things
that we have are falls, right, as we start to age.
They're one of the leading reasons that older adults lose
their independence. Can chiropractic care help with improving balance, flexibility?
mobility and maybe even reduce fall risks?
Speaker 3 (17:54):
Absolutely. Because one of the big things is nerves. So
especially somebody with like sciatic, that sensation running down the
legs or even neuropathy, not feeling that much sensation going
down the legs or that burning sensation. If we can
work on helping the nerves with like balance coordination, I
know I work closely with, you know, a few PTs
that help with that as well. So when it comes
(18:16):
to healthcare as a whole, Having both things go back
and forth is like the peanut butter jelly sandwich of ourself.
Whether we're doing chiropractic to correct for a lot of
things that might be pinched and pulled in there, and
then we're doing PT to help with balance training. It's
not just chiropractic altogether. This is why healthcare has a
(18:36):
spectrum and all the different divinations of where we need
to go. Having that support system in and around is
ultimately what patient-centered care should be. So training the body,
working through a lot of that pain and even gait issues,
making sure like with the hips, if we're trying to
bend down, big things like that, that's where we really
want to focus on helping the internal issue. Great.
Speaker 1 (19:00):
Thank you, Dr. Collins. We are going to move to break.
This is L'Oreal Vario on WAM 1180. We will be
right back after a short commercial break. Welcome back to
the Still Blooming Radio Show. Aging, living, thriving. As a reminder,
we are live in studio today. So please feel free
(19:23):
to call in with any questions. The doc is here.
Speaker 2 (19:27):
Dr.
Speaker 1 (19:27):
Collins more than willing to answer any questions, even if
they're related to the height of a pillow. I do
believe somebody was inquiring. So maybe you could shed a
little more light on that before we really get up
and talking about caregivers.
Speaker 3 (19:44):
Oh yeah, as a notorious side sleeper myself, when it
comes to pillows, one of the best things I like
to recommend is not to just rush out and go
and buy a whole new pillow right away, because a
lot of the times it's better to have a more
broken in pillow anyway. But if we can try to
look at the height itself, Big things come down to
are you a back sleeper, are you a side sleeper,
(20:06):
or are you a stomach sleeper? And stomach sleeping is
not something I recommend, but I know some people find
the most comfort there. But it's not the most healthy
for your spine. For side sleeping for myself, a lot
of the times that I find is if we're trying
to angle the pillow, is utilizing one that might be
a little bit thicker because you want it to still
wedge into like your neck area. So if you imagine
(20:30):
like a small square between your head and your shoulder blades,
This square is where you're trying to aim into almost
a 45 degree angle because when you're on your side,
your shoulder is going to be rounding inward. So if
we can generate a little bit more of an opening,
that's what we need to do. And then if you
have a smaller secondary pillow, for myself it's very flat,
but we use it to kind of bump up into
(20:52):
the larger pillow. That angle now allows me to keep
my neck into a more neutral position for my spine,
rather than letting my head kind of either fall in
or be too far over to, let's say, my left
shoulder if I'm sleeping on my right side. That is
now keeping spinal neutral, and we're taking a lot more
pressure off of the joints there. And then with my arm,
having the pillow at that angle, I can now stretch
(21:13):
my right arm out, sleeping on my right side, to
then either hold on to something else. So now I'm
keeping my chest open, holding on to like a secondary
pillow there, or just having my arm out there. So
now my chest, like my pec muscles aren't rounding inward itself.
Speaker 2 (21:30):
Sure.
Speaker 3 (21:30):
Sure.
Speaker 1 (21:31):
That makes sense, right? The key is to stay open
as much as possible. So I like to talk about
caregivers on the show as well, because I do think
that they are of so much value. So caregivers often are,
you know, putting their own health last to the people
that they're caring for. So can you just kind of
(21:53):
talk about why it's important for caregivers to prioritize their
own physical health as well, and maybe some techniques that
they could use as they continue to provide great care? Yeah.
Speaker 3 (22:06):
So ultimately we want to continue not only to help
everybody else, especially somebody in need, but we have to
first take care of ourselves. So bracing and going through
the body is funny as it is, is always, you know,
been with the knees now with the back, but it's
true when you're trying to help somebody else up because
a lot of the time they can't move as easily.
So now you're trying to finagle your own arms into
(22:28):
like weird positions. And then you're trying to bend down
to kind of help either scoop them up or even
get down into a better position for yourself. And then
you can further cause strain on your own body. So
if we can find a way of looking at it
is bracing maybe with a physical brace, like a, durable
medical equipment lso brace or if we're trying to train
the body after that so a lot of the times
(22:50):
when we're going through care and we're looking at different
things looking at what the person does for a living
if i were to send you out for an x-ray
see what's going on in there and you need a
brace that would help better support your body as you're
trying to help support somebody else as a caregiver that's
something we can start off with and then over time
now transitioning into stretching and exercise because you don't have
(23:13):
to wear it forever You want to use it to
help support yourself so then you can better support somebody else.
So then training the core afterwards, working through those back muscles,
getting a better, stronger body and base is ultimately where
I want all my patients to be at.
Speaker 1 (23:29):
Yeah, I love that. As one of your patients, I
definitely got to experience getting the x-rays and going through
that process of really step-by-step understanding what was going on
and posture. So I love that your practice does that.
And we're going to kind of get into that and
(23:50):
talk about the myths that go along with chiropractic care.
You've shared some wonderful practical advice today. So let's tackle
some of the big myths about chiropractic care and answer
a few questions for people that they're often afraid to
ask and find out why it's never too late to
(24:11):
take charge of your health. Can we kind of talk about,
you know, this idea of essentially going to chiropractics means that,
you know, someone's going to be wrenching on your spine.
Can you talk a little bit about that and what makes,
you know, that either a myth or what makes maybe
(24:34):
the practice different? Yeah, no.
Speaker 3 (24:37):
So when we're looking at the body and being wrenched
on is one thing I know. For myself, when we're
going through school, you sometimes work with, you know, the
other students that the heavy handedness can come into things.
But I wouldn't necessarily worry about being wrenched on because
ultimately we're trying to just move the joints. And if
(24:58):
we need to do a few other things, whether it
be like stim or heat to help loosen up the body,
that's ultimately what's going to give you like that relaxation
and not have somebody kind of forcefully push into it.
I like to, I guess, pride myself in being maybe
a little bit more toned back. And I know a
lot of the other providers in the practice itself are
(25:19):
very soft as well. More technique driven than it is
more trying to like move the bone and leave it alone.
Not being wrenched on, at least for me, never feels
very good. So I wouldn't want to do that, not
only to somebody in my own family, but I wouldn't
want to do it to any of my patients either.
Speaker 1 (25:38):
Yeah. So it's really more than just simply adjusting the spine.
How do you take a whole person approach to helping
your patients feel their best? So kind of walk me
through what it looks like when I come in the door.
Speaker 3 (25:51):
So when you're coming in. A lot of the times
we're looking at not only the feet, the knees, the hips.
We're doing a whole body posture assessment, and then we're
also doing a lot of hands-on work as well, too.
And then if I need further x-rays, I will do that, too,
just because that's the whole true body approach. Great.
Speaker 1 (26:10):
Thank you. We will be back with Dr. Collins on
WAM 1180. Welcome back. Welcome back to the Still Blooming
Radio Show, Aging, Living, Thriving. I'm Lori Alverio, and thank
you for joining us this morning on News Radio WAM 1180.
If you're just joining us, we've been talking with our
(26:31):
guests from Crossroads Chiropractic and Health Center about healthy aging,
staying active, and maintaining our independence. But before we continue,
I'd like to take a moment to recognize another community partner.
As many of you know, transportation plays a vital role
and helping older adults remain independent and connected to their families,
healthcare providers, and communities. Recently, hand-in-hand in your home, our
(26:55):
sponsor had the pleasure of purchasing a new client transportation van.
from Gina at Carver Honda. And I wanted to personally
thank Gina for the exceptional care she provides. She understands
the unique needs of older adults and their families, whether
she's helping someone find a vehicle that's safe and easy
to drive or assisting with the process of selling a
(27:16):
vehicle they no longer need. Her patience, honesty, and commitment
to understanding and outstanding customer service make her a wonderful
resource for our community. Now let's get back to today's
conversation with Dr. Collins. Dr. Collins, you started to kind
of talk about it. Well, you were just talking through
(27:37):
the end of the last segment. If you'd like to
pick off where you left off, that would be great.
Speaker 3 (27:44):
So to walk through the first day of when you're
coming to see me or any of the other providers
in our community, When you're first, either whether you're calling
in or you're looking online through our ads on Facebook, Google,
anything like that, or just visiting the website in general,
Deb is going to be the first one that you
(28:05):
talk to. She's going to greet you, offer some water, coffee, tea.
We like to make everybody feel welcome and happy. Altogether,
it should be an ease of experience. Going to the
doctor in general can already be nerve-wracking. Then you factor
in being a chiropractor, you're adding in a whole other
set of nerves. So if we can quell a lot
of that in the beginning just to help you kind
(28:27):
of ease your way into everything, that's what we strive
for first. Then Sue, our case manager, is going to
come bring you back and go through a thorough health history,
make sure she covers on a lot of things that
you might not even think of in the time because
if we're very focused on the pain, we're not truly
getting to the root of the cause. So we're going
to ask quite a bit of questions, so it's going
(28:48):
to take a little bit longer. But then kind of
looping into what I said is getting to know you
is allowing me to see more and more with that.
After that, she'll bring me in. I'll do my assessment,
going through a lot of postural checks, looking at like
the foot, leg length discrepancies, anything like posturally forward head carriage,
(29:08):
different things like that. And then I'll do a lot
of my orthopedic tests. So a lot of it to
take like the scariness out of it is even when
I'm like going through and seeing what's going on in there,
A lot of it's not being adjusted that first day
because if we're not really knowing what's going on fully
to that full extent, I don't want to be pushing
(29:28):
on something that could cause more harm ultimately. So after
I do my part when or if I need x-rays
for the person because everybody's cases going to be completely different,
this is how we have that individualized approach to things.
One of the things that you talked about is evolution
for how the practice has been. And one of the
(29:50):
things that we even partner with is called foot levelers.
When you're on here, it's not only looking at the
feet because that is the foundation of our whole body
in general, as it works through the knees, the hips
into the spine, which is a lot of where chiropractic
is focused, but it's more than just a spine because
everything is connected. And then it can also take a
photo of your neck because forward head carriage is now
(30:13):
the second most common thing that I'm starting to see
coming to the office. So if we needed to even
look or order a pillow. there's always that option too.
So it's going to do an assessment there as well.
So it has a camera to look at that. So Morgan,
my chiropractic assistant, is also going to help you through
that as well. So the team works hand-in-hand. We strive
to just give the best quality care that we can.
(30:35):
So that's kind of what our first day looks like.
And then if you needed x-rays or if I sent
you out for them, bringing you back in and going
over them, to me, I find really personally important because
if you were to go and get an MRI, a CT,
anything else like that, Sometimes it can be overlooked or
they don't discuss the images or at least show you
the images. Sometimes you can read the report or the
(30:56):
doctor can read it back to you, but you should
be able to see it with your own eyes, what's
truly going on inside of you, because that's what's important
to me and this should be important to you. And
then we, well, I would come up with a plan
of attack in working with you that we would come
up with the best way to better serve you, and
especially as a caregiver, finding ways that we can maybe
(31:16):
change biomechanics if we can offer that support through the brace,
different things like that, I would come up with a
plan to work with you to get you feeling better.
Speaker 1 (31:25):
Yeah, yeah. I appreciate the conversation today. So I love
to do the lightning round before we close out the show.
So tell me, Doc, coffee or tea?
Speaker 3 (31:36):
Coffee.
Speaker 1 (31:37):
Morning person or night owl? Morning. What's one daily habit
everyone should start?
Speaker 3 (31:42):
Mindful meditation.
Speaker 1 (31:44):
Love it. What's one daily habit everyone should stop?
Speaker 3 (31:48):
Scrolling on the phone forever.
Speaker 1 (31:51):
One word that describes hope?
Speaker 3 (31:55):
That's a good one. Self-care.
Speaker 1 (31:59):
One word that describes community?
Speaker 3 (32:01):
Everybody togetherness.
Speaker 1 (32:05):
Okay, great. Thank you, Dr. Collins. Can you just tell
us a little real quickly where we can find you?
Speaker 3 (32:13):
Hilton Palmer Corners Road in Hilton, New York, and then
also West End Rialto in Miami as well. Great.
Speaker 1 (32:19):
Thank you. I'm Laurie Alverio.
The following is paid programming by The Still Blooming Radio Show.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
The content of this show is that of The Still
Blooming Radio Show and does not reflect the views or
policies of this station or iHeartMedia. News Radio WAM 1180
welcomes you to this still-blooming radio show, Aging, Living, Thriving,
presented by Hand in Hand in your home. Join in
with your comments or questions. Call 222-1180 or 1-800-295-1180. Now
(00:29):
live from the News Radio WAM 1180 studios in downtown Rochester,
here's your host, Lori Alvareal.
Speaker 1 (00:37):
Good morning, everyone, and welcome to the Still Blooming Radio Show, Aging, Living, Thriving.
I'm your host, Lori Alverio, and thank you for spending
part of your Saturday morning with us on NewsRadio WAM 1180.
Whether you are joining us from home, out for a walk,
or driving to visit family, we're so glad you're here.
(00:57):
Every week on the Still Blooming Radio Show, we have
conversations that help us age with confidence. purpose, and connection.
We believe growing older isn't about slowing down. It's about
continuing to live well, stay engaged, and make the most
of every season. Today's topic is one that affects almost
all of us at some point, aches, pains, stiffness, and
(01:20):
maintaining our mobility and independence as we age. We'll be
talking with Dr. Collins, our guest from Crossroads Chiropractic and
Health Center, about how chiropractic care can support healthy aging,
improve movement, and help us continue doing the things we love.
Before we begin, I'd like to thank our presenting sponsor,
(01:41):
Hand in Hand in Your Home. Every day, they help
older adults remain safe, independent, and connected through compassionate care, advocacy, transportation,
and personalized support. Their mission is to help people age
with dignity while continuing to live life on their own terms.
And we're proud to have them as the presenting sponsor
of the Still Blooming Radio Show. I'd also like to
(02:04):
recognize the Greater Rochester Area Partnership for the Elderly, or GRAPE,
for bringing together professionals and organizations dedicated to improving the
lives of older adults throughout our community. We're grateful for
all that you do to educate, collaborate, and advocate on
behalf of older adults and caregivers. Now, let's get started.
(02:26):
Joining me this morning is is our guest, Dr. Collins
from Crossroads Chiropractic and Healthcare. Welcome, Dr. Collins.
Speaker 3 (02:35):
Thank you for having me.
Speaker 1 (02:38):
You're welcome. We're glad to have you. So today's conversation
is really about helping people continue living active, independent lives.
Whether someone is gardening, playing with grandchildren, traveling, volunteering, or
simply wanting to move without pain, maintaining our health and
mobility is Makes all the difference. I'd love for our
(03:00):
listeners to learn a little bit about you. So if
you'd like to just spend a few minutes just kind
of talking about you.
Speaker 3 (03:08):
Absolutely. So I'm a Scranton, Pennsylvania native. I came up
here to Ithaca College for my undergrad in exercise science
and then continued up Canandaigua Lake to the once was NYCC,
the chiropractic school, now HealthSource of Science. And, uh, From there,
(03:28):
I always knew I kind of wanted to go into chiropractic.
One of the big things is growing up, working with
my parents, working with my hands and having that creative
side from both of them. I really wanted to continue that.
And one of the big events that happened in my life,
especially in high school, I had a soccer accident where
(03:48):
I went down to a squirrel goal. I got twisted
up by two defenders. My neck got spun one way.
My back got spun the other. And I ended up
having to go to the hospital and, you know, the
athletic trainer was helpful. Uh, going to the neurologist was helpful,
but it wasn't until one of the boys on the team,
he suggested going to see his dad who was a
chiropractor locally. And, uh, thank you, Dr. Schmidt, because he
(04:11):
really helped, you know, set me on this path to
where I am now because he was able to, you know,
really help work with me and get me back onto
the field same season and continue on that way. Wow.
Speaker 1 (04:21):
That's great. So, uh, so. dealer's fan in the bills
nation is that is that what we're talking about no.
Speaker 3 (04:28):
We're now a full bills fan.
Speaker 1 (04:30):
Too okay we just wanted to clarify um so can
you tell us a little bit about uh crossroads chiropractic
and health center.
Speaker 3 (04:39):
Yeah absolutely so we have three locations i'm working predominantly
in the hilton location there's also lem and west henrietta
so between the three of our offices we like to
have a very thorough approach to a lot of things
A lot of it comes down to how we want
to treat everybody. But to do that, we really have
to do a bigger deep dive into your health history.
(05:00):
You know, so many things happen throughout your life that
you want to take the time to really understand everybody.
And I really want to take the time to understand
our patients because it's important to me to know more
than just, you know, this aches and pain that's going on.
There's always a little bit more to what's going on together.
So through our individualized approach to everybody, I like to spend,
you know, a lot more quality time with everybody as
(05:23):
much as I can because that's what everybody deserves.
Speaker 1 (05:26):
Yeah, yeah. I completely agree. You know, more holistic care.
You're looking at the whole body, not just whatever ache
and pain necessarily that came in. You're really looking at
treating the root cause. That makes complete sense. So can
you tell me, has the practice evolved over the years
or has this just always been the philosophy for Crossroads? Yes.
Speaker 3 (05:51):
I would say ever since Dr. Joe, the owner, had
taken over from Dr. Redding, he's really been able to
grow the practice and evolve it pretty much consistently throughout time.
But I think that goes hand in hand with health care.
It shouldn't ever remain stagnant as things grow, as things
progress and even our understanding of the body changes. grows,
we should do more for everybody. So we should be
(06:13):
able to continue to offer different things. We should do
just more altogether because it's hard in New York being
limited in what we can do, but that's why what
we can do is evolve not only with techniques, with
our own philosophy and just doing what we can to
continue to help and serve the community.
Speaker 1 (06:31):
Yeah, yeah. So what is the primary demographic, the primary
population that you see? Are you dealing with with really
young people or older people?
Speaker 3 (06:43):
I'd say anywhere between the 40- and 60-year-old population is
predominantly what's coming in, but I have seen as young
as a few weeks old. I've seen people into their 90s,
so a little bit of everywhere in between, but predominantly
we're seeing 40- and 60-year-old.
Speaker 1 (07:00):
Do you have any idea or any thoughts on why,
what that trend is from?
Speaker 3 (07:04):
I think a lot of it comes down to we're
still into that, grind mindset we want to work for
a living we want to get up and do what
we can but after a certain point you know that's
this aches and pains that starts to unravel and snowball
into more of an issue i think now we're starting
to see a better trend of where we need to
(07:24):
better take care of our health and around that time
is when things start to maybe shift more personally families
start to grow up and get a little bit more
or even now you start to look into like grandchildren
again so You want to maintain that activity level past
what you used to do, and now you want to
continue to do more, and you don't want to be
debilitated or stopped because you're suffering from something.
Speaker 1 (07:46):
Yeah, absolutely. Are there common concerns that people typically come
in with you're seeing more often than maybe something else? Definitely.
Speaker 3 (07:59):
Always the back pain, commonly for chiropractors, but it's more
than just the back pain itself. There's sciatica and there's
plantar fasciitis and knee pains. A lot of it comes
from lower extremity things because we have to get up
and move. But then now, predominantly, I'm seeing a lot
more upper body, neck strain, headaches, a lot of shoulder
and elbow pain, even down into the wrist because we're
(08:20):
so much more focused on technology nowadays than we have
been in the past. So having that seems to be
more of an issue just because... with technology evolving too,
we're so much more focused inward than we are outward.
Speaker 1 (08:34):
Yeah. So when you say inward, if you're listening, they
don't see your body mechanics and your movement. So just
tell me a little bit about that inward. I watched
you just go inward. So tell me what that looks like.
Speaker 3 (08:49):
Yes, I do like to talk a lot with my hands.
Unfortunately for my voice, rounding inward is one of the
big things. So whether it be Upper cross syndrome, where
you're rounding your shoulders inward, you're bringing your neck forward.
Or if your pelvis is starting to drop in for
lower cross syndrome, all that's starting to inwardly fold the body.
And then if you factor, you're looking at your phone,
(09:10):
you're looking at a computer screen, you tend to bring
yourself forward or inward that way. So a lot of
the times it would be beneficial to go outward, extending
backwards to take a lot of that pressure and pain
off of the body.
Speaker 1 (09:24):
Yeah, yeah. So one thing that I hear all the
time with clients that I'm seeing and people out in
the field is, I guess I'm getting older and that
just means living with pain. But does it really?
Speaker 3 (09:37):
No, it does not. As we age, pain isn't necessarily
a part of life. There has to be other things
going on because part of our education is when we're
looking at x-rays a lot, we've seen people even in
the elderly demographic can have what would be quote unquote
a normal looking spine without a whole lot of pain,
(09:59):
but we've also seen the reverse too, where there could
be a lot more arthritic changes in there, a lot
more degenerative changes, and still somebody coming in with no pain.
So it really comes down to what like is happening
outside of it, which is why I like to know
more because given what habits we do, what we like
to do for fun, what we do for a living,
all that there could be something going on or as
(10:21):
simple as like sleeping with a pillow and just make
your neck like a 60 degree angle instead of like
lying a little bit lower. All that plays a big
factor into why we start to get a lot of
these aches and pains more than just like general aging.
Speaker 1 (10:35):
Right. So just shifting your pillow or changing your pillow
out could make a difference in how you feel the
next day.
Speaker 3 (10:41):
Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (10:41):
Very simple solution. So at what point do you think
someone should consider seeing a chiropractor and instead of continuing
to live with pain or hoping it will just go away?
Speaker 3 (10:54):
I'd say it's always the sooner the better aspect, right?
Because you shouldn't want to continue to live in pain,
even if you're hoping for it to go away. You know,
let's say you try to give it, you know, let's
say a week it might go away. It feels better
if you take like an over-the-counter medicine. But the sooner
the better is always, to me, the best way to
go about it.
Speaker 1 (11:14):
Yeah, great. We are just getting started, and we will
go off to a commercial break, and we'll be back
here on WAM 1180. Welcome back to the Still Blooming
Radio Show, Aging, Living, Thriving. I'm Lori Alverio, and thank
(11:35):
you for joining us on News Radio WAM 1180. If
you're just joining us, today's conversation is all about staying active,
maintaining our independence, and understanding how chiropractic care can support
healthy aging. Now, let's jump back into today's conversation. So, Dr. Collins,
one of the things we talk about often on this
(11:58):
show is how healthy aging isn't just about living longer.
It's about living better. It's about maintaining our independence, staying active,
and continuing to do the things that bring us joy.
Let's talk about how chiropractic care fits into that picture.
So many people begin noticing changes in their mobility as
(12:19):
they get older. How can the chiropractic care help older
adults stay active and maintain their independence?
Speaker 3 (12:26):
A lot of that boils down to what chiropractic at
least means to me and what it is a lot
in general. We're working a lot with joints. It's not
just the bones, the muscle. Everything is being put together.
The whole body as a system is where we're really
trying to build into it. So one thing that mobility
to me is like when it starts to break down
(12:47):
is you have to look at a few different layers
of things. So kind of breaking it down tier by
tier is not just I guess the skeleton, right, is
where in lies the chiropractic, but then the nerves that
are coming out that's being housed in there, that's affecting
the muscles, the ligaments, and the joint itself to where
things are having a dysfunction or some kind of disease
(13:08):
in there. So if we can try to find a way,
looking at it both on the outside externally, through the skin,
if there's any bruising, swelling, different parts of inflammation like that,
or if we can look more internally... through like an x-ray,
see if maybe something more is at play that we're
not outwardly seeing ourselves. But then if we're looking kind
of through our eyes with our hands, palpation is a
(13:29):
big part of what we're doing too. So if we
can find a way to bring back joint ease and
less dysfunction in that, that's our ultimate goal.
Speaker 1 (13:38):
Yeah, great. So how much does posture really affect our
overall health balance and even our confidence? I know you
started to kind of talk about that in that last segment.
Speaker 3 (13:49):
Very much. Posture is boiling down to what we do
on a day-to-day basis, whether you're driving the car for 15,
20 minutes, a lot of that kind of relaxation in
the spine. Over time, things are going to start to
build up in not a great way. You can start
to get malformation or muscles where they become taut or hypertonic.
(14:10):
That's that extra tightness that we're feeling that we can't
just shake away with just stretching because now the body
is starting to reshape itself internally to then adapt to
these changes. So posture, whether we're working at a computer,
I know for myself, I love to play video games
with my friends like on the weekends and is finding
a time to then, you know, get up and stretch because,
(14:31):
you know, an hour or two can fly by just
like that. And you might not even realize it, but
you've been staring at the screen for so long that
you need to get up and like open up your neck,
open up your chest, just because that's going to start
to build up day in and day out. And especially
during COVID, our education turned more online. So we were
(14:51):
doing Zoom for anywhere from six to eight hours a day.
And then that's a lot of people's jobs nowadays. So partially,
if you're not taking that time to at least like
stand up, open up, it's going to affect more internally,
which is why we like to do our thorough evaluation. See,
is it more hypertonic because something's going on with work
(15:12):
or is there something structurally different? Yeah.
Speaker 1 (15:15):
So I'm sitting here in the studio watching you when
you say open up and I watch you bring your
shoulders back, right? It looks like you're kind of stretching
them out. So are there simple posture corrections that people
can make, um, just in their everyday starting today. Absolutely.
Speaker 3 (15:37):
The first one would be the chin tucks is when
you're trying to bring your lower chin up to like
the base of your skull, almost like you're creating a
double chin, as funny as that sounds. It really does
take a lot of the strain off of the suboccipital
muscles and muscles, not only in the deep neck flexors,
but everything else in and around there on top of
what would be like the rhomboids and the traps on
(15:57):
the back, trying to bring your shoulder blades together. You
don't have to make them. kiss per se, but just
taking it where it takes pressure off of it altogether.
And then lastly, with your hips, if you're trying to
move them around and you're feeling like uncomfortable in your
seat and you're trying to shift from one hip to
the other, a lot of it is maybe seeing is
your one leg maybe tucked underneath yourself and untucking your
(16:18):
legs is actually one very common thing outside of what
I see more in like gentlemen who wear their wallet
in their back pocket. That's going to push their pelvis
way off. So tucking the leg or having that on
having the wallet in their pocket is one simple thing
that you can alter there alone to take pressure off
the joints there too.
Speaker 1 (16:37):
Wow, that's great information. So we're doing double chins, we're
making our back kiss, and we're switching our wallets from
our back pockets.
Speaker 2 (16:46):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (16:47):
Simple, easy things that we can do right away to
make some changes or moving our legs when we're shifting things.
in our seats.
Speaker 3 (16:57):
And that's what I like to talk to a lot
of my patients about is like, I'm not here to
alter a lot of what's going on in your life
because if we can boil it down to a few
different things that are really affecting your life and it's
small changes like that, that we can be made even
like the pillow, small things, small water droplets to make
with big waves down the line is the way I
(17:18):
like to look at it. These little things will add
up over time, but it's the little things that we
don't realize we're doing. like letting our shoulders sink in,
like letting our neck come forward, like letting the hips
kind of sit in one position for so long that
then generate these aches and pains down the line.
Speaker 1 (17:33):
Yeah, yeah. So, you know, one of the other things
that we have are falls, right, as we start to age.
They're one of the leading reasons that older adults lose
their independence. Can chiropractic care help with improving balance, flexibility?
mobility and maybe even reduce fall risks?
Speaker 3 (17:54):
Absolutely. Because one of the big things is nerves. So
especially somebody with like sciatic, that sensation running down the
legs or even neuropathy, not feeling that much sensation going
down the legs or that burning sensation. If we can
work on helping the nerves with like balance coordination, I
know I work closely with, you know, a few PTs
that help with that as well. So when it comes
(18:16):
to healthcare as a whole, Having both things go back
and forth is like the peanut butter jelly sandwich of ourself.
Whether we're doing chiropractic to correct for a lot of
things that might be pinched and pulled in there, and
then we're doing PT to help with balance training. It's
not just chiropractic altogether. This is why healthcare has a
(18:36):
spectrum and all the different divinations of where we need
to go. Having that support system in and around is
ultimately what patient-centered care should be. So training the body,
working through a lot of that pain and even gait issues,
making sure like with the hips, if we're trying to
bend down, big things like that, that's where we really
want to focus on helping the internal issue. Great.
Speaker 1 (19:00):
Thank you, Dr. Collins. We are going to move to break.
This is L'Oreal Vario on WAM 1180. We will be
right back after a short commercial break. Welcome back to
the Still Blooming Radio Show. Aging, living, thriving. As a reminder,
we are live in studio today. So please feel free
(19:23):
to call in with any questions. The doc is here.
Speaker 2 (19:27):
Dr.
Speaker 1 (19:27):
Collins more than willing to answer any questions, even if
they're related to the height of a pillow. I do
believe somebody was inquiring. So maybe you could shed a
little more light on that before we really get up
and talking about caregivers.
Speaker 3 (19:44):
Oh yeah, as a notorious side sleeper myself, when it
comes to pillows, one of the best things I like
to recommend is not to just rush out and go
and buy a whole new pillow right away, because a
lot of the times it's better to have a more
broken in pillow anyway. But if we can try to
look at the height itself, Big things come down to
are you a back sleeper, are you a side sleeper,
(20:06):
or are you a stomach sleeper? And stomach sleeping is
not something I recommend, but I know some people find
the most comfort there. But it's not the most healthy
for your spine. For side sleeping for myself, a lot
of the times that I find is if we're trying
to angle the pillow, is utilizing one that might be
a little bit thicker because you want it to still
wedge into like your neck area. So if you imagine
(20:30):
like a small square between your head and your shoulder blades,
This square is where you're trying to aim into almost
a 45 degree angle because when you're on your side,
your shoulder is going to be rounding inward. So if
we can generate a little bit more of an opening,
that's what we need to do. And then if you
have a smaller secondary pillow, for myself it's very flat,
but we use it to kind of bump up into
(20:52):
the larger pillow. That angle now allows me to keep
my neck into a more neutral position for my spine,
rather than letting my head kind of either fall in
or be too far over to, let's say, my left
shoulder if I'm sleeping on my right side. That is
now keeping spinal neutral, and we're taking a lot more
pressure off of the joints there. And then with my arm,
having the pillow at that angle, I can now stretch
(21:13):
my right arm out, sleeping on my right side, to
then either hold on to something else. So now I'm
keeping my chest open, holding on to like a secondary
pillow there, or just having my arm out there. So
now my chest, like my pec muscles aren't rounding inward itself.
Speaker 2 (21:30):
Sure.
Speaker 3 (21:30):
Sure.
Speaker 1 (21:31):
That makes sense, right? The key is to stay open
as much as possible. So I like to talk about
caregivers on the show as well, because I do think
that they are of so much value. So caregivers often are,
you know, putting their own health last to the people
that they're caring for. So can you just kind of
(21:53):
talk about why it's important for caregivers to prioritize their
own physical health as well, and maybe some techniques that
they could use as they continue to provide great care? Yeah.
Speaker 3 (22:06):
So ultimately we want to continue not only to help
everybody else, especially somebody in need, but we have to
first take care of ourselves. So bracing and going through
the body is funny as it is, is always, you know,
been with the knees now with the back, but it's
true when you're trying to help somebody else up because
a lot of the time they can't move as easily.
So now you're trying to finagle your own arms into
(22:28):
like weird positions. And then you're trying to bend down
to kind of help either scoop them up or even
get down into a better position for yourself. And then
you can further cause strain on your own body. So
if we can find a way of looking at it
is bracing maybe with a physical brace, like a, durable
medical equipment lso brace or if we're trying to train
the body after that so a lot of the times
(22:50):
when we're going through care and we're looking at different
things looking at what the person does for a living
if i were to send you out for an x-ray
see what's going on in there and you need a
brace that would help better support your body as you're
trying to help support somebody else as a caregiver that's
something we can start off with and then over time
now transitioning into stretching and exercise because you don't have
(23:13):
to wear it forever You want to use it to
help support yourself so then you can better support somebody else.
So then training the core afterwards, working through those back muscles,
getting a better, stronger body and base is ultimately where
I want all my patients to be at.
Speaker 1 (23:29):
Yeah, I love that. As one of your patients, I
definitely got to experience getting the x-rays and going through
that process of really step-by-step understanding what was going on
and posture. So I love that your practice does that.
And we're going to kind of get into that and
(23:50):
talk about the myths that go along with chiropractic care.
You've shared some wonderful practical advice today. So let's tackle
some of the big myths about chiropractic care and answer
a few questions for people that they're often afraid to
ask and find out why it's never too late to
(24:11):
take charge of your health. Can we kind of talk about,
you know, this idea of essentially going to chiropractics means that,
you know, someone's going to be wrenching on your spine.
Can you talk a little bit about that and what makes,
you know, that either a myth or what makes maybe
(24:34):
the practice different? Yeah, no.
Speaker 3 (24:37):
So when we're looking at the body and being wrenched
on is one thing I know. For myself, when we're
going through school, you sometimes work with, you know, the
other students that the heavy handedness can come into things.
But I wouldn't necessarily worry about being wrenched on because
ultimately we're trying to just move the joints. And if
(24:58):
we need to do a few other things, whether it
be like stim or heat to help loosen up the body,
that's ultimately what's going to give you like that relaxation
and not have somebody kind of forcefully push into it.
I like to, I guess, pride myself in being maybe
a little bit more toned back. And I know a
lot of the other providers in the practice itself are
(25:19):
very soft as well. More technique driven than it is
more trying to like move the bone and leave it alone.
Not being wrenched on, at least for me, never feels
very good. So I wouldn't want to do that, not
only to somebody in my own family, but I wouldn't
want to do it to any of my patients either.
Speaker 1 (25:38):
Yeah. So it's really more than just simply adjusting the spine.
How do you take a whole person approach to helping
your patients feel their best? So kind of walk me
through what it looks like when I come in the door.
Speaker 3 (25:51):
So when you're coming in. A lot of the times
we're looking at not only the feet, the knees, the hips.
We're doing a whole body posture assessment, and then we're
also doing a lot of hands-on work as well, too.
And then if I need further x-rays, I will do that, too,
just because that's the whole true body approach. Great.
Speaker 1 (26:10):
Thank you. We will be back with Dr. Collins on
WAM 1180. Welcome back. Welcome back to the Still Blooming
Radio Show, Aging, Living, Thriving. I'm Lori Alverio, and thank
you for joining us this morning on News Radio WAM 1180.
If you're just joining us, we've been talking with our
(26:31):
guests from Crossroads Chiropractic and Health Center about healthy aging,
staying active, and maintaining our independence. But before we continue,
I'd like to take a moment to recognize another community partner.
As many of you know, transportation plays a vital role
and helping older adults remain independent and connected to their families,
healthcare providers, and communities. Recently, hand-in-hand in your home, our
(26:55):
sponsor had the pleasure of purchasing a new client transportation van.
from Gina at Carver Honda. And I wanted to personally
thank Gina for the exceptional care she provides. She understands
the unique needs of older adults and their families, whether
she's helping someone find a vehicle that's safe and easy
to drive or assisting with the process of selling a
(27:16):
vehicle they no longer need. Her patience, honesty, and commitment
to understanding and outstanding customer service make her a wonderful
resource for our community. Now let's get back to today's
conversation with Dr. Collins. Dr. Collins, you started to kind
of talk about it. Well, you were just talking through
(27:37):
the end of the last segment. If you'd like to
pick off where you left off, that would be great.
Speaker 3 (27:44):
So to walk through the first day of when you're
coming to see me or any of the other providers
in our community, When you're first, either whether you're calling
in or you're looking online through our ads on Facebook, Google,
anything like that, or just visiting the website in general,
Deb is going to be the first one that you
(28:05):
talk to. She's going to greet you, offer some water, coffee, tea.
We like to make everybody feel welcome and happy. Altogether,
it should be an ease of experience. Going to the
doctor in general can already be nerve-wracking. Then you factor
in being a chiropractor, you're adding in a whole other
set of nerves. So if we can quell a lot
of that in the beginning just to help you kind
(28:27):
of ease your way into everything, that's what we strive
for first. Then Sue, our case manager, is going to
come bring you back and go through a thorough health history,
make sure she covers on a lot of things that
you might not even think of in the time because
if we're very focused on the pain, we're not truly
getting to the root of the cause. So we're going
to ask quite a bit of questions, so it's going
(28:48):
to take a little bit longer. But then kind of
looping into what I said is getting to know you
is allowing me to see more and more with that.
After that, she'll bring me in. I'll do my assessment,
going through a lot of postural checks, looking at like
the foot, leg length discrepancies, anything like posturally forward head carriage,
(29:08):
different things like that. And then I'll do a lot
of my orthopedic tests. So a lot of it to
take like the scariness out of it is even when
I'm like going through and seeing what's going on in there,
A lot of it's not being adjusted that first day
because if we're not really knowing what's going on fully
to that full extent, I don't want to be pushing
(29:28):
on something that could cause more harm ultimately. So after
I do my part when or if I need x-rays
for the person because everybody's cases going to be completely different,
this is how we have that individualized approach to things.
One of the things that you talked about is evolution
for how the practice has been. And one of the
(29:50):
things that we even partner with is called foot levelers.
When you're on here, it's not only looking at the
feet because that is the foundation of our whole body
in general, as it works through the knees, the hips
into the spine, which is a lot of where chiropractic
is focused, but it's more than just a spine because
everything is connected. And then it can also take a
photo of your neck because forward head carriage is now
(30:13):
the second most common thing that I'm starting to see
coming to the office. So if we needed to even
look or order a pillow. there's always that option too.
So it's going to do an assessment there as well.
So it has a camera to look at that. So Morgan,
my chiropractic assistant, is also going to help you through
that as well. So the team works hand-in-hand. We strive
to just give the best quality care that we can.
(30:35):
So that's kind of what our first day looks like.
And then if you needed x-rays or if I sent
you out for them, bringing you back in and going
over them, to me, I find really personally important because
if you were to go and get an MRI, a CT,
anything else like that, Sometimes it can be overlooked or
they don't discuss the images or at least show you
the images. Sometimes you can read the report or the
(30:56):
doctor can read it back to you, but you should
be able to see it with your own eyes, what's
truly going on inside of you, because that's what's important
to me and this should be important to you. And
then we, well, I would come up with a plan
of attack in working with you that we would come
up with the best way to better serve you, and
especially as a caregiver, finding ways that we can maybe
(31:16):
change biomechanics if we can offer that support through the brace,
different things like that, I would come up with a
plan to work with you to get you feeling better.
Speaker 1 (31:25):
Yeah, yeah. I appreciate the conversation today. So I love
to do the lightning round before we close out the show.
So tell me, Doc, coffee or tea?
Speaker 3 (31:36):
Coffee.
Speaker 1 (31:37):
Morning person or night owl? Morning. What's one daily habit
everyone should start?
Speaker 3 (31:42):
Mindful meditation.
Speaker 1 (31:44):
Love it. What's one daily habit everyone should stop?
Speaker 3 (31:48):
Scrolling on the phone forever.
Speaker 1 (31:51):
One word that describes hope?
Speaker 3 (31:55):
That's a good one. Self-care.
Speaker 1 (31:59):
One word that describes community?
Speaker 3 (32:01):
Everybody togetherness.
Speaker 1 (32:05):
Okay, great. Thank you, Dr. Collins. Can you just tell
us a little real quickly where we can find you?
Speaker 3 (32:13):
Hilton Palmer Corners Road in Hilton, New York, and then
also West End Rialto in Miami as well. Great.
Speaker 1 (32:19):
Thank you. I'm Laurie Alverio.
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