Nov 7, 2016Giving Back
With many family members having served in the military, Jeremy Lee, DC, ATC, owner of Lee Chiropractic and Athletic Training in Geneseo, N.Y., always wanted to do something to give back to veterans. This Veterans Day, he was able to do just that — closing his office to his usual patients so he could offer free spinal adjustments to those who’ve served.
“Michelle [Lee] — our office manager who is also my wife — and I both had grandparents who were career military guys,” Dr. Lee told The Lamron. “My grandfather was in the Navy for 20 years, and so we’ve always had a great appreciation for what those guys do and how they help us and our country to have the rights that we do and live the lives that we do.”
In previous years, Dr. Lee had wanted to do something similar but lacked access to an office for the holiday. He now owns the building where his practice is located, which allowed more flexibility.
“Now that we have the space to do this, we just wanted to give back, and so we figured this Veterans Day we’d close down to any normal patients that we might have and be here to provide complimentary service to veterans,” Dr. Lee said. “A lot of veterans didn’t receive a thank you when they came back, and we’re just really looking to give back.”
An article from The Livingston County News, explains that Dr. Lee offered spinal manipulative therapy to veterans. This adjustment may help patients deal with chronic pain as an alternative to opioid use.
“In terms of veterans, there’s a huge issue with the epidemic of opioids right now — they’ve been pushed and pushed and pushed,” Dr. Lee told The Livingston County News. “People get addicted to them, get cut off, and it can lead to heroin use. Studies keep coming out over and over and over about utilizing chiropractic care for spine pain instead of these opioids.”
As far as the treatment offered, spinal manipulative therapy is one of the most commonly known chiropractic services. It often includes moving the joints to help reduce pressure on the spine.
“Basically there’s a high-velocity, low-amplitude impulse into the joint that is not moving properly to take it through its range of motion,” Dr. Lee said. “We’re basically correcting the biomechanics of the spine.”
Along with local media, Dr. Lee got the word out about his Veterans Day event by contacting the local Veterans of Foreign Wars post in Geneseo. In the future, Dr. Lee would like his promotion to include a fundraising element.
“The local VFWs are always doing some sort of fundraising stuff,” Dr. Lee said. “The VFW in York [N.Y.] has an appreciation dinner for [veterans] and their spouses, and my grandfather is no longer with us, but every year they invite my grandmother to go to this appreciation dinner. So if we can give back and raise some money to help them put that on, I think that would be good.”
