By Alexander Germanis
Living in Central Illinois means being more than familiar with farms. While most of us are mainly concerned with the food product a farm produces, a farmer is concerned with the plant, its root systems, the acidity of the soil in which it grows, fertilizer, rainfall, and the list goes on.
Like farming, there are many deeper aspects of chiropractic health than most are aware. And like a farmer, True Health Chiropractic and Massage concerns itself with every one of those layers, to bring a more comprehensive approach to the health of its patients.
Since Day One
Founder of True Health Chiropractic is Dr. Justin Hillman, a native of Morton, Illinois. A multi-sport athlete in high school, Dr. Hillman was introduced to chiropractic on the receiving end. “One of my best friends on one of the teams, his dad was a chiropractor,” Dr. Hillman recalls. “It was a nice option — every time we got hurt we’d go to his office, get treatment, and get therapy. That’s how I got introduced to chiropractic and from day one I made up my mind that this was the future I wanted.”
Attending Bradley University in Peoria and then Palmer College of Chiropractic in Davenport, Iowa, Dr. Hillman finally arrived in Bloomington in 2005. Finding his start at Bly Family Chiropractic, Dr. Hillman struck out on his own several years later, establishing True Health in January 2016.
The practice has since grown by leaps and bounds. “Since that time we have gone from myself, my wife, an office manager, and a therapist to almost 30 staff,” he shares. True Health now staffs 10 massage therapists, three physio-therapists, three insurance secretaries, six front desk staff and five chiropractors.
It’s fair to say Dr. Hillman hasn’t regretted one decision. “This has been my goal since day one in high school,” he reiterates. “I’ve loved being able to help, see, and interact with so many people. My patients really become my friends after time. We share stories and talk and it’s fun to interact with so many people throughout the day and not be stuck behind a computer.”
Holistic Growth
Like crops tended with care, True Health Chiropractic continues to grow, branching out in ways to address the interconnected aspects of the body.
“When we first started out, the focus was on chiropractic,” Dr. Hillman admits. “But I saw the value of massage therapy in combination with that — working the soft tissue as opposed to just adjusting the spine; the two together are a great combination. So I started to build our massage practice. We have great retention; a lot of the therapists have been with me since the beginning.” As an introductory offer, massages start at just $39 for new patients.
Some problems can’t be tackled by massage and chiropractic alone. After many patients started coming in with spinal disc issues, True Health added spinal decompression to their services. Utilizing the DRX9000 decompression table, Dr. Hillman and his team can treat sciatica, disc bulges, and disc herniations with non-invasive, non-surgical techniques. “Not only did we want to utilize this great treatment, but we wanted to make it affordable and that’s what we did.” Dr. Hillman was recently awarded one of the top decompression doctors in the country, by a peer review panel.
Dr. Hillman also realized chiropractic and massage were just two pieces in the larger puzzle of holistic care. Addressing weight loss was the next step. An anti-inflammatory and weight loss program called SHAPE ReClaimed has since become a great addition to True Health and a great added value to their patients.
Related to weight loss are the treatments called Ultra Slim and Emsculpt. Ultra Slim uses a red-light therapy that reduces fat cells in the body, while Emsculpt actually builds muscle.
“We’re able to tone and target specific areas of the body using the Emsculpt,” Dr. Hillman states. “A 30-minute treatment is comparable to doing about 20,000 sit-ups. For people who don’t necessarily need to lose a bunch of weight but are trying to tone and get off those stubborn areas, that’s another great thing we’ve added.”
The Future of Chiropractic
As any living organism grows it must also adapt in order to survive. Chiropractic is no exception to this law of survival. “I definitely see the future of chiropractic and it’s all about computers and technology,” Dr. Hillman says. “What we’re trying to do is stay ahead of it. We’re constantly going to seminars, researching and trying to find out what’s the latest, newest innovation out there.”
One such thing is PulStar, an instrument used to scan the body to pinpoint the trouble spots. “We can use the tool to go in and adjust the area without actually having to aggressively manipulate the spine to get the joint to move,” the doctor explains. “We have instruments and tools we can use with the PulStar to target soft tissue, muscle spasms, trigger points, and headaches.”
Of course, Dr. Hillman recognizes how blessed they are to be able to offer so many aids to their patients. These benefits also include NeuroMed for pain blocking, cold laser to aid in healing soft tissue injuries such as tears, ultrasound, muscle stimulation, and of course disc decompression.
In today’s world, if you’re standing still, you’ll fall behind, so riding the technology curve is how Dr. Hillman hopes to keep True Health alive in order to help its patients for years to come.
Work that Should Speak for Itself
It’s no secret the chiropractic profession has not been without its detractors. Rumors and myths have swirled around it for decades. Dr. Hillman cites a few of the most common.
“The biggest one is once you go to a chiropractor you always have to go to a chiropractor,” he starts. “The answer I can give to that is ‘no’ but ‘yes.’ Most of our patients want to continue chiropractic care when they feel better because they do feel so much better.”
In other words, after many patients come in and experience such relief, even if their initial acute pain is taken care of, they simply choose to return. Dr. Hillman says he typically doesn’t like to give large time recommendations to a new patient. “We try to scale it down. Our goal is to get them out of pain. If we get that patient out of pain — at that point we give them options.” Once their pain is gone and they choose to continue with more maintenance-type care, they have that choice.
Two other myths are that chiropractic is not safe or that it can actually cause a stroke. The doctor easily debunks these. “Chiropractic is one of the safest methods of healthcare out there,” he states unequivocally. “Malpractice insurance for chiropractic is the lowest of any type of doctor. Now, with technology like the PulStar and other gentler approaches, there is almost zero risk of issues.”
Chiropractic is also often covered by insurance. In the Blue Cross/Blue Shield network, True Health is now one of the only chiropractic office in the area that still also takes Medicare. “We try to be very upfront with our patients,” the doctor adds. “Before any care starts, we verify their insurance information, we let them know what’s covered and what their out-of-pocket costs would be before we start any care.”
A Healthy Future Ahead
True Health proudly never closed its doors during the last two years and has always espoused that maintenance is the key to staying healthy, particularly during such challenging times.
“In pandemics, the people who do the best are the people who are already healthy,” Dr. Hillman iterates. “The majority of the people who have struggled are people with co-morbidities or those who were not already healthy. The best thing you can do is take care of your body. These problems aren’t going away. So the better our immune systems function and the healthier our bodies are, the better chance we are going to be able to fight illness and infection.”
Of course, even without worldwide health challenges, the mission at True Health Chiropractic & Massage remains the same. Dr. Hillman and his team want to help the whole you — to feel better and be pain free. Most importantly, they will always be there to help you live the healthy life you deserve.
True Health Chiropractic & Massage is located at 2406 East Washington Street in Bloomington, Illinois. Please call them at (309) 585-0704, visit them at their 6000 square foot office or on the web at www.truehealthbn.com.