Name: Dr. Bernard Shindler, 51
Occupation: Chiropractor
Background: Shindler received his degree in 1960 from the National College of Chiropractic in Chicago. Immediately after his graduation, he went into the Army, where he served in the medical service corps. Shindler then served as a consultant to chiropractic offices in Detroit until opening his first office in Des Plaines in 1980. Shindler has been married for 29 years and has three sons.
Years in present position: 28
I got into this profession because of the father of one of my friends. The man was blind, and he went to a chiropractor in Davenport, Ia., and then he was able to see again. I can`t give you a diagnosis; all I know is that it happened. Both this man`s son and I and, eventually, two other friends of ours all went to chiropractic school because of it.
Chiropractic is a system of treating all human ailments without the use of drugs or surgery. We locate the subluxation, which is a misalignment of the bones that results in nerve pressure or irritation, and treat it with manipulation. The patients who come into our offices are usually in pain. It could be headaches, neck pain, shoulder or low-back pain, arm and leg pain, even stomach problems. My basic interest is in low-back pain due to disc problems or injuries from work, home or auto accidents.
Physical therapy and manipulation are administered to relax the muscles and reduce the swelling a little bit faster. But the body heals itself. All we do is get the process started. If we can`t get things going within a specified time, or if the patient needs further care, we will refer them on to an emergency room at a neighborhood hospital or to a neurosurgeon, orthopedic surgeon, general practitioner or whatever else they might need. Patients who need drugs for their condition need a medical doctor.
When a new patient comes in, he or she has to fill out a confidential patient information sheet, and we get a thorough history. Very often the patient has had pain for years and has no idea why. By talking to these patients we generally learn that they have had some accident in the past that they have forgotten all about or that they don`t realize could be the cause of their pain.
The treatment for each patient is different. We don`t just go poking and punching. It`s a very light, manipulative touch. We do not twist and tear. We do not hurt the patient. We understand the anatomical structure of the body, and we know how the body reacts, so we know how to move the bone. We do it very gently. When the bone is in the correct position, the body heals itself. My typical day starts at 6:30 in the morning. I start my day by reading from my chiropractic journals, sometimes checking on a case from the previous day that`s been bothering me. I have a complete library at home, including wall charts and anatomy, physiology, neurology and chiropractic books. I also have a duplicate library in each office.
I read until about 7:15, and then I usually have breakfast with a professional-a dentist, an orthopedist, a neurologist or an insurance person- to find out something I didn`t know. I`ll end up in my office around 8:30 to 9. We start the day with a review of the cases and talk with the doctors about what problems they`ve had. I have at least one chiropractor with me in each of my offices and in some cases a medical doctor as well.
I used to see 25 to 30 patients a day, never more. I did not want a larger practice. There are some guys seeing 75 patients a day. Now I see the complicated, problem cases, maybe five a day. Then I circulate through the other offices during the day.
I try to call new patients the first night after they`ve been here to ask if they`re having any problems. I eat, sleep and drink this job. I love my work.
Very often what we see here are medical failures-people who have been to medical doctors but have not found relief. I had a patient who was in an auto accident 4 1/2 years ago. She was suffering so much. Her father begged her for four years to go to a chiropractor, and she would never go. When she finally came here, she couldn`t walk, sit or turn her head without pain. She couldn`t eat or sleep or work, and she cried continuously. Within 10 to 12 days I had her in fairly stable condition. I`m not a magician; she had a subluxation of a bone, I corrected it, and her body did the rest.
The cases we see are so interesting because the cause of the problem often turns out to be something no one would suspect. For instance, I had a lady who came in with low-back problems and headaches. I would treat her, she`d go home and call me an hour later and say, ”My back hurts again.” This went on for several visits, and we couldn`t figure out what was causing it. I tried to find out if she had a bad mattress or maybe emotional problems. Eventually we discovered that she was driving a car with a clutch and the clutch was bad. She was always pushing her left foot and knocking out the adjustment she`d just had in the office. That`s what was bringing back her backaches all the time.
I had another patient who was always having hip problems. I`d give him an adjustment, and he`d leave, but I wouldn`t pay any attention to how he looked when he walked out of here. One time I saw the man walking in a shopping mall, and I saw a big bulge in his left rear pocket. I got up closer to him, and he had a wallet bulging with cards in his pocket. I said, ”Get that out of your pocket, and let`s see what happens.” He removed the wallet, and all of a sudden his backaches were cured. Self-induced low-back pain. He now keeps his wallet in his sock, and whenever he sees me, he pulls it out and says, ”Doc, see this? This was my backache.”
I`ve been called by people who are stuck in their cars. I had a guy call me from a Corvette one time. He had a low-back problem, and he couldn`t straighten out to get out of his car. We had to take the top of the car off, hang a loop around him with several towels and lift him up with a winch attached to a tow truck.
I`ve been called to homes where people were stuck on the floor. They may have bent down to pick up a string, and now they can`t get up. A man who can lift a 300-pound weight can bend over to pick up a piece of paper, and all of a sudden he can`t stand up. It happens all the time.
I have patients right now ranging in age from 5 to 87 years. We have our best results with children. Kids in falls and accidents; even kids with scoliosis where we can get to them early enough and work in coordination with an orthopedic surgeon. Older people also get terrific results from chiropractic.
As a result of what I`ve seen in my practice, I feel very strongly about the use of seat belts. If you`re not wearing a seat belt and you hit someone at 30 miles an hour, it`s a terrible, terrible accident. We don`t even deal with those accidents. We deal with the injury where a person has a whip at the neck and there`s stretching and tearing of the ligaments and the internal organs of the neck. They`re walking around with stiff necks, headaches, nausea, inability to smell, even crossed eyes sometimes. You can have these symptoms from a simple 5-m.p.h accident. An injury of this type could take anywhere from one visit to six months to cure. It depends on how the injury was sustained.
What I enjoy most about his job is that I don`t operate on a patient and tell them they`re better. I work with them, and they come back to me and say, ”I haven`t had a headache in three weeks.” Or, ”I`m able to pick up my baby now.” This is what brings me satisfaction. I hope I don`t ever have to retire.
here is still plenty of prejudice against chiropractic. Last summer I volunteered to the Army, Navy and Air Force to start a chiropractic service corps in the armed forces and was completely turned down. Plenty of people, including some in the medical establishment, do not recognize us as real doctors. But it`s changing. I recenty had a patient referred to me by an orthopedic surgeon. And I`ve had M.D.`s sneak in the back door with neck pains and shoulder pains. When I`m in court, the lawyers always call me ”Mr.” Well I don`t care if they call me ”Junior.” I know I`m helping people.
For the future, I would like to see chiropractic more available to the person who has to be in the hospital. Let them rule out the cancer, the fracture, the tuberculosis. Then let me try with the mysterious pain that they`re unable to figure out. And let the patient tell me how he feels afterwards. Just give me a chance.
