Welcome!

Welcome to the Ehren Chiropractic and Wellness Center Blog spot. I have set this blog up to be able to publish views and news related to your health. Please feel free to check it often! Today I would like to start by publishing my latest newsletter for the month of October. Enjoy and see you soon!

25 Years and Counting!!
On October 10, I will be celebrating 25 years in practice. I officially opened my practice on that date in 1983 and had four patients scheduled. I remember two of them, one was a friend of my Dad’s and the other was a lady I had already been seeing
They told us in chiropractic school that our first patient was going to crawl in the door. We all laughed when we heard that, but…it was true! During the month of September I was busy getting my office in Northland Plaza set up. Furniture was being delivered, my x-ray machine was in crates, and I was painting the walls when I could. I did have a telephone with call forwarding to the house. One day I was working out at home when the phone rang. I was all out of breath when I answered and there was a lady on asking for Dr. Ehren. I was shocked! She asked if she could make an appointment, she had gotten my name from my wife whom she worked with at Lakewood Hospital. I told her that I wasn’t open yet, so she asked if I could refer her to someone else. Well, I ain’t stupid and I was not about to let my potential first patient get away, so I told her that my office was still being put together and if she wouldn’t mind the confusion, I would be happy to see her.
I was waiting in the office at the appointed time when I saw her walking, barely, to the front door. She was all bent over in pain and every step was agonizing. I don’t recall, but I am certain that I gave her paper work to fill out, then I took her into my adjusting room and performed a most beautiful orthopedic and neurological exam that would have given me an A on any final in school! The exam told me that she had disc herniation in her low back with sciatica. I was so proud of myself! And then I thought, “So what do I do?” I had no clue. Obviously my thought processes were different then than now, but at the time I really didn’t know what to do for her. So I did some adjusting of God knows what and had her come back a day or two later. Then I called my best friend Mike who was practicing in Silver Springs, Maryland and asked him. He laughed and said “Toggle the SOB (meaning the disc in question)!” Toggling is a rapid thrust into a joint that they teach us in school. So, on her next visit, that’s exactly what I did! She screamed and her legs and arms went flying up, and I thought “Oh my God, what happened!?!” Then she relaxed, and told me she felt much better. She was with me for several months before we had the issue completely resolved.
In those days my office was open five days a week with one day having evening hours. I worked half a day on Wednesdays and half on Saturday. I didn’t have any staff, it was just me answering the phone, doing what paper work there was and mostly staring out the window visualizing new people coming in. I would walk up and down the hallway admiring my little office and wondering what it would look like with dozens of people coming and going all day. The only adjusting table I had was a “Hi-lo”. That’s a mechanical table that raises up to allow people to walk on, then it slowly lowers them down for their adjustments. I used to spend a lot of time riding up and down on it. I would lie face down and ride it, and also face up. Once I fell asleep on my back and my snoring woke me up!
I didn’t work Saturdays very long. It was hard only having one full day off on Sunday. At first I thought I had to be there all the time, but slowly grew to hate that. The only person who came in on Saturday was a vitamin salesman who wanted me to sell his stuff. He was a nice enough guy and he would show up just before noon when I was getting ready to leave. Then he would talk my ear off for two hours. It used to really make me mad, but I thought I had to be nice since I was new. It totally killed my Saturdays. That finally ended when I stopped working Saturdays after a couple of months.
I worked the office by myself for about 4 months when I got my wife, Pam, to come and work. She was a nurse at Lakewood Hospital, and I talked her into working a couple of days when she had off. There was one lady, Grace, who wanted to work for me. She was a patient who I had only come for a short time, and never paid me because she essentially very poor. I always felt that she was a little off balance in the brain department, so, of course, I didn’t hire her. Sometimes when I was in the back with someone, I would find her sitting at the front desk answering the phone. I distinctly told her not to do that. One day she came in while Pam was at the desk. Grace had to wait to see me, and was sitting in a chair directly across from Pam staring knives at her. Pam looked up and Grace said, “So, how did you get this job?” in a very sneering way. Without missing a beat, Pam said, “I sleep with the Doctor.” I never saw Grace again!
The practice grew slowly at first. I was fortunate that I never had a day without appointments. I have a friend in Mentor who opened his practice in Pittsburgh after his graduation, and sat in his office for four months without one single appointment! But it really took off when I took out an ad in one of those coupon mailers. It was like Valpak, but another company. I sent a coupon out to the western half of Lakewood in early 1984, and had 57 new patients! The salesman was astounded! Never, anywhere in this country did they ever get a response like that. We were so excited that I sent another out to eastern Lakewood. That time I got about 4 new patients. The more we sent the coupons out, the less response we got. That was national average. But that first one was the catalyst that got things going for me, and then it started to grow. I went from seeing about 10 people a day to 30 in just a matter of a couple of months , and it kept on growing until I was averaging about 60 a day working three and a half days a week. I still have one person who still comes in who answered that initial coupon, and has been with me for 24 years! Thank you Donna!
In 25 years, the practice has taken many turns. I have gone from a highly physical therapy type practice to a traditional, holistic one. I would like to think that it is always evolving as I look for more ways to help people on more levels. It has always been interesting, and even if I were to win the lottery, I would not stop practicing. I may take a long vacation though.
But it is not me that makes the practice. It is you. It is you who put your faith and trust in me to help you, and that is something that I am forever appreciative of. I may not say it much, but I am thankful for every one of you who continue to come and put your health and well-being in my hands. For without you, I would still be riding that table, all by myself and falling asleep counting the holes in the tiles in the ceiling. Thank you for a great 25 years! And here is to the next 25….oh dear God, I will be 82 then!!!