While many people see a chiropractor to relieve head, neck or back pain, a growing number of patients do so with no ailments at all.
Practitioners, like Dr. Nick Ponomarenko, have known of the general health benefits of their field for many years. But they are now spending more time educating their patients about the holistic aspect of remaining healthy or achieving a certain level of their sport or other physical activity.
“You look at professional athletes– our clients don’t have the same incomes– but, they use it [chiropractic] so they can continue to perform at the highest level,” said Ponomarenko, who moved his Flower Mound Chiropractic office from central to north Flower Mound this past year. “That’s what I strive to educate people on; is to use chiropractic as something to stay healthy through preventative and wellness care and, also, it’s a better alternative than taking more and more medications. It’s a step prior to having to have surgery.”
Not only does he see athletes from baseball, football and gymnastics, he’s working with members of high school bands and color guard.
“I didn’t really know how big band and color guard are until we moved out here,” said Ponomarenko, who has lived in Highland Village and Flower Mound since buying the practice more than five years ago. He and wife Katelynn previously lived in Dallas before having two children – son Lane, 2½, and 6-month-old daughter, Westyn.
“It’s almost bigger than a lot of general sports,” he said. “The instruments they carry are heavy and the hours they put in are strenuous. All that stuff just wears our body down. If people just had a different mindset of having some sort of maintenance or wellness in place we’d all be a healthier society.”
The Fresno, California, native played college baseball for three schools and was even drafted as a pitcher by the former Montreal Expos. But, he decided to forgo the chance to turn pro to finish his degree from Kansas State University.
Initially he moved to Kansas City to try sales, but quickly found it unsatisfying. Then a cousin– who was a chiropractor in Rockwall– suggested joining the field and he moved to Texas, where he earned his degree at the Palmer College of Chiropractic in Dallas in 2010.
“It was about helping people and to be able to serve and provide natural ways to allow the body to work as well as possible,” said Pomerenko, who turns 37 this month. “The whole idea of chiropractic is to maximize the body’s potential – how to remove the stress, whether it’s adjusting, massage therapy or rehab to allow the body to heal to its best potential; to allow it to function to its best potential; and, that’s how we’re able to optimize what health is.”
To best help his clients, Ponomarenko spends time learning about their individual situations and offers the best method to address them.
“I talk to people about the current state they are in and educate them on long-term types of scenarios,” he said.
While Ponomarenko and his staff treat people from infants to their 90s, it is the growth of teenage patients that has caught his eye.
“They are having things you would typically see in a middle-aged person,” he said. “I equate it more to technology. We’re all on our phones all day and computers and that creates postural stress. When you have that breakdown it’s happening a lot faster than it did years ago because of those hand-held devices.”
Ponomarenko continues learning new things to pass on to clients. This includes stretching and exercise programs and teaching patients how to stay healthy and active by providing them with more tools to stay engaged. The more active they stay the less sedentary lifestyle they lead which makes it easier on people like him.
He said sedentary lifestyles affect other areas of life including diets and nutrition.
“The main thing is we talk about the physical stress which is the wear and tear we put on our bodies, the mental stress is a crucial part and the chemical stress which is the nutrition. We strive for balance which optimizes health.
“I like to just talk about it, because a lot of people don’t know about chiropractic. They know maybe it’s something they’ve heard from other people, but when people actually come into our office it’s crucial to what they do.”
Contact Dr. Ponomarenko at 972-947-2284 or visit www.flowermoundchiropractic.com.
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