Adjusting at a Cellular Level
INTERVIEW
INTERVIEW WITH DR. JEFFREY M. MALUCCI
The American Chiropractor
Dr. Malucci completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Buffalo, specializing in exercise science and athletic training. He accumulated countless hours of therapy and training with the university's football, basketball, track, wrestling, soccer, and tennis teams. While this was an exciting career path, his interest in the biomechanics and injury complex of the human body led to the desire to do more to help the athlete. This led him to the field of chiropractic. Dr. Malucci graduated from Life Chiropractic College in 2005 and continued his studies focusing on injury rehabilitation and prevention, sports chiropractic, extremity adjusting, and human biomechanics.
In 2007, Dr. Malucci found Synergy Release Sports where he introduced Synergy Release Therapy as a technique to achieve the necessary balance between nerves, muscles, and bones. This technique prevents overuse injuries and aids in the resolution and rehabilitation of injuries that occur in sports or
in life. In 2010, he embarked on another journey where he developed a close bond with Don Myers and Brian Glotzbach of Body Mechanics Sports Massage Therapy. They joined forces and Dr. Malucci started Malucci Sports Therapy. In 2012, Dr. Malucci traveled to New Zealand to study a technique that uses the latest cellular research to address causes not symptoms. This technique identifies and corrects the patient's complaint at the cellular level. A philosophy was born—one that he uses and teaches today. He formulated an approach to identify underlying biomechanical dysfunction that sets the stage for musculoskeletal failures. These adverse structural issues cause stress or degeneration of specific tissues for weeks, months, or even years before they finally lead to failure. The system addresses the biomechanical breakdown instead of treating the symptoms. By following this protocol, patients recover faster, avoid reoccurrence, and remain injury free. In 2012, Dr. Malucci was honored with "Chiropractor of the Year" by Jezebel magazine. In 2017, he was also elected "Best Chiropractor" by Atlanta Magazine. Dr. Malucci's experience has given him the amazing opportunity of traveling to numerous cities around the country to adjust a variety of professional athletes and celebrities.
TAC: Tell us in your own words about the services and products you offer patients and how or why you offer them.
I use aunique therapy that addresses and identifies the underlying biomechanical dysfunction that sets the stage for musculoskeletal failures. These adverse structural issues cause stress, degeneration, and breakdown of specific tissues for weeks, months, or even years, eventually leading to failure.
The therapy addresses these biomechanical breakdowns instead of treating just the symptoms. By following this protocol, we see to it that our patients recover faster, avoid reoccurrence, and remain injury-free.
TAC: Do you treat athletes the same way as traditional patients?
JM: Yes and no. The overall treatment is very similar. I do a little more in-depth analysis with finding the smaller nuances of an injury. When I’m on the road, I have a little more time to dissect. It’s fun to spend that extra time with an elite athlete. Their bodies tell you a story. You find many, many compensations that may not have happened with a “normal” patient.
TAC: What is the most common problem you see among chiropractors today?
JM: Chiropractors are stuck on how many people you can see in a day or hour versus what type of quality is given. I spend anywhere from 30 to 60 minutes with patients. I believe to eliminate an injury complex, you need to release all facets and compensations of the injury. Many injuries are hidden, and if they aren’t cleared, they will cause the misalignment to come right back. This leads to an unstable, chronically injured joint.
TAC: What is the biggest problem or challenge you see as a chiropractor treating athletes?
JM: As far as biggest problem in treating athletes, I’d say at times they have too many hands in the pot. I see a lot of athletes, but I am not employed by a professional team. This helps me develop a closer and trusted relationship. I can see more difficulty if you are employed by a team and your hands are pretty much tied.
Ul believe to eliminate an injury complex, you need to release all facets and compensations of the injury.
TAC: What techniques do you use?
JM: I use a variety of techniques. My base is some part of applied kinesiology and SOT. I also use a lot of muscle testing. I like to see how the body responds to stress. I think it’s really important. Sometimes what we see or what we think we see is actually an illusion. Muscle testing gives me a clear correction. I have learned not to question what comes up.
TAC: How did you become interested in chiropractic?
JM: I was at the University at Buffalo working on an athletic training/exercise science degree. I loved the classes but wasn’t fulfilled with the athletictraining part. I wanted to do more and be more. My brother, Jason, who was a student at Life University, said to me, “Why don’t you come down here with me. You can leam how to fix injuries and not just put tape on them.” I left UB shortly after and headed down to Atlanta. It made a lot of sense to me. Chiropractic is funny. It is really such a simple concept: something is out of place, causing distinction. You put it back in place and proper function is restored. I guess my brother “turned the light on” that day, and I made the jump and never looked back. One of the best decisions I’ve ever made. Forget about how much money I make or how much money I spent on getting my education. Becoming a chiropractor has changed my life, changed the way I look at life. It has opened up “that something.” And that is truly invaluable.
TAC: What modalities do you use in your practice?
JM: I don’t really have a lot of modalities at my office. I mainly use chiropractic—99% is manual adjustment and soft tissue work. We also use massage/muscle therapy and pulsed electromagnetic therapy from Pulse Centers. A visit will typically last anywhere between 30 to 60 minutes. My main goal when starting my practice was to see elite athletes. So I devised a technique that I would want if I were an elite athlete. I wanted to rework the body and clear out the entire chain. I feel a lot chiropractors focus on the chief complaint and miss contributing or secondary misalignments that can pull them right back out.
TAC: Do you use any modalities that have helped provide another level of wellness to your patients lives?
JM: PEMF is an Integral part of our treatment at the office. One of the more miraculous stories I can tell you involves an MLB player. He called me from the plane and said he needed to see me ASAP. He had extreme pain in his right hip. It was so bad he actually had to take a wheelchair out to his car. He came in later that afternoon and I adjusted him. His right hip had a thunderous release. I thought I had fixed him. I thought he was going to jump up and say how great he feels. To my dismay, he still couldn’t put much pressure on it. I was telling him about the “machine” we have and how it healed my son’s fractured forearm in 16 hours. He did back to back weekends of 8 hours and was back playing baseball in just 10 days! That was enough to convince him to give it a try. He rented the machine for the weekend. I suspected a stress fracture so I told him to put it in 7.0 hertz for bone healing. He woke up the next morning still in pain. He went to the hospital to get x-rays. They came back suspicious of the stress fracture and scheduled an MRI for Monday morning. I told him to try to get 16 hours of therapy this weekend. He was in so much pain he couldn’t do anything else but lay on the couch anyway. After eight hours on Saturday he texted me early Sunday morning: “Doc, you are never going to believe it. I’m like 80% better. 8 more hours to go!” He did 8 more hours on Sunday and flew out and played in Derek Jeter’s golf tournament on Monday. Truly amazing!
TAC: Do you consider PEMF to be evidence-based?
JM: I guess, as far as research and PEMF being evidence-based, there are many studies that have been down and many new ones conducted each and every day. What I can really tell you are the success stories I’ve had in my office and the many athletes Fve seen. Fve had multiple injuries that have been healed with PEMF, including my own. My office is sports-injurybased, and therefore, most of the PEMF treatments I do are directly on injuries, new and old. It’s been very interesting to witness the different variety of injuries that have healed. The combination of chiropractic care and PEMF has really been eye-popping.
TAC: Who are some of your mentors?
JM: Fve had many, many mentors. If you want to get good at what you do, you have to continue to evolve. It is important to continue to learn and expand your scope. So meet mentors every day—some chiropractors, some massage therapists, some motivational, some business, anybody who makes you think out of the box. If you want to be ordinary, surround yourself with ordinary people; if you want to be extraordinary, surround yourself with the extraordinary. So yes, Fve had a few chiropractic mentors whom I met early on in my career. They’ve changed my life in many ways. I am different today than I was 10 years ago, and I truly expect I will say the same in the next decade.
TAC: Any final words for our readers?
JM: I’ll end with this. An email I sent to a young chiropractor who shadowed me and asked, “What top three tools in your opinion should be in the toolbox of every new grad?”
1. An open mind is definitely first. Don’t get attached to any technique or philosophy. You’ll be exposed to a million different techniques and ideas, and everybody thinks their technique is the best. Listen and learn from everybody, no matter how ridiculous or annoying they may be. Everyone has something that can make you better, but what’s most important is: Don’t be afraid to think for yourself, you’ll be much more successful being you.
2. Don’t overwhelm yourself. Remember you are a new chiropractor. You don’t know everything thing and that’s okay. In fact, you’ll never know everything. You will learn along the way. Be patient. It’s cool to open your own place, but it’s a big responsibility. Don’t rush it. Find someone to learn from. A good mentor is invaluable.
3. Learn how to adjust. I can’t express this enough. If you can adjust, you will be successful. People will seek you. You won’t have to do shows and screenings. There are an infinite amount of people out there who need what you can provide. If you can’t adjust well, you become a salesman.
