EP #255: Dr. Laila Owens with Owens Chiropractic & Wellness
Jul 07, 2024
Jeremy Wolf
Unlock the secrets to a healthier life through chiropractic care with Dr. Laila Owens from Owens Chiropractic and Wellness in Cooper City. Dr. Owens shares her extensive knowledge in treating neuromusculoskeletal disorders, emphasizing the interconnectedness of the body. From her specialized training in addressing extremity issues to her holistic approach shaped by a background in psychology and social work, Dr. Owens provides invaluable insights into how your body can heal itself when given the right conditions. Learn how her unexpected journey into chiropractic care started and why she believes that addressing issues early can prevent more severe health problems down the road.
Discover the critical role chiropractic care can play in maintaining your overall health, specifically in preventing knee and spinal issues. We discuss the importance of proper running shoes and conditioning exercises to fend off knee pain and why chiropractic care should be a proactive part of your health routine. I share my personal battle with sciatica and how spinal disc decompression by a chiropractor turned my life around, showcasing the gaps in traditional medical advice. This episode also takes a broader look at the implications of relying on pharmaceuticals and surgery over holistic treatments, underscoring the need for early assessments and preventive care. Tune in for a comprehensive guide to embracing a healthier, pain-free life through chiropractic care.
Unlock the secrets to a healthier life through chiropractic care with Dr. Laila Owens from Owens Chiropractic and Wellness in Cooper City. Dr. Owens shares her extensive knowledge in treating neuromusculoskeletal disorders, emphasizing the interconnectedness of the body. From her specialized training in addressing extremity issues to her holistic approach shaped by a background in psychology and social work, Dr. Owens provides invaluable insights into how your body can heal itself when given the right conditions. Learn how her unexpected journey into chiropractic care started and why she believes that addressing issues early can prevent more severe health problems down the road.
Discover the critical role chiropractic care can play in maintaining your overall health, specifically in preventing knee and spinal issues. We discuss the importance of proper running shoes and conditioning exercises to fend off knee pain and why chiropractic care should be a proactive part of your health routine. I share my personal battle with sciatica and how spinal disc decompression by a chiropractor turned my life around, showcasing the gaps in traditional medical advice. This episode also takes a broader look at the implications of relying on pharmaceuticals and surgery over holistic treatments, underscoring the need for early assessments and preventive care. Tune in for a comprehensive guide to embracing a healthier, pain-free life through chiropractic care.
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Jeremy Wolf.
Speaker 2:
Hello, hello everyone, and welcome back to another episode of the Good Neighbor Podcast. I'm your host, jeremy Wolf, and today I'd like to welcome to the show another good neighbor. I'm sitting here with Dr Laila Owens, and Dr Owens joins us from Owens Chiropractic and Wellness and she is actually a local Cooper City business owner. Her office is located right across the street from the high school, right here in lovely Cooper City. So, dr Owens, welcome to the show.
Speaker 3:
Good morning, jeremy, thank you.
Speaker 2:
Thank you for having me Of course, the pleasure is all ours and thanks, as always, to our listeners for tuning in to learn more about our great community and the businesses that serve us. So let's start from the top. Obviously, everybody has heard of a chiropractor. Everybody has a general idea of what a chiropractor does, but I think it's different for each chiropractor. There's a lot of differences across, so tell us a little bit about what you do specifically, and then we'll go from there.
Speaker 3:
Right, absolutely, as a chiropractor. We treat neuromuscular skeletal dysfunction and I'll break that down for you. Say that 10 times fast. It sounds a little more complicated than it is, but I'll break the word down for you. So neuro meaning nerves, musculo meaning muscles and skeletal meaning bones or joints in the body. So neuromusculoskeletal disorders or dysfunction. That, in general, is what chiropractors treat. Specifically for myself, well, I should say additionally, I also treat extra spinal conditions. Extra spinal meaning extremities. So I've had extensive training, I've been trained and endorsed by the Chiropractic Hand and foot clinics of America and I treat extremities meaning feet, ankles, knees, hips, elbows, shoulders, all the extremities.
Speaker 2:
So I wouldn't think that the extremities are related to the, to chiropractic, and so I say I think chiropractic, I think immediately of the spine. So how is it that if I'm having problems let's say I'm having some pain in my feet or my hands how is it that chiropractic is helping, is helping deal with that, like what's going on there? Help me understand a little bit.
Speaker 3:
Well, everything in the body is connected, but if you're having foot pain, your feet can absolutely affect everything else up above. So a foot disorder can affect your knees, which can affect your hips and can affect your spine or and that's why you need a good chiropractor to do an assessment or an evaluation examination before getting treatment the pain could be coming from the source of the pain, could be coming from the spine.
Speaker 2:
It's all connected via nerves how did you get into chiropractors? This is, this is something that goes back to. Was there something that happened when you were young, in childhood, that kind of sparked an interest in this field, or did you land upon this along the way? Talk a little bit about your journey and how you got to this business of course.
Speaker 3:
Funny thing is I had never actually been to a chiropractor until I was an adult, until after I graduated from college, and I only went because I worked at an office with a bunch of young ladies and they all said, oh, this chiropractor is so hot, you got to go see. And so of course we all went to see him and I was having a little bit of back discomfort. Back then, you know, I stood up for a long time to work. So I went and got an adjustment and I loved it. At that time I had just graduated from college and I was kind of trying to figure out what I wanted to do.
Speaker 3:
I had a bachelor's in psychology, and I'll go back to that story in just a moment. But I had a bachelor's in psychology, and I'll go back to that story in just a moment. But I had a bachelor's in psychology but I was working in an optometry office. So, going back to my bachelor's in psychology, as a student I was pre-med, so I had all the science courses. I knew I wanted to do something in healthcare. I wasn't sure what. But after a while they told me you can't just major in pre-med, you have to declare a-.
Speaker 3:
Area of specialty of some sort Specialty and so I really enjoyed psychology classes. So I said, hey, I'll just major in psychology. They said you have to declare a major. So I majored in psychology, got my bachelor's in psychology, my BA, and I did enjoy it. But once I got into the field of I don't know if anyone knows much about having a psychology degree, but there aren't many options outside of if you only have your bachelor's. There aren't many options outside of if you only had your bachelor's. There aren't many options outside of being a social worker, which is what I did.
Speaker 3:
I worked for the state of Missouri as a social worker for about three or four years and I enjoyed it. But it was heavy work and I tend to take things home with me and I have a huge heart. I really love those kids. But I just couldn't see myself doing that for the remainder of my working years. Not to mention I really enjoyed health care. I always wanted to do something in health care. I just wasn't sure what I wanted to do. I knew I didn't want to be a medical doctor. I didn't know that. So I explored, I did some research. Again, like I said, I worked in an optometry office and after working there for about a year, and it didn't take me a year to realize this. But I realized how boring it was and I said I will not do either. And so I did some research and I found the chiropractic philosophy, that chiropractic, that human bodies humans have the innate ability to heal themselves if you're in the right condition.
Speaker 2:
A hundred percent Yep.
Speaker 3:
And so I just jumped right into that and and I got lost in it. I loved it, and so I went to the local chiropractic school in Kansas city, um, and got more information, and from there that was the beginning of my story.
Speaker 2:
I love it. I when you said the human body has the ability to heal itself. That's something that resonates so deeply with me where I'm at in my life. It's something I've come to understand the unbelievable power of the mind and the mindset and really how we do truly have the capacity within us to heal almost any ailment. Most of these illnesses that manifest in us come from negative energy and stress and stuck emotions and all sorts of crap that builds up over the course of our life, and a lot of that just goes back to, again, the mindset living a healthy lifestyle, proper diet, doing the things to properly program your mind for success. So, yeah, that resonates deeply. As you can see, I'm in that phase of my life, on the north side of 40. I'm like I'm awake and I'm in the spiritual growth and development phase of my life. So that's pretty cool.
Speaker 2:
So you go from oh my goodness, you go from studying remind me the major again, I just completely Psychology, psychology to optometry, to chiropractic. Obviously, this is where your heart lies and you're very passionate about what you do, but I think that a lot of people out there one of the reasons why we do this show is to educate the public Because you get various industry professionals coming on, especially in something like chiropractic. I think people hear that and there's a knee jerk reaction a lot of times and people have preconceived notions of what a chiropractor does or what they don't do. What are some of the biggest common, I guess, myths and misconceptions that you typically hear from your patients or from people surrounding the industry?
Speaker 3:
Well, one is that, like you previously said that chiropractors only treat the spine, it is true we do treat the spine. We treat the joints, we treat all the joints in the body. People may have headaches and not even realize that a chiropractor can help their head.
Speaker 2:
Right migraines, right, exactly. Migraines respond very well to chiropractor. Can help their head.
Speaker 3:
Right Migraines right, Exactly, Migraines respond very well to chiropractic treatment. Also, like I said, extremities, hands and feet. Like you said, you would never think that the hands and feet can be fixed by a chiropractor or can be helped by chiropractic adjustments, but you have 26 little bones in your feet. If any one of those bones gets out of alignment or is fixated, not moving properly, the joints aren't moving properly. You can cause structural problems. Structural problems can occur which can cause pain and discomfort in your feet.
Speaker 2:
I've even heard of some chiropractors that specialize in children or even infant. I've heard of some chiropractors that specialize in children or even infant. I've heard of infant chiropractic which absolutely.
Speaker 3:
I have two children and I have my first child. When I was in chiropractic school he was adjusted from about two weeks old all the way up until he's 20 years old now. So you know, both my children were adjusted all their lives old now. So you know both my children were adjusted all their lives.
Speaker 2:
They're in excellent health, by the way. Yeah, no, I also am guilty of that, right, I think chiropractic, I think getting adjusted, just something. Something is a little off sometimes when I think about that. But then I hear about an infant getting adjusted and there's an extra layer of like oh, is that okay, are you allowed to do that? Is that right? But clearly it's something that works really well of like oh, is that okay, are you allowed to do that?
Speaker 3:
Is that right, but clearly it's something that works really well. Well, Jeremy, when you think about it, the reason why we get adjusted is because we have what chiropractors call subluxation. It's a big fancy word that just basically means dysfunction, right, Dysfunction of the spine. So what we're doing when we do an adjustment is removing the dysfunction. Dysfunction meaning misalignment of the spine or the joints aren't moving properly, they're fixated.
Speaker 3:
And what causes that is typically trauma, whether it's micro trauma you know, if you're, for instance, we'll talk about tennis elbow, micro trauma from moving your arm a certain way, you know, at work, or if you're a tennis player. Or trauma, which most people think of when they think of a trauma is being in a car accident or a slip and fall. But daily activities can cause trauma. If you're someone who sits at a computer all day and you're staring at a computer, you're going to have trauma in your neck if you're not actively thinking about it and bringing your neck back into the proper position and doing exercises and stretching and that type of thing. So trauma is what causes subluxation. Chiropractors treat subluxation via an adjustment.
Speaker 2:
So, speaking of trauma, I don't know if this is a good thing or a bad thing. I've been running a lot lately and it's definitely a good thing, but I've heard, I've heard it could be bad on your knees, your hips, I guess your back as well. Is there any any advice maybe you can give to me or any other, any other people out there that are, you know, involved, I guess, other than just what you would think is, I need to stretch a lot right, and is there anything you can give, any advice you can give to me to make sure that I don't have problems with my back and other areas?
Speaker 3:
Absolutely. I would say number one make sure you're wearing a good pair of running shoes. I would say you need to condition before you go run. So, in addition to stretching, you also need to condition the muscles, tendons and ligaments around the knees, especially if you're already having knee pain, but to prevent knee pain as well. There are certain exercises that you can do to do that, and I would even even if you're not having pain or discomfort, I would see a chiropractor just to make sure that your joints are in alignment, to make sure that everything's moving properly, and take preventative measures, because pain is typically the last thing to show up. You may have something going on for months and, like you said, running can be traumatic to our feet. You know we're standing all day already, and so you know to our feet.
Speaker 1:
You know we're standing all day already, and so you know our feet take a lot of wear and tear, yeah, so absolutely I would take preventative measures to just get at least get an assessment, get an examination and see if anything needs to be worked on.
Speaker 2:
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
Speaker 3:
Exactly.
Speaker 2:
As the saying goes. I love that and actually chiropractic for me has a special place in my heart. I had a herniated L5 S1 lumbar many, many years. This has gone back probably 15 years. I want to say I was incapacitated with sciatica. I mean I was going to work with with sandals on, I couldn't put socks on. I was done and I found a chiropractor that I had tried everything. I was one step away from getting a microdiscectomy and I found a chiropractor who had the DRX 9000, the disc decompression machine there and he gave me the MRI. He said you'd be a perfect candidate for spinal disc decompression.
Speaker 2:
We should try that I was, yeah, sign me up, and I went, I think, two times a week, maybe even three times a week, for the first month or two. It took several months, but after like four or five months, I want to say, the pressure finally got relieved and I got my life back. So that was really, really impactful on my personal situation, for sure.
Speaker 3:
And something you said there, jeremy. I see that a lot with patients they think of chiropractic as a last resort, and that's one thing that I appreciate about being able to have this opportunity with you today. I don't want people to see chiropractic as a last resort. Think of it as either a preventative measure or, if something is already going on, do it right away, see a chiropractor right away, see me right away. You don't want to wait until you're incapacitated. You know that's the last thing you want to do. It's like people think of okay, now it's time to get this surgery or get an adjustment. It shouldn't be that way. It shouldn't be so bad that you're at a point where you're considering surgery and we're seeing it in younger and younger people. You know it used to be where the conditions that we're seeing we used to see in 60, 70, 80 year olds we're starting to see in 40 and 50 year olds and sometimes even younger.
Speaker 2:
Why do you think that is that there is just a lack of education? Cause I'm again. Yeah, I'm thinking about that. I didn't. It didn't even occur to me. I just had no, no knowledge available to me to think I should just go to a chiropractor for that issue. I'd been. I'd been to the doctor and they recommended other things. They sent me for an epidural, get an acupuncture, but nobody said it was. It was somebody, some random person that said hey, you should check out this office. They do spinal disc decompression, maybe that'll work. I had not heard heard about it up until that point. Why do you think it is that there's this gap in knowledge in the community or in the medical community about what you guys do?
Speaker 3:
It is partially lack of knowledge, um, but I think that I think they just don't want some. I think some people just don't want people to see a chiropractor. I don't know if it's a fear of us taking patients away, or you know some people, you know I've heard people say that we're not real doctors. You know it's just. I think they see us as a threat and to actually fix the actual underlying issues.
Speaker 2:
You don't need to get other help in the future.
Speaker 3:
Yeah, it's like you I mean your your sciatica has been resolved, you're not having to rely on medication, You're not having to rely on injections, you didn't have to have a surgery. All those things are encouraged by big pharma, right Pharmacological community. And so you know, if you think about a chiropractic, if we're thinking about it monetarily, you know you're saving a lot of money by by seeing a chiropractor. If you had to get surgery, think about the tens of thousands of dollars that would have had to have been spent to do that. So somebody's making money there. You know what I mean.
Speaker 2:
It's almost like the system is in place. It stacks the deck against what you. It's not. It's not like the people that necessarily have ill intentions, it's just that the system is structured in such a way that it makes it favors to the side of, like you said, big pharma and doing the surgery and doing that all stuff. And because of that, the holistic approaches to actually getting down and fixing the root causes of a lot of these issues are often brushed aside. But I do speak to many people just like myself that swear by their chiropractic, like they change their life, help them out. So I think it's important to spread that message out there. And again it doesn't hurt, like again, just to go get a checkup right, just go get checked out Exactly.
Speaker 3:
Exactly.
Speaker 3:
So, I mean, I have children who play sports. Again, trauma is the most common reason why people have issues with their, most common reason why people have issues with their body as far as pain or discomfort. So I have a lot of kids that play sports that come in. You know, I have children with scoliosis or possible scoliosis that come in. You know, typically it's a parent that notices hey, this shoulder is higher than the other, Can you check my child out? So there's typically most people are going to need to see a chiropractor. Unfortunately, only about 10% of the population does seek chiropractic care and I thank you for having me on this show today because I really want to expose more people. Even myself, before I knew about chiropractic, I was one of those people who knew absolutely nothing, had never been to a chiropractor until I was an adult. I was a young adult, but I was an adult. I really think it's important to get the message out there that I am here, I'm in the community, I'm available to you and my treatments are very effective.
Speaker 2:
Very cool, very cool. So, as with most people, I like to kind of dig into this with guests on the show, because it speaks a lot about people. Family is a driving force in most people's lives. I know with me I have a 10-year-old and a 12-year-old my lovely wife. It's one of the things that drives me to be better. Tell us a little bit about your family.
Speaker 3:
Okay, as I mentioned before, I have two children. They are now 17. My daughter's going to be a senior in high school next year or this year, I should say Uh and my son is 20.
Speaker 2:
Okay, I gotta stop you there for a second. I, my daughter, is 12.
Speaker 3:
Okay.
Speaker 2:
She just finished her first year at pioneer middle school. She thinks she's 16. I need some some advice here. You you just went through this gamut she's 17, graduating high school. What am I in for? What can I do?
Speaker 3:
Save me please. I have wonderful children and I have not had to deal with the I'm going to say misconceptions that people say about teenagers. My children have been great. I haven't had those issues. My daughter is wonderful. She loves to cook, she's a straight A student, she's on honor roll, she's involved in JROTC and involved in all types of activities at school. I would say keep them active in school, keep them busy and make sure that they know that you love them and teach them how to love themselves.
Speaker 2:
I love it. You got. You got room for a 12 year old to come stay with you for a few months. You can whip her into shape.
Speaker 3:
Absolutely.
Speaker 2:
Okay, so 17 and then you were the second child. Is how 20? You said he's 20, yeah, 20, and so is he in college now he's actually not in college.
Speaker 3:
I I attempted to get him to go to college. He wanted to do his own thing, as in, and I'll tell you a little bit about my son. He um, he's an entrepreneur. He's got his own business, um which he started what kind of business high school.
Speaker 3:
I don't exactly know how you would describe it, but he calls it his brand. He sells things like belts and clothing, hats, those types of things. At first I was a little like, but he's done really well with it. He actually moved up to Kansas city with his father, um, and his business has been growing exponentially. So I mean, what can I say? If that's the route that he wants to take, you know, and it's he's doing well at it, you know, I encourage him to do it as long as he's happy and he's doing well he's happy and he's doing well.
Speaker 3:
But you know, my son has been an entrepreneur at heart since elementary school. I remember he used to take his candy to school and he would sell it to other kids and then when he got to middle school he started taking more snacks bulk and he'd sell chips and cookie all the junk food and these kids were paying $2 for a small bag of chips and I'm just like how are these, how is this possible? Why are these kids spending so much money on this junk food? But he did it and and he you know he learned a lot.
Speaker 2:
Supply and demand. Right, You're in school. Kids are in school. They don't have the snacks. You got the snacks. They're going to pay for it.
Speaker 3:
Exactly.
Speaker 2:
And my daughter will order Uber Eats for like Popeyes for $25 for one meal.
Speaker 3:
Exactly.
Speaker 2:
Like you just paid $25 for. Well, yeah, I think, get the food. It's a big deal Exactly.
Speaker 3:
They just don't understand why you they don't understand.
Speaker 2:
They will. They will, though she will.
Speaker 3:
And he took advantage of that. He took advantage of that in high school. He also started a business in high school where he was selling vintage clothing. So he kind of drafted, he got away from that one and then started his own brand, which he's grown since high school. So he's grown since, you know, since high school. So he's doing really well. I'm very proud of him.
Speaker 2:
What would be the one thing that you'd like before we wrap up here, the one thing that you'd like to leave our listeners with? It could be about the business that you'd like them to know about, um Owen's, chiropractic and wellness, or just anything being a piece of life, advice, wisdom, what comes to mind? Just one thing you'd like to leave our listeners with.
Speaker 3:
Okay, well, I'll speak quickly because I actually have two things. One is about family. Family is so important. I want to say that last year I hosted my family's 86th annual family reunion. We do this every single year and I had the honor and pleasure of hosting it last year down in Miami. My 87th annual reunion is this year, coming up in August, and it's down in Houston, texas. But anyway, so family is very important to me. The second thing that I want to say is that I'm here in the community. I'm available for you. Chiropractic is so important. I want people to understand that chiropractic treatment is important and it's invaluable to you. If you value your body, you need to see a chiropractor. People take better care of their cars than they do their bodies. Your car can be replaced. Your body cannot. Your spine can. There are parts of your body that can be replaced, but as a whole and your spine cannot be replaced you need to take good care of it.
Speaker 2:
We only have this one body and this one life Exactly. Value it, Value it deeply. How can our listeners learn more? Dr Owens, how can we reach you? Maybe share your website contact information. I mentioned you're across from the high school, but maybe share your address specifically.
Speaker 3:
Yes, I'm located at 9710 Sterling Road, suite 112. Again right across the street from Cooper City High School, it's a big yellow building that says chiropractor in green letters. My website is owenschirowellcom, that's Owens, o-w-e-n-s, chiro, c-h-i-r-o, Well, w-e-l-lcom. Owenschirow, lcom, owens, cairo, wellcom, and you can call or text three zero five, three, three oh two, five zero eight. Again, that's three oh, five, three, three oh two, five zero eight. To learn more about my business or to schedule an appointment for an examination, we'd be happy to hear from you.
Speaker 2:
We will, of course, drop a link in the description to all of your contact information. I just want to clarify something for our listeners that are familiar. Many of our listeners are familiar with Cooper City, so it's not in the Cooper Square Plaza. That's right across the street from the main entrance to the high school. That's the plaza with the Beheia Bowls and the Jeremiah's.
Speaker 2:
Isis. It's just west of there in the office plaza next to that. Just a little clarification, all right. Awesome, dr Owens, pleasure having you on. It was great getting a chance to learn a little bit more about you and your background. So thanks for joining us today.
Speaker 3:
Thank you for having me, Jeremy.
Speaker 2:
Of course, this is what we do, and thanks, as always, to our listeners for tuning in, and we will catch you all next time, on the next episode of the good neighbor podcast.
Speaker 1:
Everyone, take care, have a wonderful day. Thanks for listening to the good neighbor podcast, cooper city. To nominate your favorite local business to be featured on the show, go to gnpcoopercitycom. That's gnpCooperCitycom, or call 954-231-3170.
