Today we’d like to introduce you to Dr. Aaron Ozimek, DC.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I was led into the healthcare field out of necessity; at the beginning of high school, I began to have stabbing pains in my legs that doctors couldn’t explain. This pain kept getting worse, then began spreading to other parts of my body. I went to some of the best medical facilities in the country and when no one could determine the cause of the problem it was labeled as psychosomatic, or caused by the mind. My chiropractor was the only doctor who never gave up the search for a solution, referring us to specialists and pouring through book after book in an effort to gain insight. Eventually, we began to suspect that I might have Lyme disease, but none of the doctors we went to would run the blood test, telling me that “people don’t get Lyme in Michigan.” By the time I was diagnosed with Lyme disease, I had been suffering for two years. I was told that full recovery by someone in my condition was rare. My disease had progressed to the point where I could neither walk nor push my own wheelchair. I experienced stabbing chest pains throughout the day. My short term memory had degraded to the point that I had to drop out of high school. I had mood swings and extreme fatigue. Things were getting progressively worse each day.
Armed with my new diagnosis, I had a PICC line installed; I took daily IV antibiotic treatments for six months, felt better for about six months, then quickly degenerated back to my previous state. We repeated this cycle two more times before I became allergic to all of the customary antibiotic treatments and, without any further medications to drive the Lyme out, my doctors resolved to give me high dose anti-inflammatories and pain medications to manage my symptoms. Having reached a dead end in the medical model before, I knew that I had to do some personal investigation myself; I was not prepared to give up on recovery as my doctors had. My mother drove me all over the state experimenting with hyperbaric chambers, rolfing, infra-red therapies, rife technology, diets, supplements, and other experimental therapies, eventually finding a combination that held the disease at bay.
I started the chiropractic program at Life University around the same time I found the doctor of traditional Chinese medicine who finally brought me back to health. It took six years of treatment with him to expel the Lyme and to address the damage caused by the combined assault from the high dose antibiotic treatments and the devastation of the disease itself. Inspired by watching my recovery, my sister sought and completed a degree in traditional Chinese medicine and now works alongside my doctor in his clinic. It is our goal to one day combine our talents to provide the world with the quality of care I received.
I attended the functional neurology club during my first weeks at Life and became fascinated with the brain. Shortly after that first meeting, I enrolled at The Carrick Institute to pursue my postdoctoral degree in clinical neurology. I worked with Dr. Carrick himself during grand rounds at his clinic, helping to diagnose and rehabilitate concussion, stroke, PTSD, and many other neurological disorders.
After graduating, I opened my practice in Woodstock, Georgia, a small town Northwest of Atlanta. While not at my own practice, I work as the lead clinician at Lotus Adult Day Center, a facility that primarily focuses on Alzheimer’s care. I also have a mobile concierge practice that allows me to take a portable table to a patient’s house because these neurological patients often have difficulty finding their way to my office. I’ve made it my passion to help people that feel left behind and lost with their health like I once was.
I was told that I was imagining my pain, that I couldn’t go to college, that I couldn’t complete graduate school, that I’d never get better. Having an incurable disease doesn’t mean that you cannot improve. Being told something is impossible doesn’t mean that it is. If you approach any problem with an attitude of fun and determined imagination, you can find a way to improve the future.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
When I first enrolled at Life University, I was at a very difficult point with my health. Only months before, the doctors told me that they didn’t have any more medications to fight the Lyme disease, and when I found my doctor of traditional Chinese medicine he told me that I was mere months away from beyond help. During the majority of my chiropractic studies, I flew to Michigan on a monthly basis for three days of 9-hour treatments, with daily herbal therapies while I was in Georgia. In the beginning, I only had enough energy to do what was necessary, but as time went on, I began to find my way back to balance until I walked across the graduation stage feeling healthy once again.
Atlas Chiropractic of Woodstock – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
My education is what sets my practice apart from others; my clinic helps people to find balance in their brains, bodies, and lives through chiropractic and functional neurology. I do full chiropractic and neurological examination and, in addition to determining if a test is positive or negative, I compare the precision of the left and right sides. An imbalance between the two halves of the body alludes to a potential imbalance between the two halves of the brain, and once the specific area is localized, targeted sensory and motor activation are applied to harness plasticity, or the neuron’s ability to grow and change.
I have the most experience with a concussion, vertigo, Alzheimer’s, and Parkinson’s, but have received referrals ranging from agoraphobia to fibromyalgia to lupus. The brain has influence over most functions in the body, allowing me to address a wide range of problems.
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
Shortly after I received my license, my uncle sustained several concussions and found himself in a dire situation. When we visited, we found that he had been having seizures, his diabetes had stopped responding to medication, he only woke up for meals, and he couldn’t follow our conversations. We invited him into our home and I was able to treat him on a daily basis, applying the sum of what I had learned in both my chiropractic and neurology programs. Watching my uncle fly back home healthy only three months later, able to re-enter his life and reconnect with his family, was an inspiring way to start my career as a doctor.
Contact Info:
- Address: 220 Heritage Walk
Suite 106
Woodstock, GA 30188 - Website: www.AtlasChiropracticWoodstock.com
- Phone: (248) 345-9258
- Email: AtlasChiropracticWoodstock@gmail.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AtlasChiropracticWoodstock
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/atlas-chiropractic-of-woodstock-woodstock
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