Taking Away Patients’ Pain

Masseuse Rachel Lim, chiropractor Zach Young and wife Angela Young. Amanda C. Gregg photo

Zach Young
Chiropractor, Kalaheo Chiropractic and Massage Center

Tell us about your business and your staff.

We are Kalaheo Chiropractic and Massage Center. Keala Huffman is our office manager, and she basically runs the show and keeps us moving. We have two great massage therapists, Karin Ranis and Rachel Lim. My wife, Angela, is an RN, and when she is not helping deliver babies at Kaua’i Veterans Memorial Hospital, she is at the office helping out. And then there’s myself, Zachary Young, Doctor of Chiropractic.

How did you get started in this business and how long has it been going?

I’ve been a chiropractor for 10 years.

Where are you from originally, and if not Kaua’i, why and when did you move to Kaua’i?

I grew up in California, and have been living on Kaua’i for six years. I moved here to raise my two boys on this beautiful island. We were living in central California, landlocked and smoggy, and just could not imagine living there for the next 20 years or so. I’d lived on Kaua’i for a few years prior to having a family and going to chiropractic school, and always imagined returning.

What kind of chiropractic is your focus?

We have a small familytype practice. We see everyone, moms and dads, kids, athletes and the grandparents. I practice a variety of chiropractic techniques. I’m really into figuring out what technique and approach is going to best help an individual. If someone is hurting or sensitive, we go easy on them and use more gentle, lowforce techniques. If their spine is out of alignment or fixated, a nice gentle adjustment does wonders for restoring motion and reducing pain. It is simple, really. We focus on helping people get out of pain quickly, and helping them achieve the highest quality of life possible.

How has business changed since the economic downturn?

We have stayed very busy throughout. I’ve noticed a few people losing chiropractic benefits, as employers cut back on insurance. But generally business has been good. I feel it is because the service we provide is essential. We keep people functioning so they can continue working, playing and raising their families.

What sets your business apart?

We provide multiple services, not just chiropractic. This allows us to treat a wider range of individuals and conditions. Our massage therapists stay very busy many people come in just to get a massage. Our newest therapy is very exciting and is dramatically increasing our ability to address an even wider range of conditions. It is called Pulsed Electromagnetic Field Therapy. It is used by orthopedics to stimulate bone growth in fractures that are not healing. Essentially, the therapy machine delivers a safe, comfortable pulsing magnetic field, which literally charges the cells of the body, oxygenates tissues and removes waste and toxins. In doing this, the body is able to repair and regenerate. It is proving to be very effective in treating both old chronic issues and new acute injuries. So when aching necks and shoulders, hips, knees and backs that are no longer responding to other therapies (whether it be chiropractic, physical therapy, medication or surgery) it can now be effectively helped. Even more surprising for me is the magnetic therapy has been a huge help for people in severe pain too much pain to effectively receive massage or chiropractic work and it does a great job of reducing pain and inflammation.

Why do you do what you do?

Fate. At the risk of sounding presumptuous, this is my calling, what I am meant to be doing.

What motivates you to get up and go to work every day?

My patients. I love them all. It is great to be able to help them, and they really appreciate what we do for them.

Do you have a business motto or philosophy for doing business?

Integrity and getting great results. I feel the best way to build a business is to pleasantly surprise people with the level of service we provide. We could build the practice by treating the same people over and over. Or we could do a great job, everyone tells their friends and family about us, and we build the practice on referrals. The latter is what is happening. Just this month we’ve seen more than 30 new patients, a remarkable number. I do very little marketing, so it is a pleasant surprise and I’m very humbled. Thanks, everyone!

What is the most challenging aspect of your business?

The business end of it. For me, working with people and helping them feel better and getting results is easy. Being a smallbusiness owner-manager and paying that ever-growing stack of bills is the challenging part.

What is your business plan for the future?

Keep doing what we are doing, only better and more effectively. Also, possibly adding more wellness programs: weight loss, nutrition-diet evaluations, healthy aging. Eventually I’d like to bring in an associate doctor so I could travel some, go to more seminars and learn new techniques so we can continue getting better at what we do.

If you weren’t doing this, what would you be doing?

Really, I could not imagine doing anything else.

Where can people learn more?

At kalaheochiropractic.com.