Dr. Derek Myers is a chiropractor with a passion for health and wellness. This has led him to develop a unique approach to chiropractic care that is helping people regain their health and vitality. Dr. Myers is changing the lives of his patients, but he is also changing the way that people think about health and wellness.

He’s inspiring and life-changing and is making a real difference in the lives of those who are lucky enough to experience it. If you are looking for someone who can make a real difference in your life, look no further than Dr. Derek Myers.

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Transcript

Pat Cherubini:

People think you’re a chiropractor and you’re so much more than a chiropractor. Yeah. And you can fix a lot of things and, you know, word of mouth is huge, but it’s slow moving. You know, people need to learn about you and with the things that you do and you know, the training you’ve got, you’re a super educated, smart guy. You use different words than people, you know, the normal people know. And that’s one, one thing we talk to all businesses, you know, you, you kind of gotta talk to the it’s about them until they get in there. And then it’s about you

Announcer:

Starting sustaining and having a successful small business is hard, but you already knew that, but wouldn’t it be great to have a podcast that talks to and digs in to the people who’ve made it problem solved. This is local vibes, small business success stories, talking to successful small businesses from around America. You’ll hear awesome stories about how they got started and how they survived and thrived online. And in their communities. We find out their special vibe. Welcome to local vibes, brought to you by ultimate online marketing.com. Now, here are your hosts, pat and Angie Cheri. All right, let’s do this.

Angie Cherubini:

Hi everyone. It’s pat and Angie CHII. And today we are featuring, um, my friend, our friend, Dr. Derek Myers of connect rehab here in Newark, Ohio. So let’s

Pat Cherubini:

Welcome, Derek. Thanks for stopping by get started. We’re gonna ask you some questions and, and find out if we can learn a little bit about what you do, because what you do is a little bit different than what yeah.

Angie Cherubini:

At least in our area, it’s a little

Pat Cherubini:

Different. Let’s just start by, you know, telling us the origin story of how you’ve got to be a chiropractor. I don’t know what you call yourself now. He’s still a chiropractor, but you know, how, how started and you know where you’re at now.

Dr. Derek Myers:

So, um, I started out, you know, going to college. I was gonna go, uh, to medical school initially. Um, I kind of decided not to do that, um, later in college and, uh, just didn’t want to go that route. And, um, wasn’t sure what I wanted to do. So I went and got, uh, some massage therapy training, so I could go to graduate school and have a very flexible job during grad school. Um, and I’m going to grad school in Texas and, uh, working on, um, biochem. And couple years into that, I just got kind of fed up with it. Uh, I was doing massage therapy in a rehab clinic there, uh, there in town. And that was the best time of my life. Right then I, my best 10 hours of that week were 10 to 12 hours were in that clinic.

Angie Cherubini:

How come and

Dr. Derek Myers:

Well, it was rewarding. Um, for starters the environment. I mean, people come in hurting and they leave feeling better. I mean, that’s a very, that’s a, that’s an immediate, tangible reward, uh, watching people’s lives change. And, you know, it’s, it’s just, it’s hard to put into words, but I mean, people do it, not just in healthcare, but in other areas too, you know, other, other service industries. So it was just very rewarding. It was, it was just a much better environment. Um, the environment that I was in was, it’s not for everybody grad, school’s not for everybody. And it’s, my grades were fine. It wasn’t an issue. It was just, it was kind of a toxic environment for me. Everybody’s kind of built different. So, um, I’m grateful for it. I learned a lot. I’m glad I did it. Um, but it gave me a solid foundation for what I do now, as far as healing and tissue recovery and what’s happening and, and making better decisions about how to recover tissue and what’s going on on that level.

Dr. Derek Myers:

So, um, about two years in, I was just having a bad week and, uh, I, you know, I just remember going into work that day and I’m absolutely miserable. And everybody around me is laughing and hugging each other. It’s a great time and all this stuff. And I was just, that was it. That was my come to Jesus that I’m not, I’m not doing the right thing. Mm-hmm <affirmative>, I felt like I battling that for two years. Um, and it just felt like the wrong path, like I was swimming, upstreaming it. And I’m, I, I’m not one to back down from, from a, from a challenge or a fight, but, um, two years in that was enough. And it was, that was the wrong thing for me to be doing, but, um, got me to where I, I needed to be at Texas chiropractic college, um, and, uh, got out and, and kind of specialized beyond there. So now I do all the fun stuff we do here.

Angie Cherubini:

Now. I know you started it just because, you know, of course, like I always say a lot of the people that we have on here, I already know are current clients, um, you started your practice in Tennessee, correct? Correct.

Dr. Derek Myers:

Right. So I went to Nashville initially and was there for about 15 years. I had a very, uh, concierge style practice. So I saw a very limited number of patients. It was all cash, uh, worked, got to work with some, um, some very different eclectic group of people, uh, from the music industry and the sports industry, and then also in pain management. So I got to see a lot of crazy stuff that I never would’ve seen just being a traditional chiropractor in that setting. A lot of just crazy cases, uh, that were, that that really helped shape and, and gave me a lot of, um, I guess I don’t know what the right word is experience in, uh, in areas that I might not have otherwise had. So

Angie Cherubini:

Is there, is there, can you tell us about a few of them?

Dr. Derek Myers:

Yeah. So, um, it was never a dull moment in pain clinics. I don’t know how familiar everybody is, but, uh, you know, one day I’m a bouncer and the other day I’m a clinician <laugh>, but I did have to physically remove somebody from a waiting room. One time you did. Yeah, he was, the guy was strung out and he was swinging this kid around. It was a whole thing. And, um, so we had to, we had to help him to the front door and wait on the police. So, oh my goodness. Yeah, the whole jiujitsu training came in. Helpful.

Pat Cherubini:

I was gonna ask, was that before or after the

Dr. Derek Myers:

Jiujitsu? Yeah, that was, that was definitely after that was a very helpful tool. Um, but, uh, you know, there was a case where, you know, people would come in. I had a lady who was told that she was gonna be confined to a wheelchair for the rest of her life. Um, no paralysis just had a lot of lower extremity and lower back issues. Um, a year later she’s out of a wheelchair hiking with her husband and did that for years. Um, there was a case where a, uh, a young lady was shot in the back of the head. Uh, a stray bullet went through an apartment wall and caught her and we helped her recover, um, recover the left side of her body after that injury. Um, that’s an amazing story. Her, her name was Tara. She was, she was just, it was just an incredible thing.

Dr. Derek Myers:

How long did it take? Um, that was several months worth of work. I mean, mm-hmm, <affirmative> fortunately we got, we got her, right. Like as soon as she was cleared from the head trauma, we got her right away. Um, and that’s the key with any kind of neurological injury is, is timing how fast you can get on it. Um, mm-hmm <affirmative> so that was awesome. Um, just, uh, oh my gosh. Um, postsurgical stuff, um, saving people from surgery, being able to, to, to recover somebody without needing to go to have a lumbar fusion or, or a cervical fusion, um, things, uh, there was a, a lady here in town that, that had, um, there’s several of these cases actually, but this one particular had headaches for, for years, years and years, it spent almost a hundred thousand dollars out of pocket over the time trying to resolve these.

Dr. Derek Myers:

And we were like three or four weeks with it and her headaches were mostly gone. Oh my goodness. Stuff from here to here. So, um, just to have those types of, of things, the need, the dry needling has been a huge bonus for that. Um, you know, one of the most memorable parts was, you know, my father had a lot of health issues, um, from transplants having to learn to walk again cancer several times and being able to be there for that. There was a, there was a point where he, um, he had to learn how to walk again. He was bedridden in a hospital for seven months, so he literally had to learn how to hold his own body weight again, and then start to walk again and being able to be part of that, um, that was outstanding, um, to, to, to have, have that guide, to help with that guidance through his, his health struggles. Um, just, it’s just so many stories and cases and stuff, but with the variety of stuff that, that we do here at connect, we have some tools that can accommodate some of those difficult cases.

Pat Cherubini:

Yeah. So you mentioned dry needling, you’re a chiropractor, so you, you correct. Your stories are awesome. You know, those, yeah. You know, it gives you goosebumps when you hear about people that struggled so long and, you know, in a few weeks, you know, it can get up, how are you different from the normal chiropractors that just go in and, you know, snap crack will pop, take your 40 bucks and send you out the door and say, come back three more times this week, what do you do different and how does dry needling work into that? Cause I know that’s really the answer,

Dr. Derek Myers:

Right? So a lot of it is, is how I address problems and what problems I address. So, um, you know, getting adjusted is, is helpful. You’re basically just putting movement back into tissues, right back into joints. That’s all it is. Um, there’s a lot of conflicting philosophies out there, but my take is that, that that’s just putting movement back in joints in the same way that, uh, physical therapists have a, uh, um, uh, a treatment, a modality called, uh, grade five mobilizations. That’s really kind of the same thing as an adjustment. Um, uh, in chiropractic we call ’em H VLAs and it’s, it’s just a way to move a joint, but it’s putting movement back in joints. You know, there’s some, there’s some ideas out there. People talk about how bones pinching on nerves going here. And that’s not really it, the idea of, uh, we’re not putting Legos back together, right?

Dr. Derek Myers:

Mm-hmm, <affirmative>, that’s not what this is. People say, well, this is out. Or my, my back is out or my rib is out or whatever. It’s not really, it what’s happened is it’s, it’s compression the muscles and the soft tissues create compression. Your day to day activities create compression. And they, they, those joints will reduce their movement and their range of motion. So you can release muscles all day long, but if you don’t put movement back in those joints, it’s not gonna help. So getting adjusted helps a lot of people, and that’s kind of what we would equate to kind of a family chiropractic type of a thing, like a, like a general practitioner, um, where I’ve, I’ve kind of specialized. So I work a lot with the neuromuscular system as well. So the dry needling, which is a great way to break up deep adhesive tissues or those trigger points, or those knots that, that you hear people say, well, I just can’t get to it.

Dr. Derek Myers:

Or the massage therapist just can’t get there. Um, a lot of those, I just can’t seem to find it or locate it. Um, working with the trigger points, working with movement dysfunction, um, you know, the first thing I do is I’m not looking for something being out of place or whatever it is. I’m looking for something that’s not moving, right? Like what’s not, what’s restricting the movement. Like why is that pain? That pain just doesn’t show up one day, this kind of the epiphany I in grad school is you don’t have headaches from ibuprofen deficiencies, right? So it’s like, you know what I mean? So

Angie Cherubini:

Never really thought of it that way.

Dr. Derek Myers:

Why are, why are we chasing? Why are we chasing these problems with medications? And I’m not against medication, please hear me. I’m not against that. There’s a time and a place for that. But you know, mild to moderate diffuse mechanical, low back pain is not an indication for opiates, you know? Right. Like that’s just not opioids or not the answer for that. And, and, um, uh, so I’m looking for movement. Why is that headache there? What are you doing? What tissues, where is that headache specifically? Where is that tingling down the arm? Where is this? Where is that? That’s gotta be coming from somewhere. There’s a reason that’s happening. Mm-hmm <affirmative>. And so what makes it different is the initial approach. Isn’t I’m not trying to relate everything to the spine. I’m trying to relate everything to movement dysfunction. And if there’s not a movement, DYS, that, that, that can explain it.

Dr. Derek Myers:

Then we gotta look at the metabolic dysfunction because there are things such as, um, you know, thyroid issues and gut health issues can present autoimmune issues can present as joint and muscle pain. And that can show up and be one of the first things that shows up. And so they go through all this stuff, looking for answers to the joint pain, but it’s not joint pain from the joint. It may be metabolic. So I’m not taking anything off the table in that initial exam, we’re trying to find out what’s causing these symptoms. There’s a lot of people that can dry needle that can do the myofascial work and do this and that. But if you don’t get the right spot, if you don’t find the right problem, I don’t care where you, if you don’t put the needle in the right place, it doesn’t work.

Dr. Derek Myers:

Mm-hmm <affirmative>. If you don’t put the right therapy on the right tissue and the right timing, it doesn’t work. And so all those modalities are great. And I got a lot of training in those and, and I I’ve been doing this for so long. Um, it is just the, the real answer to that question is at the onset. What makes me different is the onset I’m looking for, what’s causing this. Where is it coming from? Let’s not just rule it in anything out and assume it’s a disc causing that pain in the leg. And that’s where a lot of those have come too. I’ve got a disc bulge. Well, that doesn’t mean that that’s causing the pain in the leg. A lot of people have ’em and have no symptoms. So how can you tell me that that guarantees that pain? So I’m looking for all the different possibilities. And then we, then we use these different modalities to address that not everybody needs to be adjusted. Now my state association and peers may disowned me for saying that, but, you know, there are some people that don’t do well with adjustments. They do well with soft tissue work or massage or stretching. They don’t need to get adjusted. Their joints are moving great. You just gotta keep ’em moving. Great. So, um, but that, that’s kind of a long winded answer. No,

Pat Cherubini:

No, it’s perfect. It kind of fits in. I actually said it morning. I say this quote all the time as a, as a former boat mechanic, I learned from my mentor, just kind of what you’re saying, you can’t fix a thing until, you know, what’s wrong.

Dr. Derek Myers:

Right.

Pat Cherubini:

Just trying to crack it, ain’t gonna fix what’s wrong. Right.

Angie Cherubini:

And I think that’s the problem. These days is too many people. Don’t too many doctors, regular doctors. Um, I’m not even just saying chiropractors, but all doctors, a lot of ’em just want to hurry you up through there and give you a pill and get you on your way that they don’t even look at. They don’t even really sit down and talk to people.

Dr. Derek Myers:

Yeah. And there’s a lot of difficulty too, because there’s a lot of physicians that are, especially with some of the insurance requirements and constrictions and right. Um, and some of the administrative, um, pressures that they get. Mm-hmm <affirmative>, um, there, there’s a, that’s, that’s a difficult field right now. There’s a lot of doctors that don’t want to be in healthcare right now. Um, but you know, you do, and you’re seeing a lot of these physicians that are getting out and doing kind of what I’m doing from a business model standpoint, where we’re not taking as much insurance, but we have, I got the freedom and the time to do what I need to do. Yeah. And I’m not, and an insurance company can’t dictate what I can and can’t do my licensure and my, my scope of practice do, but that’s it. I don’t have to answer anybody.

Angie Cherubini:

And I think the cool thing is, is, I mean, it’s kind of based on, based on the same thing that we tell any business you are getting, you are getting to spend that extra time with people. So you’re building a relationship with that client. And at that point, and, and I know you deal with this. People don’t care what they have to pay because they get that time spent with you and they feel like you truly care and wanna help them. And you’re not just another Nu they’re not just another number.

Dr. Derek Myers:

We, uh, used to have a slogan that I used, um, for a quick minute. And it just said, we, we treat the whole person because we care about the whole person mm-hmm <affirmative>. So, and it’s, I don’t know, we, the slogans and all that stuff, aren’t really my strong suit, but it was just one of those things that it really kind of describes, you know, how, how we try to approach to it, you know, and to the cost thing. That’s another thing that, that comes up a lot. Well, you’re not on my insurance. Okay. Okay. People that do what I do, aren’t in insurance plans because insurance don’t pay for those things. Mm-hmm <affirmative>, they don’t, they don’t have the coverage to do that. Um, there’s a story. I’ve got a, a, a good friend down in Nashville. Uh, two of them, but the one guy is they’re both vocal coaches, phenomenal vocal coaches.

Dr. Derek Myers:

The one guy was a student of the vocal coach he’s working for now. And he spent, he tells the story. He spent like three or $4,000 on, on vocal lessons trying to get his, I don’t know what he is trying to increase his vocal range or, or something. And, um, and he wasn’t getting anywhere. Well, the guy that he works for now is four or $500 an hour. Like this, this guy is the vocal coach to the stars. He’s he does. Wow. Everybody. Yeah. He is the guy. Um, anybody in the industry knows who this guy is. So, um, so, uh, he finally broke down and dropped the cash and went and saw that saw that got one lesson with this guy was able to get in one lesson for four or 500 bucks more than what he got $3,000 worth for in this other, this other situation. Wow. So what was really expensive there? What, what really, what was the cost? The 3000, he spent a fraction of the money and got more, even though it was more procession, but then he did, you know, spend a thousands of dollars the other way. Mm-hmm <affirmative>. So if you have, if you have the time and you have the tools, you know, the cost really isn’t, you know, you start talking about compared to some of these medications that are two and $3,000 a month.

Angie Cherubini:

Yeah.

Pat Cherubini:

I mean, time and time and pain is costly too. So how quicker you can outta pain,

Dr. Derek Myers:

How much work are you, how about how bad is your family life suffering? You know?

Pat Cherubini:

Yeah. We hear all the time about people. Well, I gotta wait six more weeks before I’m allowed to get another quarter zone shot cuz the insurance won’t pay for it. Yeah. Yeah. <laugh> how much is that worth?

Dr. Derek Myers:

Yeah. I mean you’re baseball season, right. Baseball and lacrosse and all that. So being able to be at the games and tournaments, I mean, there’s, there’s a price tag on that too quality of life.

Angie Cherubini:

So now, now you have other services there. Uh, what are some of the other services that you provide Derek?

Dr. Derek Myers:

Um, so we have a, um, uh, a licensed, uh, certified medical massage therapist on staff. Uh, her name’s Tina she’s outstanding, does great work. Um, and we have, uh, hyperbaric oxygen therapy, H bot. So I know. Um, <laugh> yeah, so that’s a relatively new one. That’s one I’ve been, I’ve been, I’ve wanted to have H bot in my practice forever. I was about to get one before I left Nashville, but with the move and all, I just didn’t didn’t purchase one then. Um, so I’m thrilled to have, especially with, you know, my health situation and, and having surgery here a couple months ago was kind of that in that diagnosis kind of prompted, uh, prompted this, that was kind of the proverbial straw, like, okay. It’s time, it’s time to make a bunch of positive changes. And that was one of ’em. So I love the hyperbaric oxygen therapy. Um, it is

Angie Cherubini:

Good for,

Dr. Derek Myers:

Um, in my case, it, um, it really helped, uh, knock out the fatigue mm-hmm <affirmative> so the postsurgical kind of holy crap, what just happened, your body is flipping out, right? Mm-hmm <affirmative> um, and the fatigue was just, I couldn’t believe how hard it hit me and, um, and it really helped. I mean, I, I would get several hours of, of just up energy even really quick after surgery. So as soon as I was able to ambulate to get into the, into the, the unit, um, so athletic recovery’s another big one. Uh, it’s great. After, you know, some of these athletes just go and destroy their muscles one day and they pop in, hop in that thing. And then the soreness is either gone or very minimal the next day, which allows them to work hard again and not have two or three days of soreness.

Dr. Derek Myers:

So it gives ’em an, it gives ’em extra training time. Um, recovery is, is key. Um, it’s, it helps kind of profuse oxygen into the tissues in a pressurized environment. And so that’s what helps break down inflammation. So your inflammatory processes, um, autoimmune people, uh, swear by it. Uh, and, uh, I know that there’s a big use for it, with like autism and things like that. And I don’t treat autism I’m I’ll, the doors are certainly open to anybody who wants to use that as part of their treatment plan. I don’t treat autism, but if people need that for that, that’s fine. We’ll we’ll do that. But, um, I just wanna clarify that, right. You know, um, we’ll provide that service, but, um, they use it, like I said, the autoimmune, uh, inflammatory processes, uh, arthritis, uh, anemias there’s, there’s a good bit of data out there on anemia. Um, there’s

Angie Cherubini:

There neuropathy

Dr. Derek Myers:

Yeah. Neuropathy, um, detoxing, the body is a big thing, you know, after heavy medication regimen, chemo, radiation, all that kind of stuff. The body’s trying to process things outta the body. And this helps that process. Um, people making lifestyle changes coming off of just trash diets and trash food and making lifestyle changes. It helps facilitate that process. Um, well,

Angie Cherubini:

That’s cool. I didn’t even think about that.

Dr. Derek Myers:

Yeah. You know, people trying to make changes and they feel like crap for a little while as they’re making these changes. And this kind of helps minimize that, that feeling. Um, there’s some data out there on head traumas and CTE and, and, and those types of things. Um, so there’s, there’s other, uh, studies that are very promising right now with, um, after effects of traumatic events in the brain, if y’all know, and I’m stirring up over here. Oh, sure. Yeah. So, um, yeah, you gotta, that’s another thing that sucks. You gotta be careful what, how you say stuff, because even though there’s studies and data there showing this, you gotta be careful about what, you know, how you say it and what you say, even though there’s data to show it, whatever. Um, yeah. That’s another, that’s a whole other podcast that probably isn’t PG.

Pat Cherubini:

Yeah. And, and it also goes toward, you know, kind of what my wife here did with her diagnosis recently is, you know, educate yourself, you know, if there’s something that you’ve read yourself and you know, we’re not doctors, but she read a whole lot of stuff and she’s made the changes and she’s sought out treatment like HBO that can help. And you know, it’s not prescribed by anybody.

Angie Cherubini:

It’s not traditional.

Pat Cherubini:

It’s not traditional. Yeah. But you know, based on what she’s learned, you know, she’s seeing if it’s going to help. And that’s what I, you know, I think most people should take a little bit of that back into their hands.

Dr. Derek Myers:

Yeah. Yeah. And you should, that’s, you know, we’ve gotten into, as a society, we’ve gotten into a habit of kind of waiting for everybody else to make those decisions for us. And you just do what somebody tells you to do. And you don’t think about it. You don’t ask questions, educate if you give it a diagnosis, educate yourself. Mm-hmm <affirmative> um, every provider out there can tell you hundreds of stories about misdiagnosis that walk in their office. Oh yeah. You know, and this is, you know, where medical doctors basically see a bunch of chiropractic failures. And as chiropractors, we see a bunch of, of failures from alopathic or mainstream medicine. And that doesn’t mean that the, that that’s a bad provider, this or that, but things, things kind of hide and, and, you know, not everybody gets a hundred percent all the time, but you have to educate yourself and you have to look up these things. You have to understand what it is they’re telling you. You have, and, and go dig on that and see what options are out there and ask about those options, get second opinions. And if you’re not doing that, you can get, find yourself thousands of dollars down the wrong rabbit hole, you know, and then, you know, you last it effort somebody like me and walk in and we look at it from a new perspective. Well, that didn’t work. I’m not going down that hole again. Let’s try this over here. Lo and behold, that works

Angie Cherubini:

It’s it surprises me how many people don’t, uh, do a lot of research. It’s like once, once we knew about my cancer and you know, even though I technically didn’t have it anymore, when they took my colon out and my chemotherapy was just for preventative purposes. Right. So I got lucky in that sense. I still, I mean, we still both dug deep in, into, you know, what were things that we could do to make it easier on me for now, for the time being and for the future. What, what are different techniques that people are using besides medicine? Cuz I’ll tell you what, I certainly don’t ever wanna go through chemo again. Right. Um, it was even though mine may not, you know, I have no idea. I handled it extremely well, probably better from what my doctor said better than most people he said, I basically got the gold medal for it.

Dr. Derek Myers:

You did a hundred percent.

Angie Cherubini:

So I don’t really know, you know, I, I can’t base it on whether what I had was super strong or not. I think it was, but I did my research found out what would be D what would be good for me to do. And you know, I tried different things. I, it, it just amazes me how many people aren’t willing to step out of their comfort zone and try new things and try services. Like what you have to offer help in your own hands.

Dr. Derek Myers:

Yes. Yeah. And you, you have to dig and you gotta be proactive. Like if you wait for it to happen, then you’re, it’s all, it’s all about being reactive. Instead of being prepared and healthy people do better. I don’t care what the disease is, what the problem is. If it’s, I don’t care if it’s back surgery, I don’t care if it’s a car accident. I don’t care if it’s a autoimmune disease. If you’re healthy, you’re gonna do better. You’re gonna recover better. You’re gonna handle it better. Um, and so being proactive, you know, supplements here and there, um, there are things that can be extremely helpful for that. Um, very simple things. So yeah, you gotta be proactive. You gotta be ahead of it. And don’t wait because we’re being bombarded from everywhere. All of the products that we put on our skin, the products we put in our bodies.

Angie Cherubini:

Oh yeah.

Dr. Derek Myers:

You know, the

Angie Cherubini:

I’ve changed that big time too.

Dr. Derek Myers:

So our mutual friend, Danny Williamson always says, whatever you put in your pie hole is either killing you or healing you.

Angie Cherubini:

Yep. So she’s so right. And you offer, I mean, that’s another thing you offer supplements and things like that as well at your location. Right. So people don’t, maybe a lot of people don’t know that.

Dr. Derek Myers:

Yeah. Well, we, we wanna treat the whole person. I mean, if, if part of the reason you’re healing slow is because you’re anemic or you’ve got some vitamin D deficiencies or you’re not sleeping well because of some metabolic or, or some mineral imbalances, I mean, simple things like that can make a world of difference. So yeah, we,

Angie Cherubini:

We offer and can they come in and find that out from you?

Dr. Derek Myers:

Absolutely. Those services are there. If somebody’s got questions about the supplements they are taking about the tests, you know, Hey, I, I haven’t had updated blood work in however long we can, we can run that. Those are just, that’s a simple consult. Those are easy to do. And, um, quick results. We’ve got good relationships with labs and companies and, and get you in touch with whatever you need.

Angie Cherubini:

That’s good. That’s really good.

Pat Cherubini:

So your, your business started in Nashville and now you’re in Newark, Ohio, Heath, Ohio, I guess, is where your office is. Mm-hmm <affirmative> um, what happened? You know, how was that business down there? And then, you know, you had to, you closed it down and moved up here, you know, what’s, what are the differences? What has happened? You know, how was it there and how’s it going here now?

Dr. Derek Myers:

Um, so down there was very different. Like I said, it was very concierge. I didn’t, I never had to advertise or anything like that. It was, I just kind of ended up in a very niche situation, um, up here. Uh, it was very different because, um, it was pretty new. Uh, you know, it was just a few months before I got here where the needling and stuff that I do was even in scope of practice. Um, whereas I’d already a decade deep down there. It was up here. It was still pretty new. Um, you know, the, the model had to be different. Um, and, and everything, just, everything was different. The services, the expertise, the training, all of that’s still there. I just had to format this clinic very differently than I did there. Um, I had to advertise, which was, um, that was a steep hill to climb very quickly and took a few lumps along the way.

Dr. Derek Myers:

Um, so it was, uh, you know, I didn’t know a whole lot about it. And fortunately, you know, what our mutual friend, uh, turned me on to you all. And, um, that, that made a world of difference because I wouldn’t have, um, it’s still, it’s still a little weird for me to know that you have to have a virtual presence to be a legit business. That’s kind of a, that’s a very strange concept, but mm-hmm <affirmative> um, but you do like the first thing people do. They’re gonna check you out on Facebook. They wanna check you out on Instagram, they wanna check you out online. Um, so, uh, that was, that was a whole new world for me. Um, you know, wasn’t, and probably still not super, uh, proficient with social media, but, um, that was a huge thing. I think if I had to start over moving up here, I would have engaged you all before I, even before I even got started, like before, long before I would’ve, I would’ve planned different.

Dr. Derek Myers:

There’s a lot of stuff I would’ve done differently, but I, I certainly, you know, I ran my, I ran demographics. I looked at the areas, I, I looked at high traffic areas, all the stuff that you do, you want to be in an easy access location, especially with a, with a population of patients that are, that are either handicapped or partially disabled or, or struggle. You don’t wanna be in a busy parking lot. So, um, you know, I did all that kind of background, but all the other stuff, how to explain to people in, uh, licking county that I’m going to basically stab and electrocute you, and it’s gonna make you better. How do you get that point across? <laugh> like, that’s a weird, that is, you know what I mean? And they’re like, wait, what? Just back up for a second about that.

Pat Cherubini:

The last guy just cracked my back.

Dr. Derek Myers:

Yeah. Oh, well, it, it, you know, when I get adjusted, it feels better. Well, that’s great, but now you’re here. Yeah. So it’s neither not lasting or something else is going on. Um, and so, but once you explain that, so patient education, I guess the, the EDU trying to explain it, people still ask like, so what do you do? How are you different? I don’t really have a good, like quick elevator one line answer for that. Um, I had a patient one time. He said, you’re pulley specialist. You know, I always talk about the, body’s just a big complex pulley system. He said, you’re a pulley special, you fix the body’s pulleys. So that does that just kind of corny and how to explain to a third grader. But I don’t, I don’t have a good, quick one liner like that to explain that. So getting, you know, getting into a service like this and, Uh, where it’s like explaining that or showing this, or showing a treatment, that’s how we need to that’s that would’ve done a whole lot more of that from the beginning. And, uh, so didn’t get too far down the road.

Pat Cherubini:

<laugh> education of, especially with something new, you know, it is hard, you have to, right. They have to be educated because what you do and probably I’ll ask the question, you know, do people just think it’s acupuncture? Cause it looks like

Angie Cherubini:

Acupuncture. Oh yeah.

Dr. Derek Myers:

It’s yeah. It’s definitely not acupuncture. Um, so the needles are very similar, but acupuncture is an energy based treatment. Um, so it’s, uh, it’s like a, um, um, energy flow in the body releasing energy channels, that kind of thing. Um, I’m a fan of acupuncture. It’s got it. There’s a lot of positive uses for it and positive applications for it. Uh, dry needling is very different. Dry needling is very musculoskeletal connective tissue, um, correcting movement and, and bound up soft tissue in the body. So yeah, it’s definitely not acupuncture. We are going into a trigger point or bound up fascia and releasing those tension patterns in the body, uh, to restore movement. So that’s, that’s about it. That’s about where the similarities end.

Angie Cherubini:

And I will say then they’re a lot longer, <laugh> a lot longer.

Dr. Derek Myers:

Some of, yeah. Some of them are, some of them are, but some of those muscles are deep, which is why the campus can’t get there. Yep. Um, but yeah, I, I really do, um, you know, that’s the one thing I look back on and wish I would’ve done more of is, is, um, more of the preemptive advertising type thing and all that. So it was like, um, it was like, um, they’re killing me. Sorry. Um, it was like, um, I guess it would, it, would’ve just been more of, of simple videos, simple little things getting out there, you know, being out in the community was very helpful as well. Just being involved in the community. I mean, it’s a small town, you know, you want to be a part of contributing part to the town, not, you know, not just a, a leech on it. You want to, you want to be there to help people and support the community, support the people in it. Yeah. Um, and so that was a big thing. And so having that and people, oh, I saw you on Facebook or I saw this on Facebook, or I saw that, um, I was like, as I hear that, and I’m like, man, why we should have done that, you know, ahead of time. So

Angie Cherubini:

Yeah. The education part of it, it’s it. And it’s hard to explain. It’s, it’s hard to explain that to a lot of businesses that, that is something that we struggle with when we, um, either bring on a new client or we’re talking about marketing with them, it’s hard to get them to understand. And I think you saying that that’s helpful, um, because don’t understand that it, it, it takes some time to really educate people and on social media, it’s not like everything you do is seen all the time. Uh, you know, it’s

Pat Cherubini:

Like, yeah, even if you put it out there, they may not see it. So you have that’s, that’s where the advertising does come in. It pushes, you know, a little harder, which there are lots of different ways to do it. Advertising is the, the fastest, you know, but its also the most expensive.

Dr. Derek Myers:

I just thought that you’d put a video or a picture out there and just assumed everybody saw it. Yeah. And then I, and then I realized that no, there’s just a specific group of people that are gonna see that your

Angie Cherubini:

Mom, you know,

Dr. Derek Myers:

And I’m like, well that’s not helping. They already know who I am like, you know?

Pat Cherubini:

Yep. And that’s, that’s the hard part. And that’s what we talk about all the time. And you know, especially with what you do, people think you’re a chiropractor and you’re so much more than a chiropractor. Yeah. And you can fix a lot of things and you know, word of mouth is huge, but it’s slow moving. You know, people need to learn about you and with the things that you do and you know, the training you’ve got, you’re a super educated, smart guy. You use different words than people, you know, the normal people know. And that’s one, one thing we talk to all businesses, you know, you kind of gotta talk to it’s about them until they get in there. And then it’s about you, you know what you can do for them, but getting them in that front door with, you know, which in your case, advertising’s really hard cuz you can’t say I can fix your pain because that’s a claim that Facebook, and even though

Angie Cherubini:

You let, should be allowed to

Pat Cherubini:

Other people can talk about what you’ve done for them. So that, you know, those are the kind of things that, that you

Dr. Derek Myers:

Expose. Well, I’ll tell you, I’ll tell you when you I’ll tell you when you come. I mean, I that’s fine. I, I’m not gonna hold punches with some of that stuff. I’ll

Pat Cherubini:

Well, and that’s it, you’re allowed to say that, but you’re not allowed to advertise it,

Dr. Derek Myers:

Advertise it. Yeah. The pharmaceutical company owns the word pain, which is

Pat Cherubini:

Right. Which is kind of what you were talking about with your HBO. You know, there are studies that prove it works for certain things, but you’re because of your, what

Dr. Derek Myers:

Do we say?

Pat Cherubini:

Yeah. You’re not allowed to say that, but which is

Angie Cherubini:

Crazy

Pat Cherubini:

If they learn or somebody else tells them that it works then

Dr. Derek Myers:

Yeah.

Pat Cherubini:

That’s the next step.

Angie Cherubini:

Well, do you have, do you have a mentor Derek that, you know, I know you’ve, you’ve talk about Danny. Would you consider Danny a mentor or?

Dr. Derek Myers:

Um, I don’t know if, if mentors is the right word, I guess I know a lot of people have had like this one major influence in their professional lives that have guided them through. And I feel like I don’t have necessarily one, but I’ve got a few, um, along the way, you know what I mean? Mm-hmm <affirmative> so I’ve had, you know, um, had a professor at a chiropractic school that was highly influential, um, and was extremely helpful. He, he taught, you know, internal diagnostics and I mean the guy could take the most random two pieces of information and diagnosed. It was, he was brilliant and is brilliant. Um, and uh, I mean that has stuck with me about exploring, you know, the diagnostic side of it and getting it right. Um, I’ve had, um, you know, my dad, the way my dad was in the community, um, and seeing how he interacted people and, and he, you know what I mean, like how he just did did things.

Dr. Derek Myers:

Um, mm-hmm <affirmative> uh, and, and how he benefited people. He wasn’t in healthcare, but I mean, he was always there. Um, you know, my late uncle, Steve who ran the massage school that I went to, you know, same way. He just wanted to help people. He opened a school and taught people how to do it. Um, just that just watching them and how they were, you know, I, I feel fortunate to have had several people that have influenced me in that way and, and watching people like Danny people like Danny, the passion that she has for what she does. Um, and, and so that keeps me kinda going to thinking about that. So

Pat Cherubini:

Cool. So loaded question. Do you have any hobbies? Yeah. What do you doing spare time?

Dr. Derek Myers:

Yeah. Yeah. So

Pat Cherubini:

That’s a good one is

Dr. Derek Myers:

A loaded question. Cause one of my hobbies is learning how to break people. So that’s kinda weird, right? It

Pat Cherubini:

Is. It’s kinda like I need job security. Right,

Dr. Derek Myers:

Right. Um, no, uh, I, I, uh, train Brazilian jujitsu, um, and, uh, that occupies, if I’m not in the clinic or hanging out with my kid, my boy, uh, then I’m on the mats, um, training. So, uh, I love it, but,

Pat Cherubini:

And how long you’ve been doing that? That’s a, a foreign world to me <laugh> completely,

Dr. Derek Myers:

Um, off and on for about 12 years. Uh, there’s a little bit of time off here and there, um, for family stuff and, and whatnot, but, um, uh, together, maybe eight of those 12 years, uh, has been training. So I’ve been training pretty solid for the last few.

Pat Cherubini:

How’d you start?

Dr. Derek Myers:

Uh, I used to treat UFC fighters in Nashville and, um, one of

Pat Cherubini:

’em was like how I’d like to break my leg. <laugh>

Dr. Derek Myers:

He’s like, why, why don’t you come to practice one time? You know, I wrestled when I was younger, I always liked those one on one sports. And he said, why don’t you come to practice? I’m like, man, I can’t go. I can’t do what you do. He goes, no tried jujitsu. It’s there’s no striking all that. I was like, all right. I showed up first day and that was it. I was hooked really.

Pat Cherubini:

That’s all

Dr. Derek Myers:

I told. Yeah. I was, I from the time that that instructor grabbed a hold of my lapel and, um, I couldn’t do anything to stop him from having his way. I, I gotta figure this out. I gotta learn this. It was fascinating because you’re seeing some of these guys with like high school educations and they understand more about how the body does and doesn’t work mechanically than most of the educated people. I know, like you can’t finish an arm bar or, uh, certain types of locks or chokes, if you don’t, aren’t in the exact right position or have the body position just right. And that’s really what hooked me is I was fascinated by the functional movement that these guys understood with no clinical training. I was like, I gotta learn this. This is outstanding.

Pat Cherubini:

So

Angie Cherubini:

That is right up his alley.

Pat Cherubini:

Yeah. I, you know, showing my ignorance here, there you said no striking, that’s a BJ J thing. It’s it’s just wrestling. Yeah. It’s no hidden. Yeah. It’s I didn’t know that that’s

Dr. Derek Myers:

Submission wrestling. You’re basically, um, you know, using, using, you know, arm locks or chokes or whatever to, um, uh, get somebody to tap out basically. So, um, and it’s, it’s, you know, my closest friends practice jujitsu, it’s, you know, we go out there and roll around and do all that. And then we go have sushi and laugh

Pat Cherubini:

About it and then they make an appointment for needles.

Dr. Derek Myers:

<laugh> <laugh> usually, sometimes I’m the one that needs the appointment.

Pat Cherubini:

So yeah.

Angie Cherubini:

Do you have a lot of clients from there because I know you, you coach correct. Right.

Dr. Derek Myers:

That I teach. Yeah. There’s a, there’s a handful that come. I mean, we, we’re pretty safe over there. We’re not, you know, really trying to kill people, but, um, uh, you know, you get with any sport, you get injuries, you know? Yeah. Uh, people pushing too hard or not recovering. Right. And whatnot, whether it’s jujitsu or baseball or CrossFit or whatever, doesn’t matter.

Pat Cherubini:

Where do you train? You wanna say it? Where’s your gym?

Dr. Derek Myers:

Uh, Delta grappling academy.

Pat Cherubini:

Delta grappling.

Dr. Derek Myers:

Yeah. It’s right here in Heath.

Angie Cherubini:

Cool.

Dr. Derek Myers:

So

Pat Cherubini:

You’re, you had a little setback, you talked about, you know, with, with your health and your getting back into the training and you talked about, you know, how cuz you were in, in good shape before that. Yeah. And you had a surgery and you talked about, you know, it wipes you out.

Angie Cherubini:

You were like me, you were hit like, boom

Dr. Derek Myers:

<laugh>. Yeah.

Pat Cherubini:

So how’s the training going now?

Dr. Derek Myers:

I have just started back with, um, like some drills and movements. I’m not taking a lot of hard rounds yet. I still got another couple weeks before I can really kind of open the doors, but man, I am exhausted. Uh, I, you don’t do anything for a month and then you try to come back and exercise and you’re like, my gosh that’s I might as well taking a year off. That was crazy. Mm-hmm <affirmative> um, but you know, I’m feeling my gas come back a little bit. Um, I’m starting to move right again. And the, the muscle memory and the, the strength is coming back. So I’m happy about that. Of course the hyperbarics helping with that as well. So yeah. Getting my little

Pat Cherubini:

You’re on dog food.

Dr. Derek Myers:

Yeah. <laugh>

Angie Cherubini:

What are, um, you know, what are your goals, Derek? What, where do you see yourself in the next five years?

Dr. Derek Myers:

Um, there’s some plans I have for the clinic. I, I would like to add things that I, I feel are a pretty big need here in, in town, um, or in this area. Um, I don’t wanna get too far into that quite yet. Um, right. But, um, I, I wanna expand what we do here and start offering some, some services that I feel, um, where musculoskeletal healthcare is going. Mm-hmm <affirmative> and when things that are gonna provide people options that aren’t currently here, um, I would like to, um, you know, eventually bring somebody on, uh, you know, a little down the road, find somebody either right outta school or somebody with some training and, and, um, you know, provide that as well. I’m my, I’m not for everybody. Um, but you know, I will help you find whoever you need, but you know, having somebody, you know, in a few years come help the load. Um, and, um, you know, I want to, I want to spend time. My boy’s eight years old, you know, so baseball games, uh, he does jujitsu too, you know, so going to tournaments with him, we’re both competing in the same tournaments and all that. And

Angie Cherubini:

That’s so cool.

Dr. Derek Myers:

That’s, that’s what I want to do, you know, that’s

Pat Cherubini:

Well, his grandma told me he’s a natural

Dr. Derek Myers:

He’s he’s got a, he’s got a mean arm bar he’s oh, nice. He’ll find an arm. Yeah. He’s he’s, he’s got a, a good, a good, uh, knack for it. So, um, yeah. And he loves, he’s laughing the whole time. It’s great.

Angie Cherubini:

That’s so cool. Yeah. You got, you got the busy years ahead of you Derek

Dr. Derek Myers:

<laugh> yeah, I’m excited about it. So it it’s fun. That’s what I wanna do is, is get people better and, and afford the time with him.

Angie Cherubini:

Mm. So, well, what advice would you give to somebody who, anybody who may want to start doing what you’re doing?

Dr. Derek Myers:

Um, first things first, uh, get a solid base. Um, you know, and what I mean by that is, is kind of have a plan, you know, where do you want to be? What do you want to do? Like when I say, what do you want to do? Like, do you want to go to south Florida and work on a bunch of retired people, a bunch of retired golfers is that that’s a great place to be. That’s a great option. Um, but kind of have an idea. And so when you’re going to school, um, you know, up here where we’re at now, you know, vitamin D deficiencies is an enormous problem. So, you know, understanding kind of geographically there’s differences in those areas and have that kind of understanding, going into school and know kind of where you, you know, have an idea about where you wanna focus and what you wanna do.

Dr. Derek Myers:

Um, when you get out and set up shop, um, have a plan for that, have a better plan than I did. I thought I was gonna be like, Nashville. I’m just gonna pop my door open and people are gonna flood in because you know, I’m a specialty and, and it’s not really how it happened. Um, you know, you gotta find a way to let people know. I would advise people to get involved, um, with something, something bigger than yourself, get involved with the community, get involved with the schools, offer stuff. Don’t just, um, you know, my uncle Steve told me one time, he goes, you shouldn’t spend any advertising dollars. It’s not helping somebody else, you know, sponsor a sponsor, a golf outing for a soccer program, or, um, buy a raffle ticket for a, a cooler raffle or something, whatever, get involved, support the local community, be involved with people, um, not just with your money, but with your time mm-hmm <affirmative> so

Pat Cherubini:

Dude, local vibes that’s that fits right in there. That’s perfect. Awesome way to end it. Um, you have anything else than asking him? How do people find out more about you, you know, what’s your, what’s your website and you know, what do they do if, uh, they wanna get ahold of you?

Dr. Derek Myers:

Um, uh, Dr. Derek meers.com, just D R D E R E K M Y E R s.com. Um, our office number is, uh, area code 7 4 0 4 6 2 8 6 0 4. Um, and, um, we’re on Facebook as well. Uh, connect rehab,

Pat Cherubini:

The clinic’s called

Dr. Derek Myers:

Connect rehab. K I N E C T. Um,

Pat Cherubini:

And, uh, put all that in description.

Dr. Derek Myers:

Yeah. And, and it’s just, uh, we’re right here in Heath, uh, neighbors with the, the coffee shack, which is a wonderful neighbor to have. Yeah.

Pat Cherubini:

If

Dr. Derek Myers:

You’re coffee, if you have a coffee problem,

Pat Cherubini:

Spend all your money over there. Yeah.

Angie Cherubini:

I have a, I have a coffee problem.

Pat Cherubini:

<laugh> and that’s probably coffee shack coffee in that cup. Mm-hmm <affirmative> mm-hmm

Dr. Derek Myers:

<affirmative>. Yeah, exactly. So good.

Pat Cherubini:

Well awesome. Thank you for spending time with us and, um, yeah. Good luck in your training. If, if you’ve got anything coming up in your BJ days and, and getting back on the mat and where you were just a couple months ago. Cause I know that’s what you wanna do. Yeah.

Dr. Derek Myers:

Thank you. Absolutely, man. I appreciate y’all too. What, what you’ve done for the practice and um, just all of it. So thank you.

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