I can't thank Dr. Bill Hamilton enough for helping my body heal and get me back in the gym and on the tennis court!
First a little background - I'm in my early 40's, 5'10", 140-lbs and have consistently stayed active in sports like tennis, mt. biking, hiking, and weight training for the last 25 years. Slowly but surely these last few years I have experienced pains and minor injuries due to getting older and probably not changing my training and recovery habits to match my body growing older. I've had 2 primary chronic conditions slow me down in the past 3 years - sciatica (pain in my leg from my glute to my heel caused by a bulging disc pushing on the sciatic nerve), and tennis elbow (really bad pain starting at the top of the forearm near the elbow and extending all the way into the wrist and hand.) Both are very debilitating until healed and even the simplest of tasks seems like too much.
OK, so in the past when I was a little boy I went to a chiropractor for 3 yrs for weekly treatments to address mild scoliosis of the spine. I haven't been to a chiro for over 30 yrs and although I believe treatment by them can have some benefits and while I gravitate towards a combination of eastern, western, and sports minded therapy approaches, I tend to be wary of most chiropractors because there are a few bad apples out there that want to immediately sign you up for multiple weekly sessions on some masterminded payment plan.
Not so with Dr. Hamilton! Here's what you should know about his approach and the results I experienced:
Dr. Hamilton is athletic himself and he has that healthy-living mindset. This is immediately evident when you meet him by the way he carries himself, his attitude, his physique, and his treatment.
Dr. Hamilton tries to promote an approach that is specific to the individual.
He exhibits a positive attitude that is both professional, yet easy-going, and motivational. He's serious about his work and helping people.
He's not pushy at all about multiple visits. He will make a recommendation and it's up to you. He's there to help.
He's flexible on insurance, check, etc. for payment.
He also works part time as a personal trainer and works out himself. So he talks the talk and walks the walk!
So what happened with my sciatica? I walked in limping badly and my hips were all out of whack due to walking and sitting with this pain for 3 weeks or so. I had been in to see a physical therapist at my normal medical center a month before and they didn't provide anything that helped me. Within the first treatment from Dr. Hamilton, I estimate that I had at least a 50% improvement in range of motion and balance. Within 3 treatments I saw about 75%, but still had a lot of pain. It turned out that a dual process was needed and upon the recommendation of a friend, I followed up on my initial Chiro treatment from Dr. Hamilton with Acupuncture and chinese cupping therapy (to draw fresh blood into the inflamed region and can be very practitioner dependent). Within a week of the acupuncture and cupping procedures (3 weeks overall after first chiro), I was pain free.
Then a year later I developed a horrible case of tennis elbow from actually playing tennis. I strung my racquet way too tight and was also trying a new swing with too much wrist flexion. I gave my arm rest for 3 months and no improvement. Kaiser was recommending surgery!!! So I called Dr. Hamilton. I had read about a soft tissue adhesion / scar tissue elimination method being performed by some chiros called ART (Active Release Therapy). It totally made sense. Dr. Hamilton and I discussed my problem and he successfully performed ART on my arm twice a week for one month. My pain completely disappeared over that month and I was able to return to 100% performance in playing tennis and all other activities. I am so thankful!
Now let me tell you one more quick thing - I need to be honest here - I've known Dr. Hamilton since 1992 when we met in college at Cal Poly. I can attest that he is one of the most ethical, no-nonsense, and positive individuals that I've ever met. After engineering school he achieved his degree in Chiropractic and I never thought I would need to receive treatment from him. However, since I knew firsthand of his athletic and health mind-set, I knew he would take care of me the right way. I'm just so blown away and amazed that his treatments were able to help remedy the specific problems that I was having.
Thanks for your help Bill!
If anyone has specific questions related to the injuries I've recovered from, feel free to message me through yelp. read more