Featured Business
Cedar Mill Chiropractic Clinic

by Virginia Bruce

Dr. Lauren McCabe took over Jordan Stockton’s chiropractic practice in June 2007 when Stockton made a big life-and-career change and moved to the east coast. Along with massage therapist Aimee Perkins, she provides care to hundreds of local folks from the clinic on Cornell east of Murray. Over 90% of the old clientele has remained, and the practice continues to grow.

Dr. McCabe grew up in the Chicago area. She knew she wanted to pursue a career in healthcare and worked for a while at the University of Chicago Medical School. “But I saw how unhappy everyone seemed to be there, and I realized that I didn’t want to be a physician,” she said. That’s when she decided to study chiropractic, and came out to Oregon to attend the Western States Chiropractic College in east Portland. “My father was helped tremendously by a chiropractor after he suffered a disabling low back injury. He was able to avoid surgery and could get back to work.” Dr. McCabe herself was found to have scoliosis during a school screening, and chiropractic care helped her too.

She graduated summa cum laude in December 2006 and worked at the school for a while supervising the intern clinic. She heard about the opportunity to take over Cedar Mill Chiropractic and decided to buy the practice.

Clare Brown has been coming to the clinic since 1996. She just had a massage and now Dr. McCabe is adjusting her lower back.

“I really like being able to help people reach their goals in a natural way,” she explains. Chiropractic treatment is based on the idea that the body knows how to heal itself once the conditions that prevent good health are removed. Spinal misalignment causes a host of problems with muscles, nerves and organs, because all the nerves of the body pass between the vertebrae. Injuries can cause muscles to spasm and hold the spine out of alignment. Chiropractic adjustment, especially when combined with massage, can help the body remember its proper alignment.

Dr. McCabe primarily employs traditional manual adjusting techniques. She uses a low-force “activator” for people who are new to chiropractic and nervous about the “cracking” that often accompanies manual adjustment. For people with limited mobility a tilting table is used so they don’t have to climb up.

She specializes in soft-tissue (muscle, ligament, and tendon) injuries and sports medicine. She is a runner and participates in marathon and relay events as both an athlete and therapist for other athletes.

Chiropractic treatment is well known for helping with back and neck problems and headaches, but it can also treat many more ailments including sinus problems, carpal tunnel wrist pain, shoulder problems like rotator cuff injuries and thoracic outlet syndrome, and ankle sprains. Athletes find that regular adjustments improve reaction time and balance. “Pain is usually the last symptom you experience when you have an alignment problem,” Dr. McCabe explains.

Massage helps patients get the most out of their chiropractic treatment

Massage therapist Aimee Perkins has extensive training in rehabilitative and relaxation massage, Thai massage, stretching and shiatsu. She is also a licensed chiropractic assistant and is responsible for teaching some of the home care exercise that may be prescribed in the later stages of rehabilitation.

Dr. McCabe also offers nutritional counseling. An hour-long initial exam reviews your general health, your current diet, any symptoms you are having, what medications you are taking, and then a blood sample is taken. The first followup appointment reviews the results of the lab work and helps you develop a plan—which foods should be eaten and which eliminated. If the lab results show any life-threatening problems, Dr. McCabe will refer you to a physician. But most problems respond very well to changes in diet. “The most common problems are too much fast food, not enough vegetables and not enough water,” she says. “We teach you to seek foods that are nutrient-dense, and to avoid empty calories. If you can make yourself follow these changes for a month, it will become a habit.” Additional followup visits at three and six months are recommended to review information, revise the plan and answer questions.

Many people have the idea that once you start chiropractic treatment, you have to keep coming back on a regular basis. And that’s definitely recommended if you want to maintain optimal health. However, many specific problems can be successfully treated in one or two visits. One of Dr. McCabe’s recent patients had never had an adjustment before. She had been experiencing increasing difficulty with the movement necessary for daily life and decided to give it a try. After one visit, she went home and reached down and picked up her grandchild—something she hadn’t been able to do for a long time.

Daily living presents many opportunities for our spines to get out of whack—fender-benders and worse, slips and falls on wet surfaces, over-enthusiastic gardening or sports exertion. So regular maintenance adjustments are a good way to stay functional and pain-free. To encourage this, Cedar Mill Chiropractic offers a Wellness Plan with discounted monthly visits.

New patients get an extensive examination and a thorough discussion of their symptoms and activity levels. She sends patients to an outside lab if she feels x-rays are needed, but most people don’t require them. They receive an adjustment and recommendations for exercise and other healthful changes.

Jacquelynn can help with questions about insurance coverage

Health insurance plans are increasingly offering coverage for chiropractic care because of its proven effectiveness. Cedar Mill Chiropractic gives a time-of-service discount to patients who pay at the office, and provides a “super-bill” for patients to submit to their health plan for reimbursement. Office Manager Jacquelynn Wright has extensive experience on both sides of the chiropractic-insurance business and can assist patients to get maximum benefits.

In January, Dr. McCabe was elected by the Cedar Mill Business Association (CMBA) to be co-president with Ryan Egge . She sees an exciting time of growth for our area, with the new commercial development on Barnes and with the Bethany area expansion. She would like CMBA to become more involved in planning for that growth. She recently became engaged to a fellow chiropractor, and she and her fiancée hope to find a house nearby.

The clinic, located at 13321 NW Cornell, has ample parking in the back off Dale. Office hours are Monday, Wednesday, and Friday 8:30-12:30 and 2:30-6, and Tuesday Afternoons 2:30-6. They are open on Thursdays for nutritional counseling and testing. The website at cedarmillchiro.com provides patients with basic information about chiropractic along with a broad range of health information. Call them at 503-646-3393 to get more information and to schedule an appointment.

NEWS HOME