Dr. Jason McDonald (left) is one of few chiropractors specially trained in Atlas Orthogonal techniques. He treats patients from infants to elders with individualized care. If he and clinical massage professional Naomi Scott (right) can’t fix a patient’s ailments, they’ll refer them to someone who can. Andrew Stark/MMHW photo
CHARLOTTE – Growing up as a child on the West Coast, Dr. Jason McDonald suffered. At times he suffered a lot.
He had developed chronic headaches, and sometimes they’d occur daily. But with his family in medicine, they sought a mostly traditional approach to his treatment, although to little avail.
“My grandmother was head nurse at a hospital,” said McDonald, owner of Chiropractic Health Centers. “So we tried the Western way and tried just about everything she said, but none of that was helping with my headaches. It wasn’t until my dad and I were rear-ended in a car wreck and part of the settlement was that we would go to a chiropractor. I didn’t know why then, but it really started helping my headaches and they got better and better.”
With the effects of chiropractic care greatly improving his quality of life, McDonald wondered what else could be accomplished through its methods.
The beginning
Dr. McDonald got his undergraduate degree from Western Washington University in Bellingham, Wash. His doctorate was earned from Life Chiropractic College West in Hayward, Calif.
McDonald’s training and education didn’t stop there, as he was trained by the renowned Dr. Roy Sweat in Atlanta. Sweat is one of the Southeast’s top trainers in Atlas Orthogonal techniques, a less intense alternative that is ideal for many common issues.
After leaving Atlanta, McDonald eventually met Naomi Scott a clinical massage and bodywork professional and moved to Charlotte, with whom he opened Chiropractic Health Centers first seven years ago in the Arboretum.
Scott, McDonald and an office manager have been together ever since. For four years now, the clinic has been in south Charlotte, located at 17228 Lancaster Hwy., Suite 208.
The clinic is now set up with state-of-the-art equipment including leading-edge X-ray technology that allows them to treat patients more effectively.
Specializing in individualism
McDonald is one of a very select handful of chiropractors who are board-certified in the Atlas Orthogonal technique.
There aren’t many chiropractors in the area who can perform this technique that is more gentle and requires no popping or cracking of the neck.
The certification adds an extra two years of school on top of the eight already completed by McDonald.
The training allows him to see more specialized patients with ailments ranging from headaches to migraines; neck, shoulder and low back pain; vertigo; MS; and early-onset Parkinson’s disease.
“Everyone who comes in as a patient needs something different. You may need something specialized, or you may need some more generic stuff. I try to gear what I do to each individual patient,” McDonald said.
Not the only difference
McDonald is board-certified in a very specific chiropractic skill that few have, but he doesn’t allow that to determine who he sees.
In fact, most of his exemplary online reviews laud his work with children, elderly and everyone in between.
McDonald is trained in a variety of disciplines ranging from extremity adjusting, children chiropractic, cranial adjusting techniques and foundation training to more diversified techniques including Thompson-drop technique, the activator Method, myofacial-release techniques and BGI, among others.
“It’s not a cookie-cutter type of healthcare place,” McDonald said. “In the medical system today I think too often people just throw this or that at patients. At (a competitor) they see a person every two to five minutes and don’t do any type of exam. We take the time to figure it out whether it’s a massage with Naomi, any variety of techniques with me or we’ll refer out to a physical therapist or other professional if needed. It’s much more patient-oriented and we do treat everyone as an individual patient.”
Simple, people-first approach
McDonald and his team can help the typical weekend warrior with low back pain to more complex cases of vertigo and concussions because no two cases are alike. And if they can’t help you there, Chiropractic Health Centers will find patients relief somewhere.
McDonald and his staff have a network of specialists they will refer patients to if needed, but even those referrals are done with the patient in mind.
“Every person that I refer to I take very seriously,” he said. “We don’t get anything from referrals, there are no kickbacks to us but the patients that I’m sending trust what I say and usually go where we say. If a patient doesn’t have a good experience that reflects on us so we build relationships with people like us that do a good job.”
So no matter if you are being helped in the clinic or not, Dr. McDonald and his team are committed to your health.
“I think there’s a couple of things that distinguish us,” McDonald said. “It’s results and then authenticity. I got in this because I really wanted to help people. It’s genuine and I think people can feel that. So much of it today is sales and it’s marketing and I’ve never been about that and am not comfortable with that. I just focus on taking care of the patients and our patients feel that.
“The kind of results we want to make with our patients are long-lasting ones. We don’t want to sweep it under the rug, but what sets us apart as a healthcare practice is that a lot of practices try to do a cookie-cutter approach. If someone needs that, great, but what about all of the other people? Our office is trying to meet the patient where they are, seeing what’s going on and find a successful treatment.”
Want to know more?
Dr. Jason McDonald and business partner Naomi Scott, who practices clinical massage, run Chiropractic Health Centers in south Charlotte. The office is located at 17228 Lancaster Hwy., suite 208, Charlotte. For more information, call 704-271-3160 or visit them online at www.chiropractichealth centers.com.
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