When Dr. Dexter Russell was growing up in Jamaica, his mother taught him the importance of natural folk medicine. It was his first experience with alternative medicine – but not his last.
At The Center for Natural Therapy, 1822 Ridge Ave., Russell and his colleagues continue to use alternative medicine to treat everything from back pain to allergies.
Russell and Dr. Robert Smith, his college buddy from the National College of Naprapathic Medicine in Chicago, opened the center in 2002.
Both doctors are licensed naprapaths, specialists who treat pain in connective tissues found in ligaments, tendons, cartilage and discs through massage or electrical therapy. The tissue can become too tight or too loose from poor sleeping or faulty posture, resulting in severe pain.
Seven other specialists also work at the center, including a psychotherapist and a traditional doctor. But all the doctors at the center examine ways to “help the body heal itself,” Smith said.
“It’s up to us to determine how (the pain) got there, why it’s hurting, how to stop it, how to prevent it and (how to) keep it from coming back,” said Smith, who left a massage therapy practice at Hilton Chicago O’Hare for the center.
The difference between these doctors and those at traditional hospitals lies in the type of treatment patients receive. A combination of physical and mental techniques are used to get the body back on track at The Center for Natural Therapy.
Traditional physicians treat the symptoms and the disease, often ignoring the underlying causes for poor health such as stress, Smith said. A doctor may treat an ulcer, but he may overlook an underlying cause for it, such as stress from a divorce.
Dr. Rindie Coker uses verbal and mental techniques to treat allergies, chronic pain and immune problems at the center.
“You get rid of the allergy so you don’t have to get rid of the cat,” she said.
In one treatment, Coker presses against the patient’s outstretched arm. She asks the patient questions, such as whether there are any infectious agents present, and monitors movements in the patient’s arm muscles to determine the answer.
For Russell, the roots of his addiction to alternative medicine can be traced back to Jamaica. Adults in Kingston, Jamaica’s capital city where Russell grew up, consumed natural herbs religiously, Russell said.
Even the children would partake in a “herbal cleansing” at the end of summer vacation. The medicine served as a natural laxative, cleaning out the body before the new school year.
“We were given herbs, leaves and roots,” Russell said. “We had no idea what these things were made to do.”
But they worked.
Still, it took time and a trip across the Atlantic before Russell, who first began working as a dietitian in the United States 20 years ago, was completely sold on the idea of alternative medicine. He traveled to Germany in 1988, and he lived and worked in Frankfurt and Luxembourg until 1992.
“When I went to Europe, I saw a totally different side to the way people approach health,” Russell said.
Often people in Europe visited non-traditional doctors as regularly as they visited their family physicians, he said. When Russell came back to the United States, his mission to spread alternative medicine began.
Chicago lawyer Rick Banguilan is almost convinced the treatment works. He started one-hour naprapathic sessions for his lower back pain a few weeks ago. The pain had left Banguilan unable to sit at his desk for long periods at a time.
“When I was driving from point A to point B, it would hurt so bad that I would have to pull over,” Banguilan said.
He required electric therapy, and his back pain has subsided considerably after a few sessions.
Banguilan said he likes that his treatment avoids drugs and long operations.
“I never liked the idea of someone giving me a pill or potentially cutting me up,” Banguilan said. “This idea rubbed me better.”
Russell and Smith agree there is still a place for traditional medical practices. But they said people are getting sick of taking bottles of prescription drugs.
“People are tired of taking pills,” Smith said. “People are getting tired of side effects.”
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