Hello!
My name is Dr Duncan McCollum, D.C. and I am a Santa Cruz Chiropractor who has been promoting wellness and disease prevention in Santa Cruz since 1989.
I became interested in chiropractic after 10 years of suffering from a broken back. At age ten, while watching a Cal-Stanford football game on the Berkeley Campus, I fell thirty feet from a pine tree when the branch that supported me broke. At that time, Santa Cruz Chiropractors were not well known. I landed in a seated position crushing the last vertebra in his back. Since my parents were very involved in the local hospital and had many medical doctors as friends, this was where they sought help. The general consensus at that time was that I had a "sprained back" and would feel better in a few weeks. No x-rays were taken, and despite my continued complaints, the best that could be offered was a prescription for painkillers and muscle relaxers. Because of the misunderstanding and bad press regarding chiropractors in the 60's, not only was chiropractic not considered, it was "out of the question". I did not see a Santa Cruz Chiropractor!
As a result of my misdiagnosed and untreated broken back, I suffered from constant pain. My complaints fell on "deaf ears" from my family doctor. My parents, not knowing what to do, continued to give me the prescribed painkillers and muscle relaxers. I was limited in my childhood activities. I would try to keep up with my peers, but would frequently suffer a "flare-up" to my "sprained back" and be forced to convalesce until a tolerable pain level returned.
In 1975, while living in Santa Cruz, I was helping a friend move a piano, when I suffered a severe flare up in his 10 years "low back sprain." My friend tried to help by giving him some very strong prescription painkillers. Again, I was in a lowered state of awareness from the drug, but still unable to move. A friend of mine told me that a Santa Cruz Chiropractor could probably help. But because of my upbringing, and memory of the chiropractic reputation of the 60's, I refused to go and spent the next two weeks flat on my back. Finally, against my will, my friend with the assistance of another, put me in the car and drove me to their chiropractor. The doctor performed an examination and took x-rays (the first ever since the accident 11 years earlier). The Santa Cruz Chiropractor discovered that I had indeed broken the fifth lumbar vertebra in my back on that day in 1964. The Santa Cruz Chiropractor was able to perform a chiropractic adjustment and continued to treat me for the next few weeks. To my astonishment, for the first time in over a decade, I was out of pain. The chiropractic doctor was able to give me back something that no medical doctor ever could, and had not done for the past 11 years. Chiropractic gave me back my life.
Now, out of pain, I was able to wean myself off of the debilitating painkillers. I could finally live a life of a happy, healthy twenty-one year old without the constant fear of "one wrong move and-curtains, laid up again!"
Shortly after this, I decided to dedicate my life to the chiropractic profession. I vowed to help others experience the benefit of chiropractic and perhaps also live a pain free, healthier life.
Now, as a Santa Cruz Chiropractor, I specialize in the most advanced and proven techniques, including:
- Chiropractic Manipulation
- Core Stabilization
- Active Release Technique
- The Activator Technique and more...
“Eight years ago I came in to see Santa Cruz Chirporactor, Dr. McCollum, for sciatica. I can honestly say that with the very 1st treatment, when the doctor did the adjustment on the affected side of my body, it felt as though someone opened up the floodgates and immediate restoration and circulation occurred. I could barely walk when I went in. The relief from the adjustment lasted about 3 days and then it came back but not as bad and I went back in. I had been suffering from severe sciatica for a good year. I had 4 or 5 treatments 8 years ago and the sciatica has never come back to this day.” - - 6/2/09 T. Corral – Santa Cruz, CA
