By Sara Poirier Correa
Sentinel Reporter
If a garden hose has a kink in it, water will not flow properly. Similarly, if a spinal column has a pinched nerve, the body will not function properly, and pain will likely ensue.
This is how Dr. Diana Gailes explains her business of helping people feel better and make healthy lifestyle choices as principal of Greenwich-based Indian Harbor Chiropractic Associates, LLC.
“When our spine is not moving the way it should, that means other areas of the body have to work harder to make up for what’s injured or stuck,” she said.
Gailes added, “When your posture’s good and you utilize good biomechanics and your spine is moving the way it should, then it’s going to stay younger and continue to do its job without pain for a longer period of time.”
Formerly of Rhode Island, where she had a chiropractic practice for 12 years, Gailes, now a Riverside resident, began building her local business at 209 Bruce Park Avenue about two years ago. Now she says she’s enjoying what she does more than ever.
“When you love what you’re doing and you love where you are, your work becomes play,” she told the Greenwich Sentinel.
Recently, Gailes became a certified ergonomist. This is helping her further her work with businesses, going on-site to “analyze and adjust work stations so as to reduce the issues” and hopefully provide an environment conducive to better productivity as workers feel better physically.
“Good ergonomics equals good economics,” the practice website, indianharborchiropractic.com, states, adding that “unhealthy ergonomics” can result in common workplace injuries, such as headaches, carpal tunnel syndrome and various strains and sprains.
“I’m interested in letting businesses know that making ergonomic changes to reduce musculoskeletal injury and increase employee productivity and wellness can be done at minimal cost,” Gailes said.
She said the stress of work, long hours and poor postural positioning while sitting at desks, especially in Greenwich, with its big financial industry, are factors leading to many of her patients’ pain. No matter how much money someone makes, Gailes added, pain is a common thread among the population.
“What most people tend to do is ignore their pain for as long as they can or mask it until it gets to the point where it’s interfering with enough daily activities that they have to do something about it,” she said. “By that time, it’s a lot harder to correct it.”
Gailes takes a “whole person” approach to her work, looking at all facets of a patient’s life to find contributing factors to the pain.
“I’ve always treated people, not just symptoms or patients,” she said. “I get to know my patients and they get to know me. That helps me understand the causes of their pain, which helps me plan their treatment better than a purely clinical approach.”
Gailes said her patients—children and adults alike—come to her for a variety of reasons, not just pain. She said many come for preventative services to maintain their spine, as well as to increase athletic performance by ensuring there are no pinched nerves in their spine.
“If you keep the nervous system working, you increase the immune system,” Gailes said of the body’s overall health.
Her collaborative relationship with local orthopedists, physical therapists and personal trainers, Gailes said, is unique and key to her patients’ successful treatment.
“Most chiropractors I know in other communities have not developed this kind of collaboration with other health care providers,” she said. “Historically, the medical and chiropractic communities were reluctant to work together, and one of the things I like most about Greenwich is that this is not the case here.
“Together we can do more for our patients than we could individually.”
Gailes said she treats people of all ages, from babies born from Cesarean section or infants with constipation issues, for example, to children with asthma or bed-wetting issues. Middle schoolers are most concerning, she said, as they always are looking down at something, whether it a phone or tablet, or some other device.
“With adults, besides work stressors, we also take a look at how they’re sitting with their laptops and smart phones, how they sit in cars for periods of time, and how they sleep,” she said. “At times, having patients wear orthotics in their shoes to improve gait and keep the pelvis aligned can make a huge difference.”
Movement, Gailes said, is “key to keeping a healthier spine and reducing pain.”
She offered a few tips for keeping healthy on daily basis:
• Walk around every 10 minutes when sitting for a long period of time;
• Turn your head to either side, hold your ear to your shoulder and turn your head to the back;
• Do the opposite of any position you’re in for a long time;
• Use a support cushion behind your lower back when sitting (in an office chair, for example); and
• When putting a child in a car seat, do your best to teach him to do more for himself as he is able, and try to keep your body straight when putting the child in and not rotate your body at the waist.
For more about Dr. Gailes and her practice, visit the website or call 203-983-5426.
