©2019 Saratoga Photographer.com
By Susan E. Campbell
A chiropractor with ties to the horse racing industry, including childhood days at Saratoga Race Course, is now helping a local chiropractic office grow.
Dr. Patrick Campbell is the first-ever associate at Turning Point Chiropractic, 125 High Rock Ave., in Saratoga Springs. He joined the team in June.
Dr. Adam Favro, who operates the practice, said Campbell’s “philosophy on healthcare and treatment aligns perfectly with the mission of the office.”
The doctors’ connection goes back to Campbell’s high school and college years. Raised in Belrose Village, N.Y., near Belmont Park, the downstate thoroughbred horseracing track, he comes from several generations of blacksmiths. Campbell used to spend two summertime weeks in Saratoga Springs or Lake George as his father worked as a farrier—someone who shoes the horses—at Saratoga Race Course.
“Growing up in a family of blacksmiths, they all used chiropractic care to keep them working,” Campbell said. “My dad had a low back injury and he got the typical pain management meds, but was not responding well.”
His father could have surgery or choose another option. He had seen Favro performing chiropractic care for one of the trainers at the track.
As Campbell grew up and weighed his career options, physical therapy was one such path. He and his family are sports minded, and he was “always interested in fitness and movement. But I felt chiropractic would give me more avenues of choice to specialize,” said Campbell.
“If you went to 10 different physical therapists you would find similar experiences and just a few nuances,” he said. “But in chiropractic, there is more focus on a wide variety of areas, such as sports, pregnant women, nutrition and many others.”
As Campbell was pursuing his undergraduate degree in exercise science at Towson University in Maryland, Favro was telling Campbell’s father, “If Pat has questions, here’s my card. Tell him to call.”
He did, after receiving his doctorate at University of Bridgeport years later in 2015.
“I contacted Dr. Favro before accepting my first job to help me evaluate an associate’s position at a very large Texas-based healthcare company,” he said.
Campbell spent four years at that assignment, where he trained to “resolve issues quickly, based on the company’s model of treatment,” he said.
Meanwhile, Favro had searched a year and a half to identify a professional who could help him grow Turning Point Chiropractic. Campbell reached out to him once more.
In Campbell, Favro had found “a perfect fit and a style of healthcare that did not exist in the region before.”
He described it as “a combination of myofascial release therapy, with chiropractic adjustment and patient exercise.”
“We look at the body and take a systematic approach to evaluating range of motion, pain reduction and improved circulation so that the body can be retrained from both a neurological and mechanical perspective, and heal,”Campbell said.
“Our philosophy is to identify movement patterns that may lead to future injury and give patients tools to correct that,” he said. “So it is a proactive approach, more like a personal training session to help patients build up tolerance and avoid a recurring theme.”
Campbell said transitioning to a smaller practice was “like going from fast food to a mom-and-pop restaurant. It is nice to work for an office that already has a great relationship in the community and a local presence.”
As a member of the Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce, he has given support to the annual Saratoga Palio Melanie Merola O’Donnell Memorial Race with complimentary kinesiology taping for the runners.
“Kinesiology taping is a modality prevalent in the sports world to address minor injuries,” he said.
He has also participated in health fairs through the Chamber, volunteered with I Run Local, educated the trainers at YMCA, and done local business workshops.
“This career move to Saratoga is a great opportunity to step into an already established business and help it grow,” Campbell said. “I am in a position both to learn a lot and to help develop the brand in Saratoga Springs and surrounding areas.”