Time to get cracking

MANILA, Philippines – It has always been part of my plan to get my education in chiropractic medicine in the US,” said Dr. Anton Cancio. “To establish myself for a bit in the US, and then come back to the Philippines and introduce chiropractic here.”

Dr. Cancio, 34, spent 22 years of his life in the US. He left when he was in Grade 4 and continued his studies there. Cancio recently married Trina Tiutan and the two, who were US-based for many years, have opted to come back to Manila — and start a family here.

Cancio graduated pre-sports medicine with a BS degree in human nutrition, food and exercise from VA Tech University. He completed his chiropractic doctorate degree at Palmer College of Chiropractic West in San Jose, California.

Cancio is convinced that patients who are introduced to chiropractic medicine at a young age will help prevent chronic pain when they reach their 30s.

“What are you here for?” is the first question Cancio asks his patients when they visit him in his clinic. “If you don’t do anything about your pain, whether here, elsewhere or by going to the gym or by giving the part that aches a break, 10 to 15 years from now I guarantee you will be worse off.”

This spiel usually gets the patient’s attention and Cancio is better able to help his clients address their problems.

For Cancio, dealing with aches and pains without the use of drugs is the best medicine. He is well aware of patients who have told him that other doctors have recommended medications for their pain, which they say help for a while. There are other patients who have undergone therapy, too, but still the pain remains. So they seek the help of a chiropractor, perhaps as a last attempt to get rid of the pain.

A first visit to Cancio usually takes an hour or so. This is because the young chiropractor likes to get to know his patients.

 “The pains we have are usually caused by our lifestyles,” added Cancio. “This is why it is important to know exactly what a patient does on a daily basis. This way I am better able to address the problem.” 

Pain At Any Age

Cancio is convinced that there is a real need here for effective chiropractics.

“I want to be able to pioneer the profession, and in a sense to introduce chiropractic to more people because it has so many treatment benefits,” he added.

But, just what is chiropractic treatment? we ask.

“In chiropractic medicine we look for areas in the spine where there is a spinal joint dysfunction. We assess each joint in the spine to look for the proper range of motion. And in the process we are able to find that there are some joints that are dysfunctional. And as chiropractors, we correct the joints in the spine that are out of alignment.”  

It is misalignments of the spine that may cause joint irritations or even nerve irritations (like pinched nerves). When a spine is out of alignment it does not move normally and over time this leads to degeneration — and worse, the early onset of arthritis or degenerative disc disease.

Cancio says that because our bodies are made for movement, which sometimes lessens as we get older, more misalignments in the spine come about.  

 “But don’t get me wrong. There are many young people today who have become sedentary, too,” he added. “I like to call them the computer generation kids, the ones who spend hours in front of their computers, which leads to bad posture.” 

Cancio’s patients range from athletes to older people suffering from arthritis to kids with scoliosis. In the US, Cancio was able to treat patients who suffered auto injuries as well as those with injuries related to their work.

 “Because it is a drug-free approach, there is a need to educate the public about just how beneficial such a practice is here,” added Cancio. “Drugs may be able to help for a while, perhaps even dramatically at the start. But what is really important is to get to the root of the problem and then to solve it there.”

And, yes, the chiropractic approach to dealing with aches and pains is scientific. What Cancio deals with are pains that are chronic and acute. 

Chronic pain is the pain that a patient may have had for many years but has taken for granted until the pain bothered him so much that he could no longer ignore it.

Acute pain is more immediate — most likely pain that is associated with work or from an injury. 

My Aching Back

Cancio is a convert to chiropractic medicine himself. In his younger years he was an active athlete who played soccer, basketball, baseball and even did some track.

When he completed his four-year college degree, he worked as an intern in a physical therapy clinic. “I had this terrible back pain that was so bad I couldn’t even wash my face or sit still for longer than a minute,” said Cancio. “I underwent PT care for a few weeks but nothing much really happened.”

Cancio recalled that it was then that a chiropractor in the clinic asked Cancio if he could adjust him.

After that one adjustment the pain level substantially decreased.

 “And then I knew it was the kind of treatment I needed as a patient,” said Cancio. “I fell in love with the philosophy of how the realignment of the spine can prevent a lot of aches and pains.”

Chiropractic medicine thrives most in the sports world as far as credibility is concerned. And also because chiropractors get really good response from athletes. Matter of fact, on the day we visited Cancio in his clinic he was treating a marathon runner.

 “I have a sub-specialty that allows me to specialize in injury prevention and management,” quipped Cancio. “The reason I got into that is because I really like dealing with athletes. They are good patients because they always want to get well.”

But Cancio is quick to point out that chiropractic treatment is not just for athletes. It is for anyone who has experienced some form of body pain and has not been able to get it properly addressed.

The Right Fix

“I think that that Philippine is ready for this kind of practice at this time,” added Cancio. “People want to be fit, there are more gyms around, so for a chiropractor I find this exciting because I do not just fix the problems, I also delve into the everyday activities of my patients and find out what is contributing to their pain.”

Cancio talks to his patients about proper posture, good ergonomics, the proper way of sleeping, and the best way to get out of bed. This way the patients also help themselves stay pain-free and improve their lives.  

Cancio never makes promises to his patients. But he does say that they are bound to feel vast improvement after four to six weeks of treatment.  

After all, he adds, the results of treatment depend on a lot of things — like what their daily activities are and how long they have had the pain, to name two.

But for anyone who really understands the nature of spinal disorders Cancio is convinced that they are bound to feel improvements after one or two treatments. 

 “I want to see a country where people, when they have back pains or even other pains, will consider seeing a chiro first,” said Cancio. “I hope that this happens soon here, especially after more and more people become educated as to what a chiropractor is and what we can do.”

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Cancio’s clinic is located at Unit 202, Missouri Square Building, 101 Missouri Street corner Connecticut St., Greenhills. Clinic hours are from Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. By appointment only on Saturdays. Call 722-7530.