Dr. Jerome Rerucha is an expert in the field of Cold Laser Therapy. He lectures throughout the US and internationally on the use of Erchonia Lasers, Adjustors and Percussors. His laser and integrative protocols have helped doctors enhance their treatment skills, while improving the health and recovery of patients and elite athletes.In his role as Erchonia Multidiscipline Clinical Support, Dr. Jerome has provided protocols and training for 1000’s of Erchonia Client Healthcare Practitioners that include: Chiropractors, Rolfers, Acupuncturists, Physical Therapists, Occupational Therapists, Veterinarians, Naturopaths and Medical providers.
I grew up on a farm in the small town of Schuyler, Nebraska. I was exposed to chiropractic care early in life and my parents and grandparents used chiropractic early in their lives as well. My dad recalls when his mother had successful results using a chiropractor for severe back pain, in the mid-1940's. My father began receiving chiropractic adjustments around age 10 (1948) and throughout his life he noticed the restorative benefits adjustments provided him after the long days of the labor-intensive farm lifestyle. He has continued using chiropractic for 60 plus years and has become somewhat of an authority on the different types of chiropractic techniques and what has and has not worked for him. In his words, he will describe "old time chiropractic" compared to the "current (new technique) chiropractic" of today. Overall, he has received incredible benefits from a variety of chiropractors, but he will also describe his experience with some practitioners "that did not work at times" and how with a different technique, he would experience instant improvement. He realized that with different techniques, different results were achieved.
I will describe what many may not understand as "old time chiropractic" compared to "current chiropractic" more specifically. What my dad and many seasoned patients would refer to as "old time chiropractic" is what others would define as one-dimensional or basic. The practitioners provide a manual (hands only) adjustment, and although there are 206 bones in the body, the practitioner chooses to adjust the same one or a few choice spinal levels, no matter what the patient presents with or how they are responding. This philosophy or belief system in a specific technique has worked well for many. However, there are those where this is not effective. Instead of being referred within the profession for additional help, these non-responding patients, unfortunately, are left with the idea of "chiropractic does not work."
I was introduced to chiropractic when I was four years old when my oldest sister, Theresa, who had severe allergies, was receiving regular adjustments for these allergies. I would get adjusted for "wellness" care purposes, not for symptomatology when we made the 35-mile trip to receive care from our particular practitioner. When I was age 10 (1980) a chiropractor who could be defined as an "advanced chiropractor" moved to my hometown. He was an incredible manual and instrument adjustor and did muscle work, laser therapy, and cranial adjustments and had an extensive background in clinical nutrition and more. He worked with back pain, neck pain and headaches, but if you asked any of his patients, these were only a small part of the reasons they were there for help.
It was during my high school years that I began receiving conflicting information from my coaches about chiropractic. I was not a "physical specimen" and I was not weight training regularly at this time. That combination contributed to the numerous injuries I received that sent me to the chiropractor, which resulted in my significant recovery. Even with this evidence, however, all of my coaches were clear about their dislike of chiropractic. Their uneducated opinion and my experience were very different. Other than being able to explain "how" the chiropractor was adjusting me and the changes that were made, I could not explain "why" it made such a difference or how the chiropractor came to the conclusion as to what would help me. I continued to receive benefits from being adjusted in my middle teens and became much more serious about weight training; it was then that I noticed the benefits of regular adjustments from my hometown chiropractor. My chiropractor was only the second chiropractor I had seen, and after years of being treated by him, I assumed this was how every chiropractor treated their patients; until I went to college.
When I went to college, I was regularly competing nationally in powerlifting and needing chiropractic care as a part of my recovery and performance program. Even with specific referrals from the chiropractors at home, it was frustrating that the practitioner did not understand what I was explaining as to what worked well for me in the past. I described some of my weak links such as psoas involvement, a category II pattern, first rib with pectoral involvement, etc.; these doctors did not even seem interested in learning. What was even more confusing was that their adjustments did nothing for me and seemed to exacerbate my problem areas that usually responded well to chiropractic treatment, and my lifting numbers were declining. When I would make the 130-mile drive home to get adjusted by my chiropractor, I had an immediate improvement, and my lifting was explosive.
In college, I took all of the anatomy, physiology, biology, exercise physiology (worked in the lab), and I even had a cadaver anatomy class as an undergraduate. At the same time, I continued to excel and learn from the best in the nation about strength and conditioning. None of this helped me understand what seemed so simple to my chiropractor back home to see and was invisible to the doctors I saw at school. I was beginning to understand why so many people had such poor opinions of chiropractors. While I tried to learn everything about strength and conditioning, I was working at the all-time national championship college football program, and I had numerous connections to pro coaches as well. During this time, there continued to be an information gap that I could not understand. This frustration led me to walk away from a very satisfying and successful full-time strength career and to enroll in chiropractic school.
After 18 years of chiropractic study and teaching over 30 seminars per year (and taking many others) for over 15 years, I have met some amazing practitioners, from all disciplines, and some spectacular chiropractors from whom I have learned a great deal. All of the questions that I, previously, could not find the answers to, I now clearly understand and can explain. I understand why a large percentage of the population and even those in the strength and conditioning world, who I respect so much, have a skepticism for chiropractic and choose to have no involvement with it for themselves or those they coach. I also understand why many chiropractors and their technique (philosophy) of choice had no positive effect on my particular needs. I fully understand the chiropractic techniques that once managed my issues and why they worked; I now know the solution to improve greatly upon the results.
Every day, in my practice, I use the training methods I learned from the world's best coaches and strength athletes, even when working on the symptomatic general public. "If it is good for a strong, healthy person, it is good for a sick, weakened person; just decrease the intensity, so treatment is used positively at that specific time. Do not perform treatments that put a ceiling on a person's recovery." In addition, I use my clinical knowledge to break through training plateaus in strength and conditioning for every competitive athlete with whom I am involved in training. I repeatedly see these athletes overcome seemingly chronic injuries and better yet, prevent specific injuries while achieving physical greatness.
My purpose for creating Fitness Integration Technique (F.I.T.)® is to create a system of evaluation that everyone involved, multiple types of practitioners and those in the strength and fitness industry, will agree on. The (F.I.T.)® evaluation and examination will also give enhanced information for the specific treatment applications for any specialty. The Fitness Integration Technique (F.I.T.)® evaluation is reproducible by all parties and upon reevaluation will identify for clinician or coach and patient/client, clear areas of improvement or plateaus to overcome.Described in (F.I.T.)® is an essential foundational approach that can be implemented in your current practice and introduce proven methods to complement that which you are already doing successfully. Progressive levels of Fitness Integration Technique (F.I.T.)® include enhanced evaluation and treatment options, and strength and conditioning training techniques and program design.