Cianci Chiropractic Center Success Stories

From 16 To 60, A Chiropractic Journey

Authored by Bruce Hotchkiss

Bruce, who has since passed, was a friend of Dr. Cianci, a patient, a significant chiropractic advocate, and one heck of a journalistic writer.

Tom Clarke has a theory about chiropractic care and he has spent a good portion of his 60 years testing it … and proving it. It goes something like this:

Maintaining spinal alignment is the key to good health.

There’s an addendum, in Clarke’s view if you really want to stay healthy, you’ve got to stay with it. Clarke, for the past 2 1/2 years, has been Accounting Manager for Aphena Pharma Solutions, a pharmaceutical packaging firm in Easton.

The papers and documents accumulated and scattered on his large LJshaped desk, testify to the demands and the pressures of his job. Despite his hectic schedule, Clarke regularly attends to the alignment of his spine in the office of Easton chiropractor Dr. Christopher Cianci.

His chiropractic journey started when he was 16 years old. Clarke’s family is deeply rooted in the Lower Shore and, growing up in Salisbury, Clarke got a job that sent him to Dover to pick up three cases of paint.

Young, husky, probably impatient, he picked all three up at once, and as he lowered that weighty armload into the trunk of his car, it happened. He injured two spinal discs in his lower back.

Because chiropractic care was familiar to his family, Clarke sought out his first chiropractic physician — he remembered him as Dr. Byron, a Salisbury physician.

“He loved his work,” Clarke said, “and it cured my problem, or so I thought.”

Pain relieved, yes. But not “cured.”

There would be another time for the lower back. When Dr. Bryon died, to maintain some consistency, Clarke enlisted Dr. Victor Ferkel, also of Salisbury, again a chiropractor of the “Palmer school,” notably the Palmer University (of which it should be noted Dr. Cianci is a graduate.)

“I went to Dr. Ferkel for 16 years. I was never sick,” Clarke recalled. Dr. Ferkel closed his practice after injury in a motorcycle accident limited the use of his right arm. Clarke, who lives in Hebron and was then working in Cambridge, was determined to maintain consistency in his chiropractic care and heard about another Palmer University practitioner with an office in Easton.

He signed on originally with Dr. Cianci in 1999, and then returned to a Salisbury doctor who was also his weight trainer, totaled his all the bells and whistles pickup on route to an appointment, and returned to Dr. Cianci in April of last year.

“I needed him,” Clarke said. “I just picked up an office chair.”

Dr. Cianci explained: “Tom has a spine that shows repeated multiple old injuries, visible on x-ray, that would severely limit most people’s activity and comfort level. However, all the care Tom has had over the years has allowed him to live an incredibly busy and active life. He has a huge and giving heart. He lives to serve others. It is a distinct pleasure to know that we have been able to help him stay the course.”

Chatting with Clarke in the whirlwind of his office, one cannot but be impressed by his energy. He estimates he is on the go between 55 and 75 hours every week.

He is the treasurer of his Chapel Branch Homeowners Association in Hebron, a volunteer as Treasurer at the Deer’s Head Center Foundation state hospital in Salisbury, and has been singing in the choir of St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in Salisbury since 1967.

It is in his dedication and devotion to the church that he wrote, and self-published “Sinepuxent Receipts,” a charming book of recipes capturing the flavor of the Lower Shore and is offering it for sale for a donation to the church.

For more information on the book and how to purchase it, go to www.sinepuxent.com.

The money will be used to help fund the purchase of a new console for the church organ.

“I started cooking when I was 11 years old,” he recalled.

His mother became ill and was hospitalized. When the young Clarke decided he could do better than his father on the evening meal, “Mother walked me through it on the telephone.”

Dr. Cianci fancies himself as a gourmet cook of sorts. He prepared the Sinepuxent Receipts crab cakes.

“All I can say is Wow!” said Dr. Cianci. “Actually I have tried four recipes from Tom’s book and they have all been off the charts.”

Cianci Chiropractic, located at 8737 Brooks Drive in the Easton Industrial Park can help keep you on a healthy path.
Contact Cianci Chiropractic at 410-820-4070. You can also find Cianci Chiropractic online at www.drcianci.com

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