By Chris Wilson

Active Chiropractic Health Center recently opened its doors in Jonesville. Located in the Fletcher Center shopping plaza space that was vacated in June by a flooring store, Active Chiropractic Health Center opened in late October.

Clinic director Anthony Howe, D.C., received his degree in exercise physiology from the University of Florida in 1993. “I’ve always had an interest in health,” says Howe. “I love to run and bike.” In fact, Howe, who was a track and cross country runner at the University of Florida, has since competed in a number of triathlons and recently also has gotten into training for and running in marathons. At our press time, he was preparing to run in December’s Jacksonville Bank Marathon. “It’s a way for me to stay in good shape,” he says.

Howe says he did some work in back rehabilitation and later decided to go to chiropractic school at Palmer College of Chiropractic near Daytona Beach (D.D. Palmer is credited with founding chiropractic in 1895).

Howe lives in the Jonesville area with his wife Julia, who is a licensed clinical social worker in private practice and a fitness instructor at Gainesville Health & Fitness. Julia Howe specializes in helping people with eating disorders and she also plans to help her husband’s Active Chiropractic practice by providing counseling for patients who experience chronic pain. The couple has two sons, Jacob (age 6) and Brady (3).

“I knew I wanted to go into my own practice and I thought, why not practice where I live?,” says Howe. “I love this neighborhood. Plus, with only one other chiropractor in (our area), I thought this area was generally underserved.”

Howe says he sees patients who are experiencing back pain, neck pain and headaches. “With advanced training, a lot of chiropractors can treat other conditions, such as ankles, knees, shoulders, wrists or anywhere there’s a joint or muscles attached,” Howe explains. “I have some extra training in soft tissue techniques.”

Chiropractic is using your hands or modalities, including adjustments, ice, heat and exercise, instead of medicine to treat various pains. All of the treatments are non-drug and non-surgical. Therefore, chiropractic usually is classified as non-invasive and sometimes even “holistic”?in nature. Chiropractic care also is considered to be great for prevention and management of some conditions, such as headaches or even painful menstrual periods.

A lot of people become chiropractic patients after a car accident. “People who are in a bad posture at work all day or people who have heavy lifting jobs that put pressure on their lower back (come to see us),” says Howe. “We see sports enthusiasts, who are trying to achieve a higher level or who have hurt themselves by turning an ankle or something. We also see a lot of people who are just trying to avoid surgery and want to try an alternative.”

Howe is a certified Active Release Technique provider. Active Release Technique is a patented massage technique that is used to treat muscles, tendons, ligaments, fascia and nerves. “Active Release is like a range of motion with tension,” Howe explains. “I’ll use my hands or thumb to create tension and work the muscle through its range of motion.” Aside from back pain and headaches, the technique is used to treat carpal tunnel syndrome, shin splints, shoulder pain, sciatica, knee problems, tennis elbow and other painful conditions.

Howe says he also has plans to get a dedicated massage therapist for his office in the near future.

Active Chiropractic Health Center is located at 14029 W. Newberry Rd., Suite 50 in the Fletcher Center plaza, located near the intersection of Newberry Rd. and C.R. 241. Active Chiropractic accepts most insurances and Dr. Howe offers free consultations to anybody interested in his services. For more information, call Active Chiropractic at 332-6481.