Chiropractic is most certainly about helping patients feel good, regain their health, and maintain it. But some chiropractors are realizing that patients also want to look good.

These doctors are adding aesthetic services to their practices, and the results can be stunning.
“I want to see healing from the inside out,” said Sharon-Rose Fitch, DC, who practices in Lakewood, Wash.

“It’s the philosophy of chiropractic, just gone a little further to include aesthetics.”

From microcurrents to facials, chiropractors who branch into aesthetics are finding these services attract new clients and bring in a sometimes practice-saving benefit — a cash-only service.

Still, as with any major change in practice, chiropractors should be thoughtful about adding aesthetics. These services require space, equipment, additional staff, new marketing skills — and sometimes a whole different mindset.

“I was not interested at all,” admitted Meredith Jeter, who has worked in her father’s chiropractic office, Jeter Chiropractic Clinic, for two years. Waylon Jeter, DC, has been practicing general and family chiropractic in Carrollton, Texas, for 17 years. Last June, he read about microcurrent facial and body sculpting on the Internet, and asked Meredith to look into it. She was sold after a demonstration on her mother.

Jeter began offering microcurrent services soon after, and the practice has changed dramatically. “The vibe is just different,” Meredith said, ignoring the pun. “Everyone is just excited that we’re offering this. It kind of put us current, up-to-date.”

LOOKING GOOD

“If patients feel good on the inside, shouldn’t they look good at the same time?” That’s the thought behind including aesthetics, according to Mark Amelotte, owner and president of Aesthetics Medical in Dallas. His company sells a variety of aesthetic equipment, including lasers, microdermabrasion tools, and biolights. Four years ago, his company began talking with chiropractors.

Because chiropractors are often trained to use lasers and microcurrent machines to treat pain, it may be a small step to adapt this practice for aesthetic uses.

“Being into holistic things, we weren’t into botox or cutting or anything like that,” noted Marti Alley, who works in her sister’s chiropractic practice, Health by Hands. Kathi Maher, DC, offers chiropractic and acupuncture in Arlington, Texas.

“Getting them well is her No. 1 priority,” Alley said about Maher. But then something else happens. “They get to this place, you know. They feel better and they want to look better.”

In microcurrent facial and body sculpting, a current with a similar frequency to the body’s is applied to the face, abdomen, or thighs. According to manufacturers and those offering the service, the result is rejuvenated skin. The effects can be seen almost immediately, which is why the service is often called the “lunchtime facelift.”

But adding aesthetics doesn’t necessarily mean buying an expensive piece of equipment. Fitch added traditional skin-care treatments (including acne treatment, facials, and back facials), body wraps, and body scrubs to her practice. She said these services align perfectly with chiropractic’s holistic approach to health.
“We are providing services to help women not only get well, but stay well,” she said. “I don’t only mean feel well, but look well.”

A CASH BUSINESS

Along with meeting patients’ needs for a holistic approach to health and beauty, the most alluring reason to consider adding aesthetic services is cash flow. Like any doctor, chiropractors are feeling the insurance crunch.

“It’s a different ballgame now,” said Marsha Turner, DC, of Turner Chiropractic and Fitness in Salisaw, Okla. In practice with her husband, Jim Turner, DC, since 1985, she has seen the changes in the insurance industry firsthand.

Patients won’t open their wallets for pain management or treatment when times are tough, Turner asserts. “But when it comes to looking better, they’ll spend the money on it. The aesthetic market is a cash business.”
Jeter charges between $149 and $299 per microcurrent session and offers packages that begin at $495 and go up to $3,129. Alley’s prices are similar.

Amelotte has heard from many chiropractors about the cash-flow crunch. “It’s a very competitive business these days,” he said. “So how do we add to our bottom line?”

He cites the traditional pharmacy — which once only sold medications — as an example. “The pharmacist realized that if he only stuck to drugs, he wouldn’t stay in business,” Amelotte said. Once pharmacies branched out into beauty products and even greeting cards, their businesses flourished.

“This is a cash business, and patients don’t expect it not to be,” agreed Nelson Thibodeaux, president of Texas Beautiful Image Inc., a company that sells microcurrent equipment. And the market is there.

A NEW CLIENT BASE

“Seventy-seven million baby boomers — they not only want to feel better, but look better,” Thibodeaux said. “It’s a $30 billion market, and chiropractors are in a unique position to take advantage of it.”

But adding aesthetic services means marketing to a different client, and that takes time and money. Still, chiropractors report that word-of-mouth is the most effective way to sell their aesthetic services.

“To be honest, we really have not marketed this that much at all,” Jeter said. “We get booked very

fast.” Jeter, Alley, and Turner report that about half of their aesthetic clients are also chiropractic patients.

“We just started talking around the office, and that’s worked the best,” Alley said. She posts information in the lobby with before-and-after photos. “The machine pretty much sells itself.”

Turner added a television set to her waiting area, featuring a looped video touting the procedures. “We don’t do a lot of external advertisements,” Fitch said. “Right now it’s mostly patient referrals.”

For new services, such as microcurrent and laser treatments, offering free demonstrations is often the way to go. “Don’t think you’re just going to buy the machine and open your doors and people will flock to it,” Turner warned. “For me, I did a lot of free work.” She also meets with local salons to demonstrate the process and plant the seed for referrals.

“This is new,” Turner said. “Most people don’t know about microcurrent. Plastic surgery — everyone knows what that’s about. We’re up against the medical spas.”

Many companies that sell these new technologies include marketing training along with the purchase price. That’s when Jeter learned to give VIP demonstrations. In January, she gave free demonstrations to eight potential clients, and each one purchased a package.

“The tiny, tiny marketing efforts we have done have really paid off,” she said.

In addition, chiropractors report that aesthetic services introduce clients to chiropractic. “During [microcurrent] sessions, I have their full attention,” Turner said. She uses this time to talk about the chiropractic services her practice offers.

Fitch makes sure her skin-care patients are aware of the connection between good alignment and healthy skin. “We have to make sure that all the stops are removed.”

FITTING IT IN

Adding new services means more overhead. Aesthetics requires space, equipment, and staff. Turner had a massage room already, which she began using for aesthetic treatments, and she performs the treatments, which is ideal since she suffers from weak wrists and found it difficult to do chiropractic over time.

“It’s my ‘baby,’” she said. “I get such satisfaction from it. I feel like it’s artistic.”

She sees about 20 clients per week for 45-minute appointments.

Jeter recently hired a full-time staff person to handle 10 to 20 clients per week. “I think I could book the week solid, no problem,” she said. “We should have hired a full-time person in the beginning.”

Alley has about 30 clients. As demand rose, she rented a room at a day spa in a nearby town so her office could see more clients. Currently, six people are trained to do the treatments.

State regulations do come into play, however. In some states, chiropractors are forbidden to do these types of services. In these situations, trained aestheticians must be hired.

Fitch saw an opportunity to compete directly with the medical spa market and opened her own facility, which is separate from her chiropractic services. Aesthetic services are offered via membership to her medical spa, called Bayshore Spa. Here, the focus is on prevention as much as restoration. Clients are encouraged to seek care twice a week.

“I try to offer that as a way to prevent the build up of stress in the body,” she said. And the medical spa offers luxury and relaxation. “Little, little details make the experience enjoyable for the patient,” Fitch said.
In creating the medical spa, Fitch added three staff members — two massage therapists and one aesthetician. Her goal is to grow the business so she can hire two more massage therapists and another aesthetician.

Teresa Holman, who works in her husband’s practice, Holman Wellness Center in Houston, went a different route. She began offering specialized skin-care and wellness products in August 2006. At least 40 percent of Dr. Randy Holman’s female patients purchase skin-care products.

“It’s a product about being healthier,” said Holman, who handles the skin-care line sales. “It fit what we do here.”

She’s in the process of hiring a new staff member, whose main responsibility will be marketing and selling skin-care products. But Holman warns that an infusion of cash should not be the main motivator.

“If you’re just doing this for the money, I don’t think it will work,” she said. “You have to believe this is the best product you can get.”

THE BOTTOM LINE

For these chiropractors, adding aesthetic services has been a real plus. Not only have they benefited from an entirely different client base, but they’ve offered reasons for established patients to come in more regularly. And correcting cash-flow issues has been a real plus.

But aesthetic services will not fit every practice. Amelotte recommends that chiropractors really study to learn about the new treatments they’re considering and measure the potential benefits against possible drawbacks.

If space or staffing is an issue — or if new marketing methods do not seem feasible — reconsider.

Aesthetics can offer a brand new way of approaching a chiropractic practice, complementing existing holistic services for a growing baby-boomer market.

“I just get a kick out of it,” Alley said. “People get so excited to see these changes so fast, and I get a rush out of it.”

Laura Laing (www.lauralaing.com) is a Baltimore-based freelance writer and editor. She can be contacted at 410-464-8318 or llaing@comcast.net.