Compass Medical Center is not your average health clinic. Instead of hypodermics and prescription pads, patients find a variety of modalities all aimed at treating the body as a unit, not just alleviating symptoms.

According to executive director Natasha Saavedra, the center staff looks at the body as a whole, realizing that everyone needs something different. There is no cookie cutter fix that works for everyone. Saavedra and crew offer chiropractic, massage, rehabilitation, weight loss and nutrition, allergy testing, and regenerative medicine.

“The parts of the body are interconnected,” Saavedra said. “For instance, a person may have knee pain that is caused by hip or lower back problems.”

Her take is that dis-ease, aka pain, becomes disease if the cause of the symptom isn’t treated and healed.

She added, “For some, the golden years have turned into the older years.”

Some patients come in not knowing how the parts of the body affect other parts, so the staff uses educational tools to demonstrate how, for instance, the spine houses the nervous system, and spinal compression can cause pain or numbness in other parts of the body. Spinal decompression alleviates many symptoms by opening the nerve pathways in the spine.

Saavedra said the goal at Compass Medical Center is to establish normal nervous system function and to strengthen muscles around joints, which strengthens other muscles. They want to give people the tools to live active, healthy lives.

Regenerative medicine uses stem cells gathered from donated umbilical cords harvested after Caesarian sections. When stem cells are injected into patients, they turn on the body’s innate intelligence, according to Saavedra. That allows cells to heal and regenerate themselves. The procedure requires 12 visits but is well worth it.

Saavedra cited one woman whose knee pain prevented her from participating in her passion, playing golf. After being treated she played nine holes without pain and will soon move on to playing the whole course.

Another woman was considering having her toes, which had black spots all over them, amputated. She had even lost her toenails. After treatment, the discoloration vanished and her nails regrew.

All the different treatments help patients achieve their health goals, and Medicare covers many of the costs. The Grand Junction office is one of three in the Southwest. There are also clinics in Snowflake and Safford, Arizona. Visit the office in Patterson Village Square, 2478 Patterson Road, Unit 17 to take a look at the facilities.

To make an appointment or for more information, call 985-4506.