A Fearless Adjustment

The Germantown-Schnitzelburg area is fast becoming the backbone of an up-and-coming Louisville, with property values rising in otherwise forgotten corners of this century-plus-old enclave. Dr. Sarah Murrow, a chiropractor and proprietor of Germantown Chiropractic, came to Louisville three years ago and found the neighborhood to be in perfect alignment with her plans.

 

Her practice, on the corner of Milton and Hickory, is in a refurbished house that was once, alternately, a launderette, a grocery store and an upholstery shop. Murrow’s in-laws, who own the building, green lit the office idea and oversaw a remodel. The business opened in late summer of 2009.

 

Murrow, a West Virginia native, had gone to college in Texas and was looking for a place relatively close to home. “When I first started here in Louisville, I came to work with an older chiropractor, Dr. Ralph Stengel, on Burnett,” Murrow says. “I had been checking out different areas and we hit it off.” She stayed with him until he retired a year and a half later, then took over his practice and moved it into the building on Milton Street. What attracted her to Stengel’s practice in particular was his use of the Cox Technic technique (coxtechnic.com), which she utilizes as her primary method of treating patients. 

 

“The technique uses a specialized tech flexion distraction decompression adjustment table,” Murrow explains. Or, in slightly plainer English: “It was designed for people with severe disc degeneration, stenosis, people who don’t tolerate really aggressive treatment or have post-surgery pain ... I see a lot of the sciatic pain, numbness in the arms.” What makes her brand of chiropractic special is that many of her patients are the kind of people for whom chiropractic care was about as attractive as oral surgery. “I get a lot of people who are afraid of going to a chiropractor, because of the ‘twist-pop-crack’ aspect of it, or because they have delicate spines and can’t tolerate any of that adjustment,” she says. The Cox Technic method is designed to open up the disc space and take the pressure off the nerves, which also serves to calm the same nerves of reluctant patients. “Especially if you have a really delicate situation, it’s really scary to think of someone touching you in general. It’s terrifying when you’re in that much pain. Here, you don’t have to worry about that.”

 

Dr. Murrow, who is married to John Murrow, third-generation owner of Check’s Cafe, right around the corner from the practice, is becoming known for her light touch as well as her effectiveness in her four years of board-certified practice. “I get a lot of people who either just know of me and want to come in for their issues,” she says. “And I get a lot of people who just don’t like the rough adjustments and prefer this. It tends to attract more of the people who have the more serious stuff. It works for everyone.”

 

Germantown Chiropractic is at 1100 Milton St., and online at www.germantownchiro.com. Appointments are available by calling (502) 637-7754.