by Gina Cronin
“At its most basic, health is not just an absence of symptoms—it’s really a dynamic process of helping the body reach its optimum function,” says Dr. David Pollack, owner of Pollack Wellness Institute, in Commack and Plainview.
Pollack’s family encouraged him to be a doctor from an early age, but he didn’t feel a pull to become a 
conventional health practitioner. He connected with a family member that was a chiropractor, and he saw how happy and fulfilled she was with her career. He decided, without having ever had a chiropractic adjustment, that this was the direction for him. He entered chiropractic school, and the chain reaction was set off from there.
“It was a crazy leap of faith, but it was here that I found the entire world of natural healing,” says Pollack. He earned his doctorate in chiropractic, his master’s in acupuncture, plus certificates in holistic digestive health and applied kinesiology. “I was determined to learn many different modalities to come from any angle that the patient may need.”
In his practice, he deals with virtually every area of health—the physical body, internal organs, mental state. He understands that when someone comes in with a symptom, the solution is likely not the same for everyone. For example, he has had many patients come in with neck and shoulder pain. While half of them were healed by just a couple of treatments to the localized area of pain, others were not. “What I realized was the others were not experiencing physical pain, they were experiencing referral pain from another imbalance in the body—most commonly related to the gallbladder or thyroid. When I started treating these areas, the pain ceased,” Pollack says. Every single organ and gland refers itself to another area of the body, and Pollack looks at this holistically to restore wellness.
On the first visit to Pollack Wellness Institute, patients have an opportunity to share all health concerns with Pollack during a 45-minute to one-hour consultation, which is held free of charge. From there, they decide on a comprehensive wellness program that may include everything from advanced nutrition and chiropractic to acupuncture, moxibustion and cold laser therapy.
On the second visit, he conducts a two-hour evaluation, during which the patient’s body is checked in real time before and after being given a special food-based drink. “If we simplify what this body does, it’s supposed to take in nutrients, process them, and distribute them—it’s quite incredible insight into how the body is working,” says Pollack. The evaluation sees that simple function in real time, during which Pollack will palpate on organs as the body processes food to see where exactly the pain or discomfort is stemming from.
He shares that one of the big problems in the holistic world is that people end up on a million supplements—and it either doesn’t work or it backfires. “We are trying to treat every symptom, but what if you didn’t have to treat everything—what if you treat two things and that affects everything?” He works to find those primary problems to be as minimalistic as possible in resolving them. On average, his patients are on no more than three different supplements.
Clients often have a bit of a culture shock when they enter Pollack Wellness Institute, because everyone truly cares. From the person on the phone, to the receptionist, to the nurses and doctors—everyone is genuinely committed to their betterment. “People tell me that it’s the first time they have ever gotten answers to their problems,” says Pollack. “When they go to a conventional doctor, they’re so excited to receive a diagnosis—but the diagnosis is not the solution.”
Pollack describes that it’s fun to help people. He has seen his patients feel better in ways they didn’t think possible. “My patients’ expectations as to what is going to happen are lower than mine,” he says. “Many people think that they’re getting older and are supposed to feel that way, but there is no age you’re supposed to feel like 
junk.”
Pollack Wellness Institute is located at 66 Commack Rd., Ste. 204, in Commack. For more information, call 631-462-0801 or visit https://www.pollackwellness.com/.
Gina Cronin is a writer for Natural Awakenings magazines. To connect, visit GinaImagines.com.
