Dr. Todd Frisch - Practice of Chiropractic

Dr. Todd (known by his patients) is formally Todd T. Frisch, Doctor of Chiropractic. He began his career as a chiropractor in 1981 after graduating from Palmer Chiropractic College. His success helping patients with their chiropractic complaints was exceptional. Structural aches and pains lessened with each treatment but, unfortunately, many of their chronic health issues were not improving. In just six short months, Dr. Todd became frustrated that headaches, allergies, poor digestion, etc. etc. etc. were not always alleviated after correcting a subluxation of the spine as taught in school. Though his patients were thrilled they were no longer in pain, they were still suffering with symptoms such as those previously mentioned. Many were disenchanted with the care they were receiving from their primary care physician, and began asking Dr. Todd if there was anything he could do to help them overcome these chronic problems.

As a young doctor, his passion to help sick people get well, was ignited. What started as a challenge slowly grew into an obsession to find the missing links. He not only wanted to help them overcome the symptoms they were suffering, he wanted to understand the underlying cause for the symptoms. If he could get to the root of their problems, he believed he could help them to overcome those aggravating symptoms that were interfering with their quality of life.

Challenge/obstacle #1: finding answers within his natural/holistic belief system to treat symptoms with less toxic cures while searching for the underlying cause.

In his early days of practice, between patient visits, he spent endless hours studying the manifestation of illness. His unquenchable thirst for knowledge, regarding health and the human body, continues to be his journey with no final destination. No book is too expensive, (whether it be traditional western medical text or traditional Chinese medical text), no seminar too far away, no class too peculiar to potentially learn something that might help a patient.

His earliest belief was, and continues to be…nutritional deficiency! After years of studying nutrition and the eating habits of his patients, in relationship to their state of health, he is convinced food is medicine. Therein lies the confusion! With so many opinions and theories, where does one begin to find truth? Realizing patients were nutritionally deficient, this naturally took him into studying supplementation. Intense study began with vitamins and minerals, to studying western herbs (theories of
John Christopher and Paavo Airola), to traditional Chinese Medicine.

As his reputation grew, chiropractic pediatrics dominated one-third of his patient population. Again, parents pleaded for him to discover the “why” behind their children’s chronic health problems and present non pharmaceutical treatment, which led him to studying homeopathy, due to its ease of administration.

Coinciding with his earlier frustrations, he had an opportunity to study with Dr. Bernard Jensen, who pioneered the science of iridology in the United States. He spent two separate weeks in extensive study, one in St. Louis, MO at an intimate workshop and the other at Dr. Jensen’s private ranch in Escondido, CA. Though iridology is controversial, and he gets labeled a “quack,” he will never abandon using it as a diagnostic tool. It does not specifically deal with one segment of the body, but realizes the trinity of body, mind, and spirit as having interconnected functions.

In 1982, he met Dr. Richard Yennie, the first of many mentors, and began studying acupuncture (Traditional Chinese Medicine – TCM). While attending an unbelievably boring practice management seminar in New Orleans, he ducked out of class to take a break, and wandered into a neighboring seminar where an oriental medical doctor was teaching tongue diagnosis. As the line of students formed for individual tongue diagnosis, he stepped into line as though he belonged and waited his turn. Not only did this amazing doctor tell him his father died from alcoholism, but at what time of his life this occurred. He regrets to this day that he never got the doctor’s name.

From that day forward, he had a burning desire to learn anything and everything he could regarding traditional Chinese medicine, and applying their unique diagnostic techniques to his already established analytical protocol.

The longer he was in practice, and the more people he worked with, he began to observe patterns which helped him to qualify and quantify different aspects of illness. This helped him gain insight into the “weak links” before they became full blown disease.

Challenge/Obstacle #2: As unique and different a thumbprint is to every human, so is specialized treatment to rebuilding health. His challenge began by looking at each individual person, and building a treatment plan that fit each “particular patient”, instead of creating a standardized protocol. In working with a jigsaw puzzle, we must place each distinctive piece in its proper place in order to create a whole picture. So, too, must we gather all the “diagnostic pieces” that make for the unique health picture of each patient to restore wellness.

Through the years, his drive and passion has never waned…he simply has a desire to help sick people get well. To this day, he continues to refine and integrate all that he learns into his resource of vast knowledge for accomplishing the many health challenges that are brought before him.

Dr. Todd has always said, “I am not motivated by my clinical success but, driven and somewhat haunted, by my failures. I continue to search for that missing piece of the puzzle.” So his story continues…..