Operating out of what she jokes is “the world’s smallest chiropractic office,” Dr. Jenni Martin will soon celebrate the one-year anniversary of Desert Golf Chiropractic, an 11 foot-by-11 foot nexus of treatment for aging athletes.
The spot at Pete Carlson’s Golf & Tennis on Highway 111 in Palm Desert was funded by her longtime friend, club-crafting legend Barney Adams. The popular retail location works well for her in several ways, with heavy foot traffic and an elderly – yet still spry – demographic helping to get her noticed.
“My population out here in the Coachella Valley is about aged 60-93, mostly active adults, and they have certain things that show up,” Martin said of her clientele. “So, what causes them to start paying attention to these things is when the physical activity is starting to be limited. And a lot of the people that come in here are bionic, with new shoulders and hips – but they can still stay active.”
As a chiropractic orthopedist and an LPGA Class A teaching professional, Martin is capable of blending the fields of medicine and fitness when talking with clients. Now a full-time desert resident after living most of her life in Northern California, Martin might also be known in the area as the person who the past couple of years took her teaching trailer to area clubs to work with golfers on a stop-by-stop basis.
Stationed at Pete Carlson’s by appointment, Martin’s focus is on keeping aging athletes in the game. Her method isn’t about magical dust or crystal balls, but instead something of an expert tire rotation designed to keep her demographic enjoying pain-free rounds. For much of her clientele, it isn’t so much length off the tee but staying on the course and working out the kinks of their job that’s the driving factor in treatment methods.
“Many clients are working professionals, say, attorneys who have spent too much time in a stressful, seated position,” she said. “They have these locked-up hips where they can’t post up in their swing and can’t generate power. And also a lot of pharmacists who are all locked up in the upper backs, and they come here with no range at all.”
Among her methods is Active Release Technique, a hands-on treatment that works the muscles, ligaments and joints for pain generally found in the neck, back, shoulders, elbows and knees.
“It’s where I go in and find the area in between the muscles, so I’m actually working the muscles while separating the sheaths in between,” Martin said. “For any muscle, you look at its relationship, then take a look at where the sheaths work together and where the pain pattern is. And then I work it with motion.”
Another technique is Fascial Stretch Therapy, which is basically a proactive massage with the recipient pushing back. It’s designed to loosen a joint and joint capsule, using traction to remove restrictions from movement and to stimulate lubrication.
“It’s a particular kind of stretching, but it involves traction, which makes it different,” Martin said. “I’ll do this for an hour, once we stretch out an entire joint.”
Much of Martin’s tight space is occupied by a Cox Technic table, which enables her to manipulate a person’s spine through a flexion treatment that focuses on chronic back issues and spinal stenosis.
“The people that come in here are passionate about being active,” said Martin, who recommends that her clients also work with a personal trainer at least twice a week.
As for visitors who don’t immediately feel the effects of treatment? Martin directs them to seek alternate avenues for improvement, such as getting an MRI, X-rays, physical therapy or a cortisone injection.
“The cool things about all this stuff is that you feel better within a few office visits,” she said. “That’s how I’m different from most chiropractic offices: My background, my goals and because of my belief system that it happens fast.”
As is common with other forms of massage or physical therapy, a certain trust and closeness is part of the process. And with her cozy desert digs, that part of the process might be increased for the curious or first-time visitors.
“When I first sit down with a person, I tell them, ‘I’m going to respect your time, so please respect mine,’” she said. “And I’m going to crawl all over you.”
