Meet the Doctors

Dr. Pamela Owens is a board certified Chiropractic Physician - Doctor of Chiropractic and Naturopathic Doctor. She is also board certified in Acupuncture through the International Academy of Medical Acupuncture. Over many years in practice, she has received numerous post-graduate certifications including: Manipulation under Anesthesia, Spinal Rehabilitation, Laser & Electrical/Auricular Acupuncture (weight loss/smoking cessation). She has recently completed certification in Functional Medicine and testing for environmental and dietary toxicity. In her community, she repeatedly has been voted the best alternative doctor in the area! She works closely with her patients Medical Doctors, as needed, to ensure they are getting the best care available.

Dr. Pamela Owens graduated with honors in 1989 from Logan Chiropractic College-Univeristy in St. Louis, MO. She spent 13 very successful years in practice there. Since then, she has returned to Ocean Isle Beach, NC; back “to the beach” she has loved so well to continue practicing!

She also attended Southern Illinois University-Carbondale-Undergraduate-Arts, and Chowan College-Murfreesboro, NC – Arts/Photography

She continues to take classes both on line and in conferences believing that ”knowledge inspires me to empower my patients to take responsibility for their health and I will guide them along the way”

Dr. Owens uses a “whole person” approach to wellness and taking care of her patients. By combining the very best in latest technonlgy, hands on techniques, objective state of the art-blood, urine and stool testing, she can help you achieve and maintain your journey to great health. This includes nutritional, vitamin, supplement and exercise advice. She and her friendly staff are committed to promoting the health and well being of her patients.

Education:

• Logan College of Chiropractic
• Southern Illinois University – Carbondale
• Chowan University

Certifications/Licensure:

• Doctor of Chiropractic-NC, SC, MO, IN
• Naturopathic Doctor
• Functional Medicine
• Manipulation Under Anesthesia
• International Academy of Medical Acupuncture
• Spinal Rehabilitation
• NC Workers Compensation
• Bachelor of Science in Human Biology
• Associates Degree in Arts-Photography

Memberships & Associations:

• Brunswick County Chamber of Commerce
• Functional Medicine University
• North Carolina Chiropractic Association
• NCCA Acupuncture Council
• Functional Medicine – Dr. Dan Kalish
• Total Wellness – Dr. Sherry Rogers
• Natural Healing – Dr. Mark Stengler

Back pain can be debilitating, as some of you know on a personal level. As a Chiropractor, I have been very blessed to have helped several thousand patients over my 23 years in practice, find pain relief both through my care, as well as integrative care with other specialists. I am constantly continuing my education, taking classes that range from Acupuncture to Nutirtion and most recently; Functional Medicine. Our profession and progression are ever changing as research uncovers new ways to stay healthy in a world that is ever so stressful and polluted. My patients often laugh as I tell them while they are watching “Two and a Half Men” at night, I am reading books such as “Guess What Came To Dinner” (A book on parasites!), or I might be reading on Gluten Intolerance and characteristics of “poop”! None the less, this is to help me be an excellent Doctor and diagnostician so I can help you, my patients, feel the best they can!

With that said, I have to tell y’all, (Yes, I am from the South! Right here from good old Wilmington! So you will have to excuse my Southern jargon and drawl!), that I am concerned about a whole lot more than just back pain these days. It seems that there is an increasing epidemic of enormous stress, overweight/obesity, tiredness/fatigue, low (or NO) sex drive and a lot of depression. Some of you are on so many medications that I am appalled you can even get out of bed every day! You all need to start reading the side effects to just one of your medications and understand that a medication for every symptom you have is not the answer. In the long run, the side effects create another need for more medication and on and on. Thus, how possibly can you all feel good, much less lose weight, or even want to dare your spouse to say the word sex!!! (This is in no way stating that we don’t need some medications, for some health conditions.)

If you can identify closley with the above, well, I have great news for you!

The great news is, I can help you with all these! To feel better, eat better, look better and to help your body function better so you can have a better quality of life, slow cellular aging and not depend on medications for every little thing. How you might ask? Well, first and foremost, I have had years of education studying and working with the biochemistry of our bodies and learning what it needs to make it “function right”. Currently, I have completed training and a mentorship in Functional Medicine. This is your “buzz word” for the future of healthcare to remember, because to solve the above health problems, I use specific tests which show me where the function of your “body systems” have gone off course. We are lucky to have lab testing available which is cost effective, to test blood, spit and poop so that we can find the answers, to the “root causes” of the “Big 5″. (Obesity, fatigue, hormone issues, depression/anxiety and gastrointestinal problems: bloating, gas, constipation, irritable bowl, reflux.

What causes this?

Most of us have endured way too much STRESS for way too long, throughout our lives, most of it filled with anxiety and negative stressors. This DEPLETES the adrenal glands of cortisol-our master stress hormone and we fall into one of three stages of “adrenal bournout”. Identifying which stage you are in is the FIRST place to start to correct an imbalance. A simple saliva test over a 12 hour period will give us a good start. Once we identify your stage of burnout, I can design specific vitamins, supplements, botanicals to counter the deficiencies. Once underway to healing, the body will stop storing fat, (you know that inner tube around our mid sections that we never had but now can’t get rid of!!!) Sound familiar?? Remember this process did not happen overnight and it will take time depending on which stage you are in . The worse you are, the longer it may take but the good news is that until now, you had no idea what to do to help yourself! I hear the stories over and over!! All the diets you all have tried; some with positive results; but mostly the weight has returned and you can’t figure out why?? It’s the Adrenal glands malfunctioning!! We have a remarkable body that can heal! Yes you are “fixable”!

Now, the next subject may not be so exciting yet it has everything to do with how well you are and how sick you are. It is the Gastrointestinal System and just about everybodys’ is mucked up. In recent years, we have seen a huge increase in people who have tremendous allergies to foods. First and foremost is Gluten. It ranges from just sensitive to it, to Celiac’s Disease, which is life threatening. This is a lot like having a peanut allergy. If you have a little allergy and you eat a PB&J sandwich, you may just have to use the bathroom, but if you are very allergic – well you can go into a severe reaction and it can be life threatening. But why Gluten you say? Well, researchers say that it goes back to the caveman. He did not eat breads or grains. So we never had the specific enzymes in our digestive system to break it down. So we have eaten grains containing gluten for centuries and have forced our bodies to deal with it. This has become very destructive to the intestines-causing destruction of the little villi that have to extrapolate the vitamins and minerals out of our foods. With the villi damaged, instead of them holding tight together, they begin to pull apart from their “tight junctions” and large food molecules can now “leak” through causing what we know as “leaky gut syndrome”. What you didn’t know is that there has been substantial research to show that this syndrome has genetic components and if you have it, your childern have it and you got it from your parents. It has also been linked as the cause of many, many diseases you are familiar with. These include: muscle aches, joint pains, irritable bowel disease, colitis, GERD, heart burn, constipation, diarrhea, depression, malabsorption of many vitamins and minerals and many more symptoms. The fact that wheat is genetically modified and gluten is in a lot more foods and products adds fuel to the fire. If you present to your Medical Doctor with one of these complaints, you will most likely get a new medication. However a new medication has done nothing to test you for gluten intolerance or leaky gut syndrome.

While we are talking about the GI tract, the next unpleasant conversation we need to have is about the bad “bugs” that get into our system and cause a host of symptoms that mimic other huge disease processes. These “bugs are know as parasites. Yes, I know this is gross, but I must tell you that this is a HUGE problem in a majority of people that NEVER are tested from them by their Doctors!! Parasites and bacterial infections rob your health. They enter our bodies invisibly through our water supply, (yes, right out of your faucet); produce, foods we eat-rare, medium rare meats, under cooked meats, sushi, unsanitary restaurant workers including fecal route and not washing hands while preparing food, and one of the big ways is traveling to foreign countries. I have tested many, many, patients who were shocked needless to say, that their tests came back positive for “bugs”. Once we get the bugs taken care of, the gut can heal and you will be amazed how much better you feel.

Testing for toxic elements is often the answer to chronic health issues that modern medicine has simply put “name tag” labels on. These include: high cholesterol, blood pressure, rheumatoid arthritis, degenerative osteoarthritis, osteopenia/osteoporosis, lupus, asthema, allergies, IBS, Colitis, macular degeneration, infertility, fibromyalgia, reproductive cancers, childhood cancers, ADD, ADHD, diabetes, metabolic syndrome, fatigue, depression, Parkinson’s MS, ALS, peripheral neuropathies, pain syndromes and many, many, many more. The research that validates and documents these findings goes back greater than two decades. This research can be found in the most prestigious medical journals from the most prestigious medical schools. Medicine has simply put names and band aids on these “conditions”, medicated them and treated unwanted side effects with a new disease name and more medications, then surgery on and on and on. Yes, the pharmaceutical companies have vested interest in this cycle-and contrary to what you may think, it is not betterment of your health.

Today, we are all toxic – yes, that means you, and your children and pets – for it cannot be avoided in our extremely polluted, chemical, plastic world. Research shows that every one has significant measurable amounts of unwanted carcinogens in our bodies beyond “the smallest dose”. This is even being found in far away places like the Arctic Circle and in wildlife that was once exempt – even in the rain forest – plants and animals – every inch of earth has been affected and this will affect generations forever. Your children, pets and ecosystem will never be the same. Sounds like doom and gloom… Fortunately, there are state of the art, extensive detailed testing that holds the answers to your individual health problems which can be objectively measured so you can be treated and detoxified from the inside out. This is your biochemistry being tested through blood, urine, and stool samples. (These tests are not the standard ones done at your doctor’s office – those may be helpful along with your complete medical records for review – however these tests we are talking about are very detailed and extensive in their biochemical markers.) Once we can identify where the body chemistry has gone “amuck” we can use nutritional support to fix it; not drug it. For example: no where is your body deficient in Lipitor – however it may be very low in coenzyme Q10 which is essential for proper cholesterol manufacturing and adding this in proper dose with any other co-enzymes the body uses to manufacture cholesterol may just take care of the cholesterol issue. We have to begin a new way of thinking for the next generation – for we all are responsible for our health and not just driving the body into the shop and picking it up with a list of prescription medications to make it work temporarily – or I’m afraid we are headed for very significant consequences. We are all toxic from pollutants in the environment, especially the use of plastics and out gassing from everything today (dry cleaning, plastic drinking bottles, plastic food wraps, plastic, plastic, plastic! (Computers – wiring, out gassing, pesticides, cleaning agents, etc.). These chemicals/toxins take up resdiency in our fat cells, brain and vital organs for years and when the body can’t handle anymore, the disease begins to show symptoms and we get a “name tag: which to call our disease by and a medication or two or three to go along with it. Remember, it takes time to rid this stuff out of the body and time is of essence to detoxify. For example, some of the toxic elements (pesticides) may take years to break down and be eliminated. This is why retesting at intervals will be as important as you clean the garbage out.

This is a great place to start to find the answers to help you feel better. You don’t have to “live with it” nor is it “all in your head”!! I care about helping you feel better and am committed to absolute quality wellness healthcare. Your future depends on it! So call be today and ask for a Functional Medicine Consultation. I have detailed questionnaires for you to have complete so we can get down to business. If you would like to know more about these tests, please feel free to contact my office. I look forward to meeting you!

910-575-2225 (BACK)