By Corene Sullivan
Elliot Vlad knows about overcoming physical and emotional trauma first-hand.
It was while he was recovering from a serious accident that the idea behind his company, Life Enhancement Therapies, was born.
Vlad was training for the Irish international gymnastics team when, at age 17, he was in a car accident that left him in a body cast for four months, and a wheelchair for another eight months.
Doctors told him he would never walk again. But Vlad didn’t accept the diagnosis.
“It was a combination of finding inner strength and inner values,”he says.
Three years after the accident, he could walk again.
“The first day I took a step, I realized I had to do something where I could give more than I received,” says Vlad.
After completing a degree in Kinesiology and becoming a registered massage therapist, Vlad began operating Life Enhancement Therapies out of his apartment in Centretown.
In December 2003, he moved his clinic to a building on the corner of Somerset and Elgin streets.
The clinic, now in its third year, helps people with chronic pain, people who want to improve their physical conditioning and strength, and people suffering from stress.
The 27-year-old treats patients either in the clinic or in their homes.
For those who want to improve their physical performance, he creates individual fitness programs and will even train with them at the gym.
For stress and chronic pain treatment, Vlad uses massage therapy and techniques based on kinesiology and osteopathy.
Vlad describes osteopathy as a natural medicine that looks at the cause of dysfunction and treats the patient as a whole, recognizing each person’s individuality.
“People with chronic pain and their doctors often don’t see results, and that’s where I come in,” says Vlad.
He believes in dealing not only with the symptoms of pain, but in looking for the root of pain.
Vlad uses an approach that treats the body as a whole rather than a collection of individual, unrelated parts, as traditional medicine often does.
“The philosophy is to look for the causes of dysfunction, and remove the barriers and restrictions, bringing the body back in balance,” says Vlad.
He treats between 25 and 30 people per week.
Most patients of Life Enhancement Therapies are young professionals or seniors.
Vlad adds that most of his clients are female.
They come to the clinic on doctor’s referrals and often through word of mouth.
Because Vlad’s services aren’t covered by OHIP, most patients use private insurance to pay for the therapy.
“He was referred to me by a friend,” says Nick Farinaccio, a marketing and communications professional who has been a patient at Life Enhancement Therapies since the fall of 2003.
“His diagnosis and his approach are completely different. I felt like I wasn’t a number, but an individual case.”
Farinaccio had been to two other Ottawa clinics for his back problems and was satisfied with the treatment, but he says another reason he likes Life Enhancement Therapies is because Vlad doesn’t make long-term predictions or promises, but thinks in terms of reaching consecutive milestones.
According to Vlad, there are clinics in Ottawa that offer similar services to his, but Life Enhancement Therapies is different.
“What you’re not getting (at these clinics) is an individual who offers all these services plus has the personal experience,” he says.
“I know what it’s like to have the frustration of pain.”
Although Vlad’s battle with pain took place almost a decade ago, his development and desire to help others continues.
He is currently working on his doctorate in osteopathy, and hopes to expand the clinic and its services as well as reach out to more patients.
Vlad says, “It’s not about the business, it’s about helping people.”