Relieve Your Pain and Improve Your Life with Acupuncture

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[Music]

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[Applause]

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until i hit the stage

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[Music]

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all right what's up everybody we're here

00:43
with another episode of greetings from

00:45
the garden state i'm mike hamm we're

00:47
here at recover acupuncture and sports

00:49
rehab with dr alan genetempo dr al how

00:52
are you doing today i'm good mike how

00:54
are you doing i'm doing fantastic so uh

00:56
where are we what is this place we're in

00:58
nutley new jersey we're at recover what

01:00
is recovery well first off i just want

01:01
to start by saying i'm a little upset

01:03
you didn't bring me headphones but

01:04
that's besides the fact

01:06
we can get past that but uh a little

01:07
upset so recovers my concept for healing

01:10
it's a place where you come no

01:12
medications you learn to naturally heal

01:15
and you i teach you things that you can

01:17
do in your everyday life to make your

01:18
life better um i've been here for almost

01:21
it'll be three years in april

01:24
and you know we kind of had some crazy

01:26
ups and downs with um you know opening

01:28
right out of grad school and then covet

01:30
came along and you know things kind of

01:32
got a little

01:33
a little crazy but yeah we're on we're

01:35
kind of moving now in the right

01:37
direction so it's all good things yeah

01:39
um we have second office opening in

01:41
fairfield in a couple weeks

01:44
which happens to just be where i moved

01:45
to so it's kind of a convenient thing

01:47
for me um but yeah no it's a great thing

01:50
and i just you know i spent a lot of

01:51
time teaching people about acupuncture

01:53
and how it can help them on a regular

01:55
basis uh without the use of medications

01:57
that's a pretty good thing yeah for sure

01:59
it's crazy to think that this is you've

02:01
been here for three years i know i

02:02
remember being here

02:04
you know full disclosure i helped lay

02:06
the trim he literally helped me lay the

02:08
trim yes literally yeah

02:10
he had a hand and had happened yeah

02:12
um but yeah it just you know i had my

02:14
family come in and friends and we just

02:16
kind of you know took this space and it

02:18
used to be a chiropractor's office right

02:20
and i remember walking in here the first

02:22
time with the realtor and looking around

02:24
it looked the guy hadn't practiced in

02:26
over 10 years but it looked like he

02:28
was just here the day before yeah like

02:30
there were still you know

02:32
cabinets all over the place and stuff

02:34
like it was a very surreal thing and i

02:36
looked around

02:38
my whole family was like this place is

02:40
kind of a dump and i'm like

02:42
yeah but it has potential it's the

02:44
vision it's the vision i can see those

02:46
things and we just renovated my house

02:48
and you know it was hard to see it but

02:51
now you know it's done it came all

02:52
together and you kind of look at those

02:53
things you're like

02:55
yeah no anything could become anything

02:56
you know what i mean right exactly so it

02:59
was a labor of love in the beginning and

03:01
we got open like april 2019 i remember

03:03
opening on april 1st and um you know i

03:06
had some patience right off the bat and

03:08
i just take my time with everything like

03:10
i don't want to rush into doing anything

03:12
we kind of really that you know whole

03:14
mantra like crawl before you can run or

03:16
crawl before you can walk like i've

03:18
really been crawling to get to this

03:20
point and learning on the go and you

03:22
know i think that's really helped my

03:24
growth as a person as well as a

03:26
practitioner over the last you know

03:28
almost three years so it's been a lot of

03:29
good and a lot of bad you know yeah yeah

03:32
that's like anything right with anything

03:33
especially starting a business for sure

03:35
yeah so um in more full disclosure we

03:38
went to college together yes and you

03:40
were my first roommate when i

03:41
transferred to tcnj i did not know that

03:43
you were this into acupuncture i don't

03:45
think we've ever talked about that

03:46
before so because i wasn't right like i

03:49
think it's something i kind of learned

03:52
more about as

03:54
i after

03:55
college really yeah you know i had

03:57
studied exercise science in graduate

03:59
school that's what my degree is in

04:01
but it wasn't till i went and worked my

04:03
first job at a school that like i

04:06
learned about what this actually is and

04:08
i didn't really know much about it i

04:10
just had it done and i was you know we

04:12
played sports and we had like i mean i

04:14
was always injured you you probably were

04:16
always hanging a little bit a little bit

04:18
but i had it done and you know i had

04:20
always been the physical therapy and

04:21
chiropractic and i love those things

04:23
still this day and they've helped me

04:24
greatly but

04:25
i

04:26
the immediate change in like my like

04:28
physical feeling was just like the

04:31
craziest thing like yeah i remember

04:33
walking in there with elbow pain one day

04:34
and this guy that is now my mentor like

04:37
put needles in my elbow and like the

04:39
next day i felt like

04:41
unbelievable you know and i was just

04:42
like wow that is

04:44
it's weird almost like it's one of those

04:46
things you know when you kind of hit

04:46
you're like that's crazy right um and

04:49
you know i

04:50
wasn't really like thinking about it as

04:52
a career i i was working at a gym at the

04:54
time and i knew i had to go to graduate

04:56
school but i didn't know for what i was

04:58
thinking about physical therapy

05:00
and then like this came along i started

05:01
just doing like a little research about

05:03
i was like all right there's a school in

05:04
the city and this and that and it's like

05:07
you know it's

05:08
there's a big opioid epidemic and stuff

05:10
and that's a huge thing right now too

05:12
with the prescribing of opioids and

05:14
people you know ultimately losing their

05:16
life because of it so i just did a

05:18
little research and i

05:19
in an interview with the school and like

05:21
before you know i was in class and like

05:22
right you know just like this whole

05:24
whirlwind of you know what like chinese

05:26
medicine is and what acupuncture is and

05:29
it's it's changed my life in many

05:31
different ways but more so just my

05:34
thought process on like how medicine

05:36
should be and like where it can go yeah

05:40
and how kind of screwed up the system is

05:42
as a whole because it is kind of screwed

05:44
up um you know you're kind of

05:46
indoctrinated to think that like

05:48
you know if you have a problem there's a

05:49
medication for it yeah and like some of

05:51
it's life long and some of it's short

05:53
term but like there's other options to

05:55
treatment like there's a ton of other

05:57
options and really you kind of have to

05:59
hone in on the whole

06:00
um

06:01
you know like there you should exhaust

06:03
all your other options before you go

06:05
under the knife or before you get

06:06
prescribed a bottle of medicate you know

06:08
what i mean so like it's one of those

06:10
things where it just like opened my eyes

06:12
and like i started learning more and

06:13
more about like alternative treatments

06:15
and stuff and oh well the phone's

06:17
ringing

06:20
but i started learning more about

06:21
alternative treatments and stuff um and

06:24
you know like nowadays it's like one of

06:26
the tellings i teach everyone is like

06:28
hey there's so many other options to

06:31
exhaust before you ultimately go under

06:32
the knife or you know

06:34
you go to your doctor for medication so

06:37
there's a lot of good that you know this

06:40
can help and it doesn't just stop at

06:41
pain yeah

06:43
you know there's a lot of benefits like

06:44
a lot of people come to acupuncture for

06:46
fertility you know trying to have a kid

06:49
and you know it's it's a really you know

06:51
we take it for granted it's not as easy

06:52
as people think make it out to be and

06:54
right um and you'd be surprised how many

06:56
people are actually seeking like

06:58
alternative methods for fertility so

07:01
that's a huge market too yeah

07:04
as well as like headaches and migraines

07:05
and anxiety and sleep issues um because

07:08
ultimately what happens is acupuncture

07:10
treats the nervous system and like if

07:12
you have like in the hierarchy of

07:13
systems like the nervous system is like

07:15
your mother you know like she controls

07:17
your whole life until yeah she's the

07:19
queen right you know and the and they

07:20
control everything until

07:22
um you know you could take over but

07:24
ultimately like the nervous system

07:26
controls all your other health care

07:28
health systems um so if you have nervous

07:31
system problems or um something's out of

07:33
whack there there could be other issues

07:35
with you in your entire all the other

07:37
systems

07:38
you know your lungs your heart kidneys

07:40
etc so we really got to take care of

07:42
your nervous system because the health

07:44
of the rest of your organs and the rest

07:45
of your body is really

07:47
it's pertinent you know that you know

07:48
what i mean right yeah 100 so let's

07:50
let's go back to the education side yes

07:53
um i think that that's interesting so

07:55
talk to me about maybe the process that

07:57
it took to get you from being alan with

08:00
no idea that what he wanted to do to

08:02
being dr al with now almost two

08:04
locations uh one open for almost three

08:06
years now yeah so um

08:09
yeah so like i said i met the

08:10
acupuncturist at the gym for the first

08:12
time and got the treatment done and that

08:14
kind of left me down this whole wormhole

08:16
of like what am i gonna do

08:17
you know and i was like this could be an

08:19
option so i looked into it found the

08:21
school

08:22
uh enrolled in the school and i started

08:24
classes and at the time it was just a

08:26
master's program and um because i had a

08:29
lot of the practitioners i knew of they

08:31
were just had their masters and stuff

08:33
but then like as soon as i got there

08:34
there was like in the talks of like well

08:37
now there's a possibility for like

08:39
continuing

08:40
uh education to be have a doctorate in

08:42
your now like that's a really i never

08:44
fathomed that like that wasn't something

08:46
like i you know had thought about i

08:49
could ever be or wanted to be right i

08:51
just wanted to help people so i was like

08:54
yeah like i'm you know we're going for

08:55
it right yeah i'm not yeah like what

08:57
like you know that's cool you know it's

08:59
like a obviously like being having that

09:01
in your title is like a pretty

09:02
prestigious thing and i don't take it

09:04
for granted so i went to school it took

09:06
you know school's about four and

09:08
a half years

09:10
and it's a lot of clinical work as well

09:12
as like a lot of school like you know in

09:14
class time um and a lot of it's

09:16
practical and i i think that's what

09:18
helps people learn a lot and you know uh

09:21
medical school as a whole is a lot of

09:23
practical because you know what you

09:25
learn in the classroom is

09:27
it's not always what happens in in the

09:29
real life situations yeah right so um i

09:32
had an opportunity to do some like

09:34
externships one was with nyu and the

09:37
other one was with uh like weil cornell

09:39
medical center so i got to like

09:41
experience like new york city and like

09:43
the hospital system and stuff like that

09:44
it was definitely like really good to

09:46
learn from and then i finished the

09:48
doctorate um in that four and a half

09:51
year period

09:52
and um and yeah it's like you know it's

09:55
it's crazy it's it you know from a

09:57
chiropractic and a physical therapy

09:58
standpoint they also have the doctorate

10:00
designation too and the difference

10:02
between you know my doctorate theirs and

10:05
like say an md is is we have like

10:07
clinical doctorates so like you know i

10:10
have a doctor in a clinical setting like

10:12
a medical doctor has a doctorate that is

10:13
more obviously high in the hierarchy of

10:15
things it's like a big deal um so this

10:18
is a clinical doctorate i have clinical

10:20
training as well as like a lot of

10:22
research training and stuff like that

10:24
that i've studied over the years so i

10:26
have a pretty good knowledge base of

10:27
like you know different uh conditions

10:30
treated and stuff like that so i'm

10:32
pretty well versed in yeah multitude of

10:34
things i specialize in sports medicine

10:36
but um i also treat a lot of headaches

10:38
and migraines and sleep issues um as

10:41
well as like autoimmune disorders a big

10:43
thing too because they attack the

10:44
nervous system right over time so it's

10:46
kind of a big deal as well yeah in my

10:48
space it sounds like it would be a big

10:50
deal sure um all right so that was great

10:52
we're gonna take a quick break and we're

10:54
uh here at recover acupuncture in nutley

10:57
new jersey i'm mike ham we're here with

10:58
dr alan genetempo we'll be right back

11:03
on this date in new jersey history

11:05
october 25th 1931 the george washington

11:08
bridge opens to traffic one day after

11:10
being dedicated linking new jersey and

11:12
new york across the hudson river and

11:15
that is today in new jersey history

11:20
all right we're back we're here at

11:21
recover acupuncture we're here with dr

11:23
alan genetempo we're here in nutley new

11:24
jersey we are literally recording in the

11:26
lobby of the office on a massage table

11:29
uh there's phones ringing in the

11:30
background but that is shooting on

11:32
location so here we are i mean this is

11:34
great and now everyone can see us in the

11:36
window of your office and be like what's

11:38
going on there it's going to create a

11:39
buzz it's going to create a buzz i think

11:40
small town got to create some bugs gotta

11:42
create some buzz so um so we talked we

11:44
touched on a little bit in the first

11:46
section we kind of talked about what

11:47
recover was how you got yourself here

11:49
all that kind of stuff so um let's talk

11:52
about more you know i know acupuncture

11:54
treats the nervous system is that

11:56
is

11:57
talk to me about the difference maybe

11:59
between

12:00
because i feel like and this is just me

12:01
being unaware

12:03
acupuncture strikes me as like an

12:05
ancient

12:06
far east uh type of medicine yeah um but

12:10
you're you're not from the far east you

12:12
know um so talk to me maybe about like a

12:15
new

12:16
approach to uh acupuncture and all that

12:19
kind of stuff that you kind of bring to

12:20
the table what makes you different from

12:22
maybe what people have in their minds

12:24
when they think of acupuncture yeah so i

12:26
mean yeah i mean acupuncture comes from

12:29
china and like

12:31
thousands of years ago right um and i

12:34
think like what their understanding was

12:36
was that you know they're they

12:38
understand that understanding of the

12:39
body but not necessarily like

12:42
surgically cutting into the body and

12:44
seeing in the systems like

12:46
right in your face you know what i mean

12:47
like we only had the outside looking in

12:50
approach um so

12:52
there's you know in ch and acupuncture

12:54
is not only uh needles and stuff it's

12:57
also herbal medicine so the two together

12:59
are actually really really potent and

13:00
powerful um so that's what they did like

13:03
back they did like every herb was tasted

13:05
and tried and this everything was like

13:07
recorded as like symptoms or you know

13:10
like side effects or whatever but um

13:12
it's like you know it's really like a

13:14
lot of trial and error

13:16
but you know i call this like old modern

13:18
medicine yeah you know so it's like a

13:19
lot of old concepts with a lot of

13:21
nuances um

13:23
the biggest being like electric stim

13:25
which is i think a lot of people are

13:27
familiar with that because you go to

13:29
physical therapy they'll stick those

13:30
pads on you and they'll you know make

13:32
everything kind of vibrate and stuff

13:34
well there's a there's a kind of a

13:35
little bit of a difference so the pads

13:37
are helpful but they help on like a

13:39
superficial level like i can physically

13:42
needle into like a muscle or an area or

13:45
joint and i could stimulate the muscle

13:47
with like clips so the stimulation

13:50
happens a little bit deeper and

13:52
basically what happens is it's like when

13:53
your body gets a neat like a needle

13:55
inserted right

13:57
your your like whole body's alarm

13:59
systems start going off they're like

14:01
what is happening like they're like this

14:03
is not right this isn't normal what's

14:05
going on but it actually starts like a

14:07
very simple process of like recovery so

14:12
i'll give you like a more broader

14:13
example so like if you were running

14:15
right and sidewalk was uneven and you

14:17
rolled your ankle okay most of the time

14:20
what's going to happen is your ankle is

14:22
going to get like really swollen and

14:24
inflamed might even look red and it

14:26
might even be hot to the touch that's

14:28
like those are very like common

14:29
inflammation signs it's it's like your

14:31
body's way of like saying like don't

14:33
touch my leg let me handle it yeah right

14:36
um so

14:37
that's like a traumatic experience and

14:39
so like that's your body's response to

14:41
healing

14:42
acupuncture works on the same premise so

14:44
the needle goes in and we're creating

14:46
like these little micro traumas right so

14:48
your body starts doing the same thing

14:51
blood lymphatic fluid okay your brains

14:53
are secreting chemicals that help with

14:56
pain relief we call them endorphins

14:58
okay and endorphin just stands for dodge

15:00
it's morphine and i think everyone's

15:01
familiar with morphe and you go to the

15:03
hospital and you're in a lot of pain

15:03
they give you morphine a lot of times

15:05
right um it's to help numb the pain our

15:07
body produces all those chemicals in our

15:09
brain um just you know the ones that

15:11
we've created and put in like liquid

15:13
form or pill form they're just super

15:15
concentrated dosages of that it's kind

15:17
of like a kick in the butt like say like

15:19
to do the same thing right

15:21
so this naturally does the same thing

15:22
releases endorphins um natural opioids

15:25
that help you know with pain relief

15:28
and we do them at certain spots of the

15:29
body

15:30
specifically where maybe the uh

15:33
body's hurting like

15:34
low back pain is a very common thing you

15:37
know we needle into the back we also

15:38
need all along like nerve channels that

15:40
like you know go up into the brain and

15:43
you know pain is what really our nervous

15:45
system perceives so if we can kind of

15:47
like regulate that nervous system and

15:49
calm things down a bit we can make the

15:50
pain go away it's similar to advil you

15:53
know like advil doesn't if you have knee

15:54
pain right you take advil yeah advil

15:57
doesn't go to your knee right it's just

15:58
turning off the receptors in your brain

16:00
that said like you know there's a

16:01
problem with your knee yeah but you get

16:03
some relief on for a little bit if it's

16:04
not completely a structural issue um so

16:07
that's kind of the premise of how

16:09
acupuncture works on like a very like

16:11
simple level yeah right and a lot of

16:12
people don't talk of it that way but

16:14
that's my like very good i feel like

16:16
yeah not to brag but like my very good

16:17
interpretation of like how it works yeah

16:19
yeah and that's kind of how it works for

16:21
everything um you know like blood

16:24
carries oxygen around the body right so

16:26
you i see a lot of people that have like

16:28
poor circulation you'll hear about that

16:29
right when you have poor circulation

16:32
basically it means your blood's flowing

16:33
it's just not flowing like it should and

16:35
a lot of times it's because like people

16:36
live a sedentary lifestyle they don't

16:38
exercise or they don't eat properly and

16:40
those things are really important for

16:42
just like overall well-being so

16:45
i see that a lot and i see you can feel

16:47
it in the skin like you'll get a lot of

16:48
people like super cold limbs and stuff

16:50
like that like their hands and their

16:51
feet are freezing you're like what the

16:53
heck like why why is that the things you

16:55
know why is that the case yeah right um

16:57
so you know it's it helps with those

16:59
processes and the same thing goes like

17:01
with fertility and stuff like that like

17:03
a lot of times like for infertility

17:06
cases blood and oxygen just aren't

17:08
functioning like they should and they

17:09
need to flow to that area so it helps

17:12
with that and they've done like

17:13
functional mri studies a functional mri

17:16
difference between a functional mirror

17:17
and a regular mri is a functional one is

17:19
like if you had like an implant that's

17:21
metal yeah or like any sort of metal

17:23
because an mri is magnetic so if you

17:26
have like a metal thing you're like if

17:28
you have a knee replacement it's made of

17:29
metal your knee is going to fly up to

17:31
the ceiling you know so like and it's

17:33
also potentially dangerous so a

17:34
functional mri is what they've done for

17:36
studies uh for a long time to check like

17:39
people with metal and stuff so they've

17:41
done studies that have like the imaging

17:44
of your body's like heat like weight

17:46
like they have like a thermal imaging

17:47
too and they've seen just like how your

17:49
body reacts when you get needle into it

17:51
yeah crazy because like you'll start off

17:53
with like no sort of color and then the

17:55
red you just see the red and the red is

17:56
really just blood and heat starting to

17:58
go there yeah it's like kind of amazing

18:00
um

18:01
so those are all really important too

18:02
the other thing i tell people time is

18:04
like diet is like super important for

18:05
everything not just like feeling good

18:08
but like like physically feeling good

18:11
like a lot of people i see on a regular

18:13
basis

18:14
they have like arthritis which is a

18:16
really common um you know issue that we

18:18
deal with and the most common is

18:20
osteoarthritis which is just like the

18:23
you know like bone formations that come

18:25
on later yeah and usually like injuries

18:27
expedite that process but for the most

18:29
part

18:30
you know it's it's a really an

18:31
inevitable thing like at 50 years old

18:33
you're probably gonna have some sort of

18:34
arthritis yeah but like diet can greatly

18:37
help with your inflammation levels and

18:40
so that you don't have those issues all

18:41
the time yeah

18:43
so

18:43
it's so important and like a lot of

18:45
times when i talk about diet with people

18:47
it's just like in one ear out the other

18:48
and i get it like

18:49
you know people have vices like i have

18:51
vices like i like pizza i like things

18:53
you know but like in moderation like you

18:55
don't need to eat those things all the

18:56
time uh you're eating mcdonald's five

18:59
days a week

19:00
probably not great you might have to

19:01
re-evaluate your life a little bit

19:03
yeah um but yeah everyone likes a big

19:05
mac every once in a while

19:06
once a month maybe or once every six

19:09
months but you know it's like those

19:11
things are like the ones that are like

19:12
you know you gotta keep an eye on it and

19:15
you know keep important of those things

19:16
yeah but um so those things kind of all

19:19
happen and exercise too it's a huge

19:21
piece of the puzzle um

19:23
i'd say like eight out of ten people

19:24
that come in my office do not exercise

19:26
at all right and that's like

19:28
pretty bad you know when you think about

19:30
it like a little bit of exercise a week

19:32
can make all the difference in your

19:33
overall well-being

19:35
in just for everything yeah you know

19:37
like i think we've normalized like blood

19:40
pressure high blood pressure medications

19:42
cholesterol medications type 2 diabetes

19:46
those are all like

19:47
when you think of that like you hear

19:48
that a lot like oh yeah i have those

19:50
things yeah but i'm thinking medications

19:51
for it so it's under control yeah it's

19:53
like

19:54
yeah but like exercise and diet can

19:56
literally get you off of those things

19:58
right

19:59
it's never frustrating to like you know

20:01
when you have you know people that

20:02
you're treating that you're doing these

20:04
things you know whether like the

20:06
acupuncture and all that kind of stuff

20:08
and the herbal horrible stuff that you

20:10
were mentioning before

20:11
and then

20:12
you know i would imagine and you can

20:14
correct me if i'm wrong that it may not

20:15
take for lack of a better word um as

20:18
well as maybe somebody that's doing all

20:20
the right things right has a good diet

20:21
is exercising frequently um does that

20:24
prevent like a lot of or uh present a

20:26
lot of issues in the communication with

20:29
your patients yeah i mean you know like

20:32
the compliance thing is

20:34
you need that you know like that's one

20:36
of the most important things for

20:37
anything so i'm pretty straightforward

20:38
with my patients i'm like listen like

20:40
you know you can come to acupuncture all

20:41
you want you can go to the gym all you

20:43
want you can do this this and that if

20:44
you don't develop some sort of routine

20:46
that makes you a better like human being

20:50
every day yeah

20:52
you don't waste your time you know like

20:54
right if you're gonna go to the gym

20:55
every day and then you're gonna go eat

20:57
mcdonald's five days a week like

21:00
stop going to the gym if you but if you

21:02
justify it as like i go to the gym so i

21:05
can eat mcdonald's five days a week yeah

21:08
you know it's basically you're at the

21:10
same level the whole like it's just it's

21:12
a silly premise you know and like a lot

21:14
of people are like they see kids like

21:16
high school aged kids like eating

21:18
whatever they want and they look the

21:19
same right and that's because like you

21:21
know metabolism is a big thing and

21:22
everyone always complains when they're

21:23
older like oh my metabolism slowing down

21:26
well

21:27
the whole the whole premise is like

21:29
you're just not as active as you once

21:31
were when you're in high school you know

21:32
like you walk a lot more you know you do

21:34
a lot more activities you play sports

21:36
you know all this stuff like you're

21:37
burning a lot of calories yeah right

21:39
you're also eating a lot but like you

21:41
can sustain it when you get like in your

21:43
40s and 50s you have kids and stuff i

21:44
mean i hear from everyone it's like i

21:46
don't have time to do anything i'm like

21:47
i get it and then they're like oh i put

21:49
on some weight it's like yeah because

21:50
you're you're not as active as you once

21:53
were not even close yeah so you know

21:55
like those are the important things like

21:56
metabolism is not really like you know

21:58
something you can just kick in the butt

22:00
and it gets going like you have to put

22:02
effort towards it right and like part of

22:03
it's being physically active and it's

22:05
like you don't have to be that active

22:07
throughout the day but like you got to

22:08
get your you got to get your blood

22:09
moving a little bit burning calories i

22:11
love working out early in the morning

22:13
because i feel like the rest of my my

22:14
day is just like hyperdrive you know

22:16
like and and i know after my workout

22:19
that my i'm constantly burning calories

22:21
for the rest of the day too because i i

22:24
feel that pet you know like yeah my

22:25
heart's going a little bit like you know

22:27
the higher your heart rate is the more

22:28
calories you're burning that's just

22:30
that's just the facts yeah you know

22:31
right right um

22:33
but yeah like the compliance thing is

22:35
just like really important a lot of

22:37
people will do like 80 of the work and

22:39
then like leave the other 20

22:41
to like chance

22:42
and i'm like you need to be fully in it

22:46
yeah and a lot of people just don't want

22:47
to do the work and i understand that too

22:49
but like they have to understand like

22:51
the pill they've been taking for 20

22:53
years for their cholesterol

22:55
hasn't made you a better person it's

22:56
just masking the symptoms of what could

22:59
possibly be right not actually

23:00
addressing the problem it doesn't

23:02
address anything it's like putting a

23:03
band-aid on a bullet wound yeah you know

23:05
like

23:06
still got the bullet there

23:08
it's just covering up the hole you know

23:10
and you're not bleeding anymore but like

23:12
it's still a problem yeah so i feel like

23:14
that's like one of the biggest problems

23:16
i see on a regular basis it's just like

23:18
you know everyone's like there's a pill

23:20
for that and that's the problem with

23:22
healthcare nowadays you know like you

23:24
see like the 70 year old woman you know

23:26
walk into your office with

23:28
knee problems right and they have like a

23:31
walker and they just had a knee

23:32
replacement all this stuff but they have

23:34
so many other

23:35
like health issues the knee is like the

23:37
least of their issues yeah that's just

23:39
the most pressing problem but like

23:41
everything else the obesity the high

23:43
blood pressure the high cholesterol the

23:44
type 2 diabetes the heart disease the

23:47
family history of cancer like

23:49
you know a lot of those things are

23:51
really like cancers like a lot of it's

23:53
been marked as gene genetic yeah um

23:56
but you know like they just they just

23:58
don't address those things early on they

24:00
don't have that knowledge of like

24:02
exercise and just like normal eating

24:04
habits and people are inherently lazy

24:07
and that's yeah you know those things

24:08
compound and then the knee surgery

24:10
becomes like not botched but like they

24:13
just have lifelong pain after that yeah

24:15
because they were not ready for surgery

24:18
when they first came in and they're not

24:20
ready to recover like they should yeah

24:22
um which is just a huge issue overall

24:24
and we see that a lot and it's just too

24:26
common yeah so is it also um something

24:30
where you know like it seems to me and i

24:33
would imagine this is correct but you

24:35
can again correct me if i'm wrong but

24:36
like you know if somebody was like oh my

24:38
god my back hurts i'm going to go to dr

24:40
al over on washington f is that yeah

24:43
we're on washington washington yeah and

24:45
uh you know go once he's gonna stick

24:46
some needles in my back and then we're

24:48
gonna be good to go

24:49
i would imagine that's that's not the

24:51
case yeah i feel like it needs to be

24:52
like a progression right so like right

24:54
out of the gate it's not gonna just get

24:55
fixed it just kind of has to be

24:56
something that you stick with and

24:57
becomes part of your routine yeah you i

24:59
i have to set realistic expectations for

25:02
people because like the number one

25:03
question is like so like how many visits

25:05
do i have to do

25:07
and i'm like that's a great question but

25:09
like it's a tough question to answer

25:10
because everyone's different yeah i've

25:12
had some people come in

25:15
that i didn't expect to get better and

25:16
they got better really quick right and

25:18
then i have people that like are

25:20
healthier right like i deem healthier

25:22
like physically like this physical

25:23
stature and their diet's pretty good and

25:26
it takes them like 20 visits yeah you

25:28
know and i have people that are still

25:30
coming for for you know as long as i've

25:32
been here they've been patients you know

25:33
it's like and they have chronic issues

25:35
and not all of them are pain but like

25:37
chronic issues and you know that's

25:38
that's what i'm talking about like those

25:40
thing and you you can talk to them until

25:42
they're blue in the face about home care

25:44
and all this stuff and they still like

25:47
they have these habits they just can't

25:48
break right and you know like when

25:50
you're older it's harder to break a

25:51
habit you know like you have trouble old

25:53
dog and new tricks

25:56
is very true yeah um

25:58
and so it really takes a lot of

25:59
willpower and determination but you know

26:02
those are the best types of patients i

26:04
have a lot of patients that have such a

26:05
good mindset too when they come in and

26:06
then i have some that are just so

26:08
skeptical

26:09
one about what i'm doing and then like

26:11
in general like that's just the way they

26:13
are and you know guess who's the ones

26:15
that get better yeah the people that

26:17
have the good mindset because that's

26:19
half the battle yeah if you have a

26:20
really crappy mindset like

26:22
you're screwed you know like yeah

26:23
exactly yeah but like if you trust

26:26
you know if you're going somewhere you

26:27
trust you know your your health in the

26:30
in the hands of you know myself or

26:31
whatever

26:33
a lot of times things get better you

26:34
just got to be like the compliance thing

26:36
is so big yeah so this would be our last

26:38
question before we get into our second

26:40
break but if people are listening to

26:42
this and they're like hey i think this

26:43
might be a road that i want to go down

26:45
right what are some things that you

26:46
would recommend before they even call

26:48
you sure obviously the phone call is the

26:50
biggest thing but you know before they

26:52
even call you or maybe early on in that

26:54
process what are some things that you're

26:55
recommending to those patients and

26:57
clients

26:58
to do so that you can set you yourself

27:01
up as their you know treatment provider

27:03
yeah

27:04
and them as the patient to kind of be

27:06
set up for success yeah so like

27:09
for

27:10
most of my patients from i mean like 99

27:12
like

27:13
we always set up a consultation first

27:15
and in an examination so i could do a

27:17
little bit i could do a little health

27:19
history like you know intake and like

27:21
get thorough behind there because it's

27:23
it's not always like on my back hurts

27:25
it's like you know we gotta dig you know

27:26
we gotta figure out what's going on yeah

27:28
you get in a car accident 10 years ago

27:29
like what's happening right so we'll

27:32
dive into their health history a bit and

27:33
then i'll do like some physical

27:35
examinations where i'm actually testing

27:36
muscles and i'm feeling because you know

27:39
like touch is really important for what

27:41
i do yeah because you have to feel

27:43
tissue because you could feel like

27:45
unhealthy tissue um and in the low back

27:48
or wherever like it's it's when you feel

27:50
it you like it's pretty it's it's there

27:53
you know so you have to pay attention to

27:55
those tissue changes changes just

27:57
general appearance and looking at the

27:59
patient and just like you know looking

28:01
at their back or looking at their hip or

28:02
knee whatever um you know looking at the

28:05
way they walk you know those are all

28:06
telling signs for treatment and so we

28:09
need to look at those things first and

28:11
then usually i make my recommendations

28:12
um and i'm honest with people like i'm

28:15
like listen i think acupuncture could

28:16
help you but i also think this could

28:18
help you too and i think it's something

28:19
you should explore yeah like

28:20
chiropractic and physical therapy are

28:22
great things um i think you know i've

28:24
been to a lot of practices where they're

28:26
all there and under one roof yeah and

28:27
it's a good thing like i have a

28:28
chiropractor that comes in here a couple

28:30
days a week he treats patients he's a

28:32
great guy um

28:34
but i've been to places where they have

28:35
pt as well and i think like when you're

28:38
trying to figure out your care right the

28:39
biggest thing is like post surgery okay

28:42
like say like you get an acl tear which

28:43
is a very common thing okay i love pt

28:46
right off the bat because uh you know

28:49
you want to develop more strength you

28:51
want to work on flexibility range of

28:52
motion they're really good at that uh

28:54
really for anything like shoulder

28:55
injuries too uh you know any sort of

28:57
back surgeries chiropractic care is more

29:00
for like i'd say like acute slash like

29:02
chronic issues where like you need you

29:05
don't feel right and you need an

29:06
adjustment to get you back in alignment

29:08
and get you where you're going and i

29:09
think acupuncture kind of helps with all

29:11
those things too because what i do is i

29:13
treat a lot of tissue so tissue is very

29:15
malleable

29:17
and you know at the end of the day our

29:18
bones are literally floating in tissue

29:20
muscle tissue

29:22
connective tissue everything so

29:24
i'm able to manipulate tissue

29:26
with needles and electro acupuncture and

29:28
heat and all those types of things and

29:30
that's why we kind of work all together

29:32
um and there's actually like for like

29:34
the acl tear thing

29:36
i read

29:37
like a study not too long ago about like

29:40
the effectiveness of acupuncture with

29:42
physical therapy to reduce swelling and

29:44
increase range of motion and people that

29:45
have had acl tears and reconstructive

29:48
surgery so there's a lot of good like in

29:50
collaboration like when i first

29:52
like when i was at that gym in fairfield

29:56
i loved their like collaborative model

29:58
like they had a pt car i loved that i

30:00
thought it was great like they kind of

30:01
like worked all to get well together and

30:03
it was just a cool environment like that

30:05
like got me excited for it so that's

30:07
kind of like what i like i'm here alone

30:09
which is yeah the whole other thing it's

30:12
it's kind of my process of like learning

30:14
and taking the hits and kind of like i

30:15
said crawling before i can run because

30:17
like i know like i didn't want to like

30:19
come out the bat and just be like yo i'm

30:21
just going to do all these things

30:22
because like when you do that you miss

30:24
out on a lot of the things that like are

30:26
important you kind of have to like hone

30:28
into and like understand first yeah so

30:30
like i i feel great about where i'm at

30:32
right now um and like with the expansion

30:34
and stuff like that it's like really

30:35
exciting yeah yeah absolutely yeah so

30:37
the um we're gonna take our second break

30:39
okay um and uh so this is my cam

30:42
greetings from the garden state we're

30:43
here with dr alan genetempo at recover

30:45
acupuncture in nutley new jersey we'll

30:47
be right back

30:51
it's time for your new jersey fun fact

30:53
of the day did you know that the water

30:55
tower in union new jersey is the tallest

30:57
water tower in the world

30:59
and that is your new jersey fun fact of

31:01
the day

31:05
and we're back uh we're here with dr

31:07
alan jenna tempo at recover acupuncture

31:08
here in nutley new jersey i'm mike hamm

31:10
this is the greetings from the garden

31:11
state podcast um dr al we've talked

31:13
about a lot so far we've talked about

31:15
the origins of recover your background

31:17
your education

31:18
we talked about the benefits of

31:19
acupuncture we talked all about that

31:21
kind of stuff but um part of the podcast

31:24
is is you know honing in on on the

31:27
businesses and people that make new

31:29
jersey great and so obviously nutley

31:31
we're here in nutley uh this is the town

31:33
the nut uh that you grew up in and um

31:37
you know so talk to me about the

31:38
importance you know maybe it was just

31:40
location you didn't want to drive too

31:41
far but uh talk to me about the

31:43
importance of setting up your first uh

31:45
you know office yeah here in the place

31:47
that you grew up and and why you did

31:49
that

31:50
yeah um

31:51
yeah like i said not only for my home

31:53
for a long time you know when we first

31:54
looked for spaces

31:56
i said like you know part of me like i

31:58
know like i know a lot of the people

31:59
here i'm involved in a little bit in the

32:01
community now and stuff and you know i

32:03
just have friends and family here i've

32:05
had for many years and i said it's

32:08
probably a good spot to like making you

32:10
know like a name for myself and a lot of

32:13
people know this my me and my dad have

32:14
the same name yeah um the same exact

32:17
name and he's an attorney in town

32:20
and he has been for like 33 years he's

32:22
also the township attorney so like

32:24
whenever you google his name my or my

32:26
name i should say he comes up like i

32:28
don't exist so i was like

32:30
you know part of me is like i like to

32:32
you know show people who i am and try to

32:35
make a name for myself not only on

32:37
google but you know in general so um and

32:40
it's just i feel like it's such a good

32:42
fit and i love this town you know

32:44
there's a lot of great businesses here

32:45
and a lot of great food here as well um

32:48
so it was like kind of like a no-brainer

32:50
um when we first looked for spaces like

32:52
i didn't look for long i think we looked

32:54
like a week and a half maybe right and i

32:57
s this was like the maybe like the

32:58
second space i saw

33:00
and i we saw two spaces on the first day

33:03
and i was like

33:04
i saw this face down like it's got

33:06
potential you know this washington ave

33:08
is

33:09
probably like

33:10
the second busiest traffic road in town

33:13
if not the busiest well next franklin

33:15
absolutely but this is probably second

33:16
yeah um i'm right on the street you know

33:18
good visibility good

33:20
curb appeal um free parking you know

33:23
like all these things you have to factor

33:24
those things in um and those are the

33:26
things like you maybe don't think about

33:28
when you start a business is like the

33:30
location per se like a lot of people i

33:32
think has a concept right but they don't

33:34
necessarily have all the questions

33:36
answered like right off the bat like

33:37
this was kind of a concept i've been

33:39
developing for like almost two years

33:42
because i remember being like

33:44
at the end of year two of graduate

33:45
school

33:46
i feel like i had to start answering

33:47
like what i was gonna do yeah you know

33:50
like

33:51
am i going to work for myself or am i

33:52
going to go work for someone

33:54
and like a lot of people don't know us

33:56
but like in my in this space like

33:58
acupuncture like there's like a million

34:00
jobs out there you know like there's

34:02
jobs but there's not like a ton of them

34:04
yeah so like they come up every once in

34:06
a while but they're not like a huge

34:07
thing so i was like you know what

34:08
like i'm still young i was only 27 when

34:10
i graduated i'm like maybe i can go off

34:12
on my own and like figure it out you

34:14
know and like so i was like yeah i could

34:16
take some hits in the beginning and you

34:18
know go from there but i like

34:21
was checking off boxes of things that i

34:23
found necessary like i was like parking

34:25
is a huge thing you know like

34:27
i went to school in manhattan and i was

34:29
like blown i was like i don't get it

34:30
like you can't park anywhere

34:33
insane like you know if like i mean

34:35
granted if you live in that neighborhood

34:37
you can walk there but like

34:38
i just thought that was always like a

34:40
crazy concept and then like people on

34:42
like the third floor and i'm like that's

34:44
nuts like

34:45
like like to me i was like first floor

34:47
bus like i can't have anything else yeah

34:49
um so like yeah like it was a two like a

34:52
concept two years and i feel like a lot

34:53
of businesses don't make it because like

34:56
you know you have an idea

34:57
you don't really conceptualize it or

34:59
write up a business plan and you're kind

35:01
of just like you're just like i have to

35:03
do asap you know like maybe you've been

35:05
working a job you hate and like you're

35:07
just like i need to get this done

35:08
tomorrow and i'm like that is why like

35:11
businesses fail and i feel like the

35:13
restaurant industry is like the prime

35:14
example of that like everyone thinks

35:16
they can cook and everyone thinks they

35:17
can run a business and like you know

35:19
that you gotta cook and run the business

35:21
too

35:21
and then like your food starts to get

35:23
crappy everyone everyone only remembers

35:25
the food and the service yeah you know

35:26
so like if your food's not good and your

35:29
service is okay they're like i'm never

35:30
coming back you know like and that's

35:32
like the one thing here like i'm big on

35:35
like

35:36
having conversations with people and

35:37
like having you know like getting them

35:39
to know me because like at the end of

35:41
the day it's me and them you know like i

35:43
you know we made sure the office looked

35:45
good so like you know for first like you

35:47
know first look everyone's like oh wow

35:48
it's beautiful like whatever but like

35:50
you know if you're like not a good

35:52
practitioner you're like not a good

35:53
talker like

35:55
what like you know like right doesn't

35:56
work yeah so i figured like my

35:58
personality could be like helpful to

36:00
like me getting business and getting

36:02
people to come in and stuff and i think

36:03
it's it's definitely helped yeah um

36:06
so you know like but nutley is just a

36:08
great town the surrounding area is

36:10
awesome um the next office is so this is

36:13
one side of essex county

36:16
the other office is on the opposite side

36:17
of essex county so now i've got like all

36:19
of essex county covered right which is

36:21
cool cornered and they're like 15

36:22
minutes away from one another with no

36:24
traffic yeah you know

36:25
we live in jersey there's always traffic

36:27
there's always traffic right

36:28
yeah so yeah

36:30
i yeah i feel good about it i know this

36:31
county well it's the only account i've

36:33
ever lived in and know of so right i'm

36:34
happy about it you know awesome so what

36:36
are some ways that you know you go about

36:39
making sure that you give back to the

36:41
community yeah i know that there are

36:42
ways so talk to me about some of those

36:43
yeah so like i'm a part of a couple like

36:46
uh local township organizations like

36:48
milton unico which is like an italian

36:50
society and we do a lot of things

36:52
scholarship related for high school

36:54
students i think we do like thirty

36:56
thousand dollars in scholarships a year

36:58
and we have some like big fundraisers

36:59
throughout the year where we raise money

37:01
for that um

37:02
one is like uh we do like a big dinner

37:05
and you have to sell like raffle tickets

37:06
so they do like a 50 50. and i think

37:08
like for the 50 50 the first prize is

37:10
like nine grand it's like a lot not bad

37:12
so like hey imagine like selling tickets

37:14
and winning 9 000 like and and kids

37:16
still get a ton of scholarship money

37:17
yeah it's crazy so we that's one of our

37:19
big ones we do some golf outings you

37:21
played with you actually played with me

37:22
recently in

37:23
one of the recent ones um

37:25
i'm a part of that we do um

37:29
the

37:31
chamber of commerce in town i'm a member

37:33
of and we do some stuff with that

37:35
a lot of just you know it's i i feel

37:37
like when i was a kid like i didn't have

37:39
a lot of direction in terms of career so

37:42
like it's nice to be able to like do the

37:43
scholarship thing because you know kids

37:45
i feel like kids nowadays they have no

37:47
idea like some know like but others like

37:49
i have no idea and they go to college

37:50
and they're undecided with their major

37:52
yeah and they're kind of just floating

37:53
around partying they want to party you

37:55
know

37:55
yeah i mean

37:56
we've been here we've been there you

37:58
know we've drank a couple beers one or

38:00
two but you know like it's just

38:02
i feel like the kids that apply to

38:03
scholarships and stuff it's not always

38:04
just from like a like a need base like

38:07
they want to actually go to college and

38:08
get an education and learn so it's like

38:10
nice to do those things i want to do

38:12
more stuff in the future um i'd love to

38:14
do like a 5k thing event at some point

38:17
to benefit an organization of my

38:19
choosing

38:20
i'd love to do a golf outing too like i

38:22
have some ideas on i like to plan stuff

38:24
so yeah right i have some ideas on the

38:26
horizon that like you know that i want

38:28
to do but you know it's it feels good to

38:31
give back i've always felt that way like

38:32
i love to cook and i feel like that's a

38:34
way of giving back too so like all those

38:36
things like it feels good you know like

38:37
at the end of the day like you know it's

38:38
a good thing right um when you can

38:40
benefit you know other people and and do

38:42
a lot of stuff so yeah and i think

38:44
nutley's great with that too i um

38:47
you know there's a lot of other groups

38:48
in town that like i'm not a part of but

38:50
like we kind of work with a little bit

38:52
like with our in between our the groups

38:54
i'm in and you know it's just like

38:57
it gives you a good feeling exactly you

38:59
know yeah

39:00
yeah warm and fuzzy yeah and like

39:02
helping kids you know like right the

39:03
best thing ever exactly so yeah awesome

39:05
so uh what i think is interesting too is

39:07
just you know like you said i played in

39:09
the in the unico nutley um the unico

39:12
golf outing and then recently in another

39:14
nutley golf outing yeah and i think that

39:16
you know it it shows that i think the

39:19
the level of community and i think that

39:21
the the recognition i think that you are

39:23
getting

39:24
like when people just walk up to you

39:26
randomly and like we're just you know

39:27
hanging out because i don't know anybody

39:29
and um they're like hey you know like i

39:31
was thinking coming over like i got you

39:33
know knee pain back pain whatever pain

39:35
you're just like yeah come on in you

39:36
know it's just i mean that to me i think

39:38
is the the number one thing i mean

39:40
the community aspect and there's the

39:42
trust there already because they know

39:44
you they know your family they know that

39:45
you're going to take care of them um and

39:47
then you've known them basically your

39:49
whole life so right i think that that

39:50
that's a great example of that well it's

39:52
funny you brought that up because i

39:54
think about this i've been doing those

39:56
outings for years and like only three

39:58
years as like a professional in my field

40:01
and i remember like the first year it's

40:03
like you know yeah i do acupuncture blah

40:04
blah and then like

40:05
it takes time like then you see the

40:08
people again you're like oh how you

40:09
doing like how's your business how's

40:10
your family and stuff and then like you

40:12
know like it was funny when you came to

40:14
that event like i i mean people were

40:16
coming up to me and i was like yeah this

40:18
is weird like you know it's like but

40:20
like that i feel like is kind of like

40:22
laying all those seeds for a long time

40:23
and like you know people are i think it

40:25
takes like with marketing it takes time

40:27
yeah like no one sees one thing like for

40:29
the first time it just goes yep need

40:31
that right now you know what i mean like

40:32
you know like a lot like some are easier

40:34
to sell than others but like a lot of

40:35
times you need that repetition to see it

40:37
and then you're like you're

40:39
conceptualizing and thinking about it

40:40
for a little bit you're like okay you

40:42
know i could use that now yeah what i

40:43
mean right right um so like yeah i mean

40:45
like that's just

40:47
that doesn't that for years that was

40:48
like never the case now it's like you

40:50
know people come in like they're asking

40:51
quite i'm like okay yeah but like you

40:53
know just those things don't happen

40:55
overnight yeah well you took the time

40:56
you built the trust and here we are and

40:58
yeah now we're doing the greetings from

40:59
the garden state podcast and this is

41:01
obviously gonna make you blow up so you

41:02
might need an assistant to answer the

41:03
phone so the next time we're here we

41:04
don't listen to the phone

41:08
anyone if anyone's looking i'm hiring

41:11
um awesome all right so if people want

41:13
to learn more um where can they go to

41:16
learn more about what me in general or

41:18
cover yeah all that yeah so um websites

41:21
i have uh my website's brand new i love

41:24
it looks great uh it's recovernj.com so

41:27
it's rec ovrnj.com

41:30
you go on there you can learn more about

41:32
me my business you can make an

41:33
appointment online you can find out my

41:35
hours and all that stuff all that good

41:37
stuff's on there awesome um

41:39
i'm on social media too i don't really

41:41
know my handles but you know you could

41:43
recover acupuncture

41:45
we'll put them in the shoulders

41:46
yeah i think instagram's recover

41:48
acupuncture nj right there's no there's

41:50
no second e no second people are curious

41:53
you know yeah you can't spell well so

41:55
that's what i want right now yeah

41:57
recover yeah right yeah and then um the

41:59
address here is what this is 259

42:02
washington avenue in nutley new jersey

42:04
right and then does the fairfield office

42:06
have an address yeah let me let me see

42:07
if i butcher this really quick it's um

42:10
397 route 46 west fairfield new jersey

42:14
0704

42:15
so we'll be in there hopefully

42:17
mid-october all right office is almost

42:19
done yeah and we'll be open soon for

42:21
business well i think this is going to

42:23
post after mid-october so hopefully by

42:25
the time this episode comes out you're

42:27
open and people live closer to

42:29
fairfield than they do here to not love

42:30
that they can go there instead yeah

42:31
perfect yeah awesome all right well dr

42:34
alan this has been tremendous uh thank

42:36
you for sharing your insights and all

42:38
that kind of stuff uh here on this

42:39
episode we'll make sure that we put all

42:41
those links and the addresses in the

42:42
show notes

42:44
and uh yeah thank you so much for coming

42:46
on with us today thanks for having me of

42:48
course and everybody else listening uh

42:50
thank you for listening again this is

42:52
i'm mike hamm this is the greetings from

42:53
the garden state podcast we were here

42:55
today at recover acupuncture and sports

42:57
rehab in nutley new jersey i just had to

42:59
look up at the logo to make sure i got

43:01
the whole name right

43:02
we will catch you next time

43:10
[Music]