Luke Cohen Celebrates 10th Anniversary

Innate Chiropractic has been around for 10 years at its Marquez Avenue location. But walk into the storefront clinic today, and you’ll experience what is virtually a brand new clinic ‘with ‘virtual’ being the operative word here. ‘We went from a traditional paper office to completely paperless almost overnight,’ said owner and founder Dr. Luke S. Cohen. Indeed, when patients check in at reception, a biometric scanner instantly identifies them and pulls up all of their records, which appear on Cohen’s computer screen in the treatment room where he will be working with his visitor. Every room has a flat-screen monitor that enables Cohen to not only view a patient’s information but educate said patient with computer-program illustrations. The dulcet sounds of Jack Johnson and Carpio waft softly into the rooms where the physical therapy takes place. An Illum Innate spine model stands in the corner of one room, opposite a flat-screen monitor offering detailed schematic explanations on spinal subluxation and degeneration. In fact, every room contains some sort of computer screen, where the multimedia format enhances the average patient’s understanding of his/her condition. Cohen has also re-invested in the equipment itself, such as top-of-line therapeutic benches and a high/low table that accommodates the wheelchair-bound. He enjoys demonstrating the hand-held Artho-light impulse device ‘for people who can’t tolerate adjustments. Kids like it a lot. I call it the Tickle Machine. Others call it the Woodpecker.’ Meanwhile, gone are the loud colors, busy posters and other wall clutter that used to adorn Innate’s walls. Every medical chamber has been repainted in softer, earthier colors, with thick wood-framed mirrors and large paintings of close-ups of tall grass and bamboo, setting a vaguely Brazilian-rainforest vibe. ‘One of our patients donated these paintings from Bali,’ Cohen explained. The overall effect: a more New Age atmosphere, with an emphasis on calm and peaceful. ‘We wanted our office to be state-of-the-art and relaxing,’ he said. Cohen, 35, originally set up shop on Marquez Avenue in 1999. He expanded his office space in 2003 after his next-door neighbor, a tailor shop, moved out. Last August, Cohen spent about two weeks completely overhauling the office, and he has since been ‘slowly finishing the final touches while maintaining a busy practice.’ At Innate Chiropractic, Cohen treats ‘a wide range of patients, from kids to the elderly,’ for a wide swath of symptoms and ailments. Contrary to popular belief, a chiropractor such as Cohen does not merely crack backs or apply reactive physical therapy to spinal injuries, such as in the aftermath of a car crash. Cohen also addresses a variety of symptoms and ailments and applies preemptive treatment to all parts of the body for neck and arm pains, migraines, sciatica and the like. ‘We identify the problems and work with the right amount of time, not just patch them up,’ Cohen said. ‘We work on ankles and knees, wrists and elbows. Most human beings, as they get older, develop symptoms in the body not normal in the neurological system. ‘Almost anyone can benefit from a chiropractor,’ Cohen added. ‘It’s similar to dentistry.’   Of South African-Jewish descent, Luke Cohen grew up the son of a contractor on the north side of Santa Monica, where he attended Santa Monica High School. Upon graduation, he matriculated into Cleveland Chiropractic College downtown, where he still lectures every two months. Since an early age, Cohen had always known that chiropractic care was his destiny, and with good reason: an expert on musculoskeletal disorders had cured him of his own debilitating childhood ailments, ‘What inspired me to become a chiropractor stemmed as a child sufferer of migraine headaches,’ Cohen said. The unbearable migraines plagued him from age seven to 17. Then a chiropractor identified the source of his problem”an imbalance in the neck”and, after a series of adjustments, Cohen was forever cured. He added that, as a teen, a chiropractor also cured him of a hip condition. ‘It took time to find the right storefront,’ Cohen said, recalling his search for Innate’s Marquez location, which he favored over, say, the Palisades business district, ‘to make it more accessible to Palisadians. It’s easier to find parking here.’ While he admits that he, like most small business owners, has been stung by the economy’s meltdown, he has his decade-long roots at Marquez Knolls to help weather the storm. ‘I’m blessed with longtime patients,’ Cohen said. And perhaps longtime patience as well: an affable, laid-back fellow, he radiates a relaxing kind of energy one would favor in a doctor of this genre. Cohen, who is single, has resided in the Palisades for seven years (his father lived here for 25 years, during which time Cohen fell in love with the area). ‘The Palisades has always been a great place to work and live,’ Cohen said. ‘It has a small-town feel. I also love living near the ocean and the mountains.’ What he called ‘a beautiful location that is healthy and family-minded’ is where he enjoys hiking, going to the beach, and spending time with family and friends. A Palisades Chamber of Commerce member, Cohen has hosted several of the Chamber’s monthly mixers over the years.     Contacts: call (310) 230-1899 or visit www.palichiro.com