Long Island has no shortage of spine clinics. Between chiropractors, orthopedic groups, pain management practices, and physical therapy chains, there are probably a dozen options within a 20-minute drive of Huntington. Many of them offer spinal decompression. Some of them have newer equipment. Some of them have fancier waiting rooms.
So why do patients keep driving past all of them to come to West Hills?
I’m going to answer that question honestly — not with marketing language, but with the things patients actually tell us when we ask why they chose us over a closer option.
1. We’ve Been Doing This Since Before Most of Them Existed
West Hills Chiropractic Pain Center has been offering VAX-D spinal decompression since 1997. That’s not a small distinction.
Many of the spinal decompression clinics that opened on Long Island in the 2000s and 2010s were responding to a marketing wave, not a clinical tradition. They invested in equipment, promoted aggressively, and began treating patients with relatively limited experience in disc pathology specifically. Some of them were very good. Some weren’t.
We were treating disc patients with VAX-D before the DRX9000 existed. Before the decompression marketing wave. Before most of the competing Long Island practices that offer it today had even opened. The clinical pattern recognition that builds up over 27+ years — which patients respond to which parameters, what early indicators predict good outcomes, when to refer rather than treat — is not something you can replicate with newer equipment and a shorter history.
The physicians who’ve been managing disc patients since the Clinton administration have seen things that newer practitioners haven’t seen yet. That experience is the core differentiator, and it’s not transferable.
2. We Tell You the Truth About Your Case
This sounds like a low bar, but it isn’t.
The spine care industry has a significant problem with providers who tell patients what they want to hear. “You’re a great candidate for decompression” is a lot easier to say — and more financially rewarding — than “your stenosis is primarily bony, and decompression is unlikely to help you significantly. Here’s what I think you should actually do instead.”
At West Hills, we’ve been in business long enough that we don’t need to oversell treatment to survive. Our practice was founded in 1981. We have patients who’ve been coming to us for decades. That longevity depends on a reputation for giving people straight answers — even when those answers mean referring out rather than treating in-house.
Patients tell us, often in their first visit, that they came to us specifically because a friend or family member told them “the doctors there will give you an honest answer.” That’s the referral dynamic we’ve built over four decades, and it runs on clinical integrity rather than marketing.
3. Our Physicians Are Specialists, Not Generalists Who Added Decompression
There’s a meaningful difference between a practice that has always focused on spinal and musculoskeletal conditions and one that added a decompression table to an existing general chiropractic practice.
Dr. Tom Oddo holds additional certifications in strength and conditioning (CSCS) and ergonomic assessment (CEAS) beyond his doctorate in chiropractic. Dr. Louis Macolino and Dr. Joe Mills bring decades of combined clinical experience in spine and musculoskeletal care. This isn’t a practice where decompression is an afterthought bolted onto routine adjustments — it’s a core clinical offering surrounded by the diagnostic and rehabilitative expertise to support it properly.
When you come in for a decompression evaluation, you’re not seeing someone who took a weekend course in the technology. You’re seeing clinicians who have built their professional identity around managing complex spine cases without surgery.
4. We Use the Technology That Has the Longest Research Track Record
VAX-D was the first FDA-cleared motorized spinal decompression system and has more peer-reviewed publications behind it than any competing platform. We chose it in 1997 because the evidence supported it, and we’ve stayed with it because the clinical outcomes have validated that choice.
We’re not chasing the newest thing. We’re using the most proven thing, with the most experience operating it. Those two factors together — proven technology plus deep operator experience — produce better outcomes than either alone.
5. We Combine Decompression With Comprehensive Spine Rehab
VAX-D in isolation is a passive treatment — you lie on the table and the machine does the work. In our clinic, decompression is integrated with manual therapy, rehabilitative exercise, and in some cases shockwave therapy, depending on the clinical picture.
The passive decompression session rehydrates and decompresses the disc. The active rehabilitation component addresses the muscular dysfunction, movement pattern problems, and core stability deficits that contributed to the disc problem and will contribute to recurrence if not addressed. A disc patient who gets 20 sessions of VAX-D and no rehabilitation is less likely to stay well than one who also rebuilds the muscular support around the treated segment.
This integrated approach is what distinguishes a serious disc rehabilitation clinic from a decompression practice.
6. You Know Exactly Who’s Treating You
Some larger spine centers rotate you between staff members, involve non-physician staff in your evaluation, or use a corporate protocol regardless of your individual presentation. At West Hills, you know which physician is responsible for your care. You see the same providers consistently. Your treatment plan is individualized, not templated.
This matters more than patients often realize before they’ve experienced the alternative. Clinical continuity means your provider actually knows your case — your imaging, your history, your response pattern over the course of treatment. They’re not reading a chart cold at the start of each visit.
What Patients Actually Tell Us
When we ask patients why they chose West Hills after considering other options, the answers cluster around a few themes:
“A friend who’d been to multiple places told me to come here specifically.”
“The other place I went to felt like a sales pitch. Coming here felt like talking to actual doctors.”
“I looked up how long you’ve been doing VAX-D and nobody else came close.”
“My orthopedic surgeon recommended I try here before scheduling surgery.”
That last one is significant. We receive referrals from orthopedic surgeons who want their patients to have a thorough conservative care trial before considering operative intervention. Those referrals exist because orthopedic surgeons trust our clinical judgment — they know we’ll give their patients an honest assessment and appropriate treatment, and we’ll refer back when surgery becomes the right answer.
Come and See
We’ve been at 400 W Jericho Turnpike in Huntington since 1981. We’ve seen the spine care landscape on Long Island change around us multiple times. We’re still here, treating the same kinds of patients, with the same commitment to clinical honesty and evidence-based practice.
If you’re trying to decide where to take your disc problem, come in for an evaluation. We’ll tell you what we think, which includes telling you if we don’t think we’re the right option for your specific situation.
Call 631-659-2980 or schedule your evaluation online. West Hills Chiropractic Pain Center, 400 W Jericho Turnpike, Huntington, NY 11743.
— Dr. Tom Oddo, DC CSCS CEAS, West Hills Chiropractic Pain Center