Meet "Dr. Phil" Shanks
Phil Shanks, Doctor of Chiropractic is a consummate professional in his chosen work. People all over the Evergreen area have relied on him for years to help get their bodies back on track. He is very well known in our area as the “go to” guy to deal with certain kinds of physical pain. His patients are in awe of his clinical skills, and several of them recommended him for this column. While Phil is a doctor of chiropractic, his particular area of expertise is in something that you don’t necessarily always associate with this field. He has made a specialty out of dealing with soft tissues injuries. “Dr. Phil” as he is often called by his many grateful patients, spends several afternoons working in Denver at Swedish Health and the rest of his time in his office at the US Bank building on Evergreen Parkway.
Phil explained why he is so enamored with his particular field of interest. “Five different people can come in with the same presenting problem, but there may be a different etiology for each of those five people. I find the diagnostic process intriguing and enjoy deciphering the cause.” He went on to say that his work is particularly challenging to him because pain may start in the body (for various) reasons, but each individual’s body develops compensatory mechanisms that then create secondary and tertiary impacts on the body. He sees his job to “unlayer” the process and to help the patient understand that compensatory mechanisms can create their own pathology, sometimes worse than the original problem. “Sometimes it’s like detective work to unravel the mystery.”
Dr. Shanks moved to Evergreen almost 16 years ago because he wanted to give his children a chance to finish their growing up years in this lovely mountain community. Although his children are launched, he still finds this a wonderful place to continue to live and grow his practice. If you look around Evergreen, you’ll often see him at his favorite pastime which is running. It’s great to have him as a part of the landscape that is the Evergreen mountain community.
