Dr. Dave Pommerenck: A Chiropractic Journey
Back in the softly lit Fresh Scoop Studio, suffused with gentle orange and blue hues, Dr. Dave Pommerenck sat tall in a black suit and tie. He showed barely a flicker of amusement when humor arose in conversation as he cracked one joke to the next. Yet beneath that calm exterior glimmered an undeniable wit. His voice was rich, warm, and resonant, the kind one might expect from a seasoned audiobook narrator, adding a sense of comfort to his every word.
From the beginning, he introduced himself simply and succinctly: “My name is Dr. Dave Pommerenck. I’m a chiropractor. My office is located at 25095 Jefferson Avenue, Suite 203.”
Although his hands remained still during most of the interview, his steady eye contact and impressive storytelling would captivate anyone within earshot. Now, three weeks into the grand opening of his new practice, he expressed gratitude and relief at the positive response from the community. “It’s better than I thought it was ever going to be,” he said matter-of-factly.
When asked how he discovered the world of chiropractic, Dr. Dave’s expression remained as measured as ever, yet his story was anything but ordinary.
At 19, Dave Pommerenck was in a harrowing automobile accident. A bald tire blew out late one night, sending the car tumbling through a chain-link fence. He emerged with only a few stitches, but the repercussions of that accident would unfold over the next few years. Chronic headaches, sinus troubles, and an eventual diagnosis of pneumonia left him in a dire condition. Rather than accept a hospital admission, he sensed might end badly (as his own father had passed away in that facility the year before), he instead listened to a friend’s suggestion: “Why not see a chiropractor?”
On his first visit, he had a fever of 105.5 degrees, which the doctor explained stemmed from injuries in his neck that were affecting his lungs. Nonchalantly, Dr. Dave recounted how, “He told me I’d be back to work in two weeks.” The improbable became real; with a specific chiropractic regimen and vitamins, his fever subsided, his headaches disappeared, and his sinus problems resolved. A year later, a football-related injury brought him to another chiropractor, the dean of a chiropractic college, who saw Dr. Dave’s potential and encouraged him to join the profession. The rest, as he phrased it with understated conviction, was history.
In conversation, Dr. Dave displayed an intriguing habit: whenever he said something remarkable, he might shrug slightly or turn his palms upward as if to say, “That’s just what happened.” He recounted practicing in Italy for three and a half years, where he partnered with top neurologists and orthopedic surgeons, often seeing up to 150 patients a day. In normal Dr. Dave fashion, he nonchalantly detailed how he had also served as past president of multiple organizations, including a Chamber of Commerce, speaking of these achievements as casually as though they were routine.
Eventually, Dr. Dave and his wife, Deborah, moved to Temecula. After 33 years in a Torrance-area practice, he discovered that many longtime friends had passed away, prompting Deborah to insist he retire. For a time, he worked in other doctors’ offices all over California, but it was not enough. He missed the calling he had come to see as his life’s purpose: “I have to finish what I was meant to do—get sick people well and get people out of pain,” he told us.
Deborah, who had started her own cookie business, could see Dave was out of his element and not following his purpose. Putting her love for her husband first, she encouraged him to follow this passion. Now, with a new office bustling with patients, he observed in that same unhurried tone, “It’s just been a blessing.”
When asked about his motivation, he shrugged gently, as though the answer were obvious: “I see people in a lot of pain, and they don’t know what to do about it.” He insisted on the importance of thorough examinations, including X-rays.
“Not to see is to guess,” he explained in a tone that left no doubt about the seriousness of his words; like one misstep could be the difference between healing and harm. He shared stories of patients who arrived with severe headaches, numb limbs, or chronic backaches and left with relief after a precise adjustment. One patient, experiencing constant bloating, discovered that the nerves in her lower back were affecting her intestines. Another arrived barely able to lift her head, only for X-rays to reveal bone cancer that made certain maneuvers far too risky. “If I had adjusted her without those images, she might have been paralyzed or worse,” he said.
The topic of trendy, social-media-famous adjustments, like the so-called Y-strap that violently jerks a patient’s neck, elicited a shift in Dr. Dave’s facial expression, an internal eye roll that even he couldn’t hide. The annoyance was real.
“That’s very non-specific and can be dangerous,” he said sternly, citing the potential for serious arterial damage in the neck.
In that stern tone, he encouraged anyone suffering from unexplained pain to seek a proper diagnosis. “Even if you don’t know how to describe the pain, at least come in for an exam,” he offered.
His newest practice aims to be accessible, with an introductory $49 examination and X-ray for new patients, a conscious effort to make care affordable to as many people as possible.
Throughout the interview, his gaze never wavered, and his humor remained as deadpan as ever. Yet his empathy was unmistakable, revealed in the countless stories of patients who arrived in despair and left feeling hopeful. When asked what people should know about him, he simply replied, “I love what I do. This is where I’m meant to be.”
His gentle confidence made it clear: Dr. Dave Pommerenck is indeed a man on a mission; though one might never suspect from his quiet composure and dry wit just how profound his impact has already been.
Watch his full article here: Dr. Dave Pommerenck | Transforming Lives Through Chiropractic
