Local control and oversight of the Axial Trac table were missing. Dr. W. Patrick Danzey of Avon Park Chiropractic Clinic designed the multipurpose adjusting table and holds a patent on it. Until recently, a Virginia company had been manufacturing the table on a per-order basis.
Instead of traveling hundreds of miles to check on production of the tables, Dr. Danzey only has to go a few since they are now being made in Avon Park.

It was Monica Danzey's idea to make the change and local production commenced in September of last year. Dr. Danzey is president of Axial Trac Inc. while Monica is vice president. Their son, Ryan, is senior marketing rep for the company.

"Some of their quality control procedures were not up to our standards," Ryan said. "My dad had to continuously fly his plane back and forth from here to Virginia to maintain some type of quality control. It got to be a little too much."

Pro Weld Inc., located on Forest Avenue, is handling the fabrication and assembly of the tables while Smith Upholstery is in charge of the upholstery of the cushions.

Five tables have been made in Avon Park, and there are 10 tables in production, according to Ryan.

The company has shipped tables to Saudi Arabia and Portugal and a there is a pending order for six tables to go to New Zealand.

"Because we are manufacturing here we have so much higher quality control standards," Ryan said, adding that his father personally inspects each table before it is shipped.

"It's great for the economy here; we're giving people jobs," Ryan said. "We're giving people business."

Dr. Danzey recently lectured at a conference in Chicago and plugged the Axial Trac. From that lecture, an order for six tables was received. He will be speaking at the Florida Chiropractic Association convention in August that is expected to attract more than 4,000 doctors.

The Axial Trac combines the best aspects of flexion distraction and spinal decompression therapies.

Dr. Danzey explained in a previous Highlands Today story that flexion and decompression therapies have been around for a long time but both have "some serious shortcomings."

"It was born out of frustration working on my patients," Danzey said of how the idea for the table originated. "Neither therapy was doing exactly what I wanted it to and I knew there had to be a way that we could combine both."

The table is designed to treat lower back pain, bulging or herniated discs, leg pain and numbness and spinal stenosis, the narrowing of the spinal canal. Danzey said he sees a lot of spinal stenosis in Highlands County because it is often common in elderly people.

"It stretches the lower back in a very controlled and very specific manner," Danzey said.

The table is what Ryan calls "a practice builder."

"Doctors want something that helps them help their patients in a more cost effective manner," Ryan said. "And do it in a faster amount of time.

"What's hard with the chiropractic industry is it seems like a lot of patients lose their faith because they are not getting the results that they expect immediately," he added.

"Using our table you have the ability to increase or decrease the parameters of how the table functions so that you always have something further to offer the patient, re-instilling confidence in their treatment plan."

Ryan is using social media and said he is doing an ad campaign with Google and one with Facebook.

"I'm targeting doctors all over the country and the world on their personal Facebook pages," he said.

Ryan is also marketing in Florida, which is one of the biggest chiropractic states in the country in terms of the number of chiropractors working.