Good Neighbor Podcast: Cobb County
Bringing together local businesses and neighbors of Cobb County. Good Neighbor Podcast hosted by Milli M. helps residents discover and connect with your local business owners in and around Cobb County, Georgia.
Is your business serving the residents of Cobb County? Then, we need to talk! Visit gnpCobbCounty.com to schedule your free interview.
Good Neighbor Podcast: Cobb County
E69: Unlocking Your Body's Potential with Dr. Nelson Bulmash
Strength comes in many forms. For Dr. Nelson Bulmash of Health Matters, discovering his incredible physical power as a shy 12-year-old boy fundamentally changed his life trajectory.
On this episode of the Good Neighbor Podcast, Dr. Bulmash shares his remarkable journey from a fearful child to champion powerlifter to renowned chiropractor. His story begins with an astonishing feat of strength—lifting a 205-pound keg of railroad spikes—that revealed his extraordinary physical capabilities and sparked a passion for powerlifting. This path eventually led him to become Michigan's state champion and nationally ranked in college competition.
But the true turning point came after a severe fall on ice temporarily paralyzed him. This life-altering accident, combined with his natural healing abilities (which he first discovered while massaging his mother's rheumatoid arthritis-affected feet), guided him toward chiropractic medicine. Dr. Boulmash explains how this profession allows him to help patients beyond typical back and neck pain. By focusing on the nervous system—which controls all bodily functions—his approach addresses everything from depression and dyslexia to sleep disorders and digestive issues.
What makes Dr. Bulmash's perspective particularly powerful is his personal experience with limitation. Having struggled with severe dyslexia himself, he empathizes deeply with patients facing learning and processing difficulties. His nickname, "the pit bull," reflects his tenacious approach to solving health problems, refusing to give up until he finds a solution.
Perhaps most inspiring is Dr. Bulmash's core belief: "We all have a profound purpose. It is far more important than one might ever realize." Through his practice, he helps patients unlock their potential by addressing the physical issues holding them back, "releasing the magic" within each person.
Ready to transform your health and discover your hidden potential? Contact Dr. Nelson Bulmash at Health Matters: 770-740-8228.
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Millie M.
Speaker 2:Hello everybody, Welcome to the Good Neighbor Podcast. I'm your host, Millie M. Are you in need of chiropractic care from a person who has developed an amazing new technique for restoring total body function? Well, I have that person with me today. It is my pleasure to introduce your good neighbor, Dr Nelson Boulmash of Health Matters. Hi, Dr Boulmash, how are you?
Speaker 3:Yeah, lee, I am doing very, very well, thank you. How are you?
Speaker 2:I'm awesome, I'm glad to be here with you today. I am so excited to learn all about you and your business. Tell us more about Health Matters.
Speaker 3:So where to begin? I was very afraid of a lot of things when I was a kid. I was that kid that was afraid of my own shadow and I don't know why I just I was very, very sensitive. Now that ended up being something that was very useful as I became a healer and a doctor, because it was very intuitive and so it became very good. But when I was a kid I'm embarrassed to say this, but I was that conundrum for people I remember being in sixth grade and I loved watching the trains go by. It just fascinated me to see him roar through the tunnel next to our school. That's how he used to go over there and you weren't supposed to. But I kind of look around, don't see nobody, and I would never go on the tracks, but I'd watch these trains rip through the tunnel and one day, millie, I went over there and.
Speaker 3:I thought, whoa, what is this? And they had a very specifically designed train car and the whole process of this car being present there was to replace the railroad tracks. But it was the most fascinating thing how this removed the spikes from the ties. And then this took the tie out and they stacked it on one part of this long train car and so forth. And suddenly the guys were off to lunch and I thought, ooh, I'm a boy 12. I got to check this out. So I quietly snuck over there. There was nobody there and I thought this is so fascinating. And then I saw a big keg About this big, about that big around and I thought, wow, what is this? This looks like something a 12-year-old should pick up.
Speaker 3:It turned out it was a CAG Millie with all the new spikes to put the railroad ties in and hold them in place. And my friends, who were also 12, looked at me and went no, no, that'll kill you. You can't touch that. You can't touch that. My mom said you shouldn't touch anything like this. I said I'm going to touch it, you guys should back up here. And I rolled it and it said 205 pounds of railroad spikes and Millie, game was on. I said I got you and I bent over and I tried to roll this thing. I went okay, it's got a little substance to it.
Speaker 3:And I picked it up, millie, and I pressed it over my head and I held it over my head 12 years old, 205 pounds, I felt like the equivalent of a weightlifting rock star and I remember putting it down and saying, well, I'm a really strong boy and that kind of was a takeoff point of my life because I went up to the uh high school and it just turns out a girl that I had a crush on. She had a crush on me and a very, very big dad, very big dad, 300 and change. And he was the varsity football coach and he stood there for a brown, said boy, what are you doing around here? I said I'm going to lift weights. He said go play baseball, you should come here. And I said to him okay, you should know, one of these days I'm going to walk right by you.
Speaker 3:Not today, son, not today. I came every day, millie, and there's a point to this I'll get to in one second and that was that I loved lifting heavy objects, which is really funny because I'm a pretty intelligent guy. Many people look at me and say, dr Bomasch, you're quite an intelligent man, why do you like to lift heavy objects? And, of course, millie. The answer is why do you do anything like that, millie? Because you can.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 3:One day I walked by him. I had to. There was a line of guys. They were doing something called a deadlift. Do you know what a deadlift is? I do you do? Okay, twelve-year-old Nelson David Bullmash saunters in the weight room, gets in line. Really, I don't know how to do it, dad, let's. I have no clue, but I'm watching these other boys bend over, grab, bar lift, stand up. Okay, I can do this. So we get to the last three guys and yours truly is one of those three guys and we're up to 405 pounds.
Speaker 1:What yeah 405.
Speaker 3:So I reached down and I said is this right, I'm just lift the weight. Okay, okay, millie, I just stand straight up with it Like there was no weight attached to the wall, just boom, and I don't know what I'm doing. It was so ugly, millie.
Speaker 2:No form. No form no form.
Speaker 3:Just boom, and I don't know what I'm doing. It was so ugly, millie. No form, no form. And you know everybody's looking and going. For god sakes, man, would you bend your knees, would you bend your back? And I'm getting yelled at all over. And then finally one kid says who is this dude? Dude, where are you from? Pierce, pierce, oh, so are you not a stater? No, no, I walked here from my house. No, I'm 12, really I'm 12.
Speaker 3:So all of a sudden, it hits him Pierce, did you just graduate from Pierce Elementary School? Yes, yes, I did, I did. You're 12 years old? I said yes, I am. You just deadlifted 405 pounds. That put you in the third place of all the football players on the varsity football team at Flint Michigan, flint Central High School. Apparently, yes, and it's funny because that started a love for me. That set me on a pace. I wanted to become a state, national and world champion. That lift, never having done it before, as I recall, put me in third place for my age in the nation.
Speaker 3:And I just, really I fell in love with all things physical, anything physical. Well, marriage, so to speak, has a lasting purpose. And here I was. My sweet mom would say honey, your hands are so strong, would you massage my feet? She had rheumatoid arthritis. Oh, I'm happy to, of course. Whoa, whoa, son, you have really strong hands. Oh, good one. Does that help with this? Uh, yes, son, very good pressure, very good pressure, and so everything came together. And I say this because if you start paying attention early in life, the things that you're supposed to do come to you.
Speaker 2:Does that make sense, it makes perfect sense.
Speaker 3:And so I'm 12 years old, I'm working on a Holocaust survivor, my sweet mom, such a brilliant, sweet woman, and I'm working away from. I mean, is this okay? Is this sweet? Sweet is perfect? Yeah, okay, a little strong, a's rough, and she's just loving on me and giving me the greatest love and commentary.
Speaker 2:You're such a wonderful storyteller and there's so many nuggets that you could pull from that, from you going from a shy kid to learning your purpose in life and how that purpose gave you confidence and how that purpose flowed into everything as you got older. So that's how you got into the physicality. So tell us specifically what Health Matters does today.
Speaker 3:So what Health Matters does is it uses. I'm kind of a nerdy boy. I'm that guy, that Millie, if you come by and say now nobody can fix this, millie, millie, nobody.
Speaker 2:Watch this.
Speaker 3:Watch this, this, and I've had many circumstances like that a friend whose dog was going to be terminated. The rear hips and one of the four legs wasn't working right and so she called me, crying hysterically. They were going to put her dog down at the vet and she said I know how smart you are, nelson, you can figure this out. I don't care what everybody else can do, but I know you can't. Oh, okay, okay, um, are you gonna bring your dog over? You know, I've never worked on a dog, nelson, I'm bringing my dog over.
Speaker 3:And so all these interesting little experiences, the deadlift experience, gave me all the confidence in the world. Here I was as strong as stronger than most of the high school football players. Here I was able to pick up 205 pounds. All of a sudden, my confidence started to emerge and I thought I might be able to do way more than I think, and this is what I'm telling people. You start to see evidence of things coming together to take you down a particular path, and I fell in love with being able to help my sweet mother. And then, suddenly, my brother was a track star at michigan and, uh, he said the same thing. Little brother, I, I need you to work my feet. I need you to work my feet. You're so good at that and people were actually asking me to work on their feet, millie, it's like I. I don't have a degree in this, I don't really know what I'm doing?
Speaker 2:Was reflexology part of your practice today?
Speaker 3:Well, not as such, meaning I've never been formally trained, millie, but if I get my hands on you, I know the body, I can figure it out. I can bring peace, love and joy to the body. Watch out, dr Bobash, you're just going to show up on my doorstep. Hi, millie, is that you? Yes, it is. I need some foot reflexology. Okay, come on in, but anyhow, it's. Looking back at my life, I'm 63 years old now and I realize I hope you don't mind me using the word God I believe very, very deeply in spirituality. Using the word god, I believe very, very deeply in spirituality. And looking back at my life, I see all these points of zigzag taking from one point to another, point to another point to take me where I am. I blinked my eye, millie. I was a chiropractor, and I became a chiropractor specifically because after winning the state championship powerlifting tournament in the state of Michigan, which is another huge confidence booster, because I'm competing against these really big boys from the University of Michigan, eastern Michigan, michigan State and they're a little intimidating.
Speaker 3:These are their top football players. I haven't, you know, I didn't play football, I haven't banged around like that. So I came up, the number one lifter. I beat all of them and I remember hearing them say who is this dude man? What school does he play football for? And they finally came up and said dude, who are you? You're a really strong guy. How come we don't know about you? Well, I don't play football. What? You're stronger than all of us and you don't play football. Are you kidding me? No, no, I'm not joking. My dad wouldn't let me. He got hurt too badly playing football so he forbid me from doing it. But once again, it gave me confidence. And confidence, millie, is so important going through life, if you don't have confidence, you can't do the show. If, if I didn't have confidence, I wouldn't be the state champion, number one ranked powerlifter.
Speaker 3:When I was in college in America, all of this sparked miracle after miracle. I blinked my eye and suddenly I was training my kids. They were the best in the world in powerlifting. My daughter was never defeated. I think she was probably the greatest young lifter to ever come out of the state of Georgia, to ever come out of the state of Georgia, and so all of these things kept compounding.
Speaker 3:And then one day some guy tried to embarrass me in front of a room full of young women that were all one more beautiful than the other one, and I was so shy still and he threw a thing called a Rubik's cube at me and I'm fumbling around and I finally stabilized and catch and I said what is this? And he said Are you stupid? You don't know what that is. No, no, I work three jobs and catch. And I said what is this? And he said are you stupid? You don't know what that is. No, no, I work three jobs and I work out. I don't know, I don't know what is some kind of a cue.
Speaker 3:What do I do with this? He said well, look at it. Am I supposed to make the sides the same color? Oh, you think, okay, all right, you don't have to be nasty about it. And all the women around are laughing, which is really embarrassing me and, of course, make it difficult to think. And so I said you know, I am working here as a night watchman. Are we giving excuses already that you can't figure it out? You're not smart enough. I didn't say that I'll figure it out on my lunch break. Sure, you will yeah.
Speaker 3:Brains and brawn, that is you definitely I got a little embarrassed, millie. I was actually really embarrassed. We're like six beautiful young women, once again one more beautiful than the other, and I was really shy around women when I was that age. I didn't know what to do or to say, and so he went to lunch and I said, yeah, I got you.
Speaker 2:Figured it out.
Speaker 3:I figured it out on my lunch break man, I had him hanging down here like this and I said here, is that what you wanted? And he did the same thing. And then they really let me do it.
Speaker 2:You showed him. So tell us about some of the myths or misconceptions about your industry or what you do specifically.
Speaker 3:Let me. Let me give you a big one, number one. A lot of people don't think chiropractors are educated. We have nearly the same medical background minus surgery and drugs that medical doctors have. So I had a four year degree from a little known school called the University of Michigan and I got degrees in biology, chemistry and psychology Very, very good school. As a matter of fact, all the degrees that I got when I was there in the 1980s they were all in the top, probably five to ten programs, meaning chemistry per school, chemistry per school in the country.
Speaker 2:So it was a very, very hard school yeah, I've spoken to other um chiropractors and I think people don't realize how important our nervous system is to all the other functions of the body. So I really think just being adjusted and staying in touch with chiropractic care can alleviate some of those um ailments that they're going to their doctors for. They're getting medicated for.
Speaker 3:Millie, you're so on point. So a lot of people think that chiropractic is just for aches and pains. I got headaches, I got neck pain, I got back pain, just your back and neck, yeah, yeah, and certainly it's very effective for that. But let's take a moment and think reasonably logically about this. Chiropractic clears the musculoskeletal system, yes, but it also helps you maintain a healthy nervous system. And what controls all aspects of the body? The nervous system. That nervous system, for sure. And so I'm not saying that I cure these things, but I've had plenty of people come in with depression, with learning issues like dyslexia, with depression, with learning issues like dyslexia, with pain walking, with almost anything you can think of.
Speaker 2:Ear infections, trouble sleeping, yeah, digestive tract issues.
Speaker 3:Yeah, are you a chiropractor, millie? I am not, I told you.
Speaker 2:I spoke with one.
Speaker 3:You stayed at a Holiday Inn Select last night, didn't you?
Speaker 2:I know you never know, you never know.
Speaker 3:So, anyhow, what ended up happening, the turning point in my life, was I was way behind after I won the Michigan State Powerlifting Championships and I qualified number one in the United States for lifting in my division my weight division in college and I was scheduled to go to that and then, if I did well there, then I'd go to the world championships. And I did one of my first really stupid things, millie. Uh, we were having one of the worst, if not the worst, ice storm in the history of michigan and a voice spoke in my head and said sit your butt down and go down the stairs butt cheek by butt cheek, so to speak, meaning down like this, milly. There wasn't anybody on the campus. I was the last man standing on the campus and I looked around and everything you could ice, skate it anywhere, everything was covered at that point in about a half an inch of ice. I had my heavy backpack full of books on my right shoulder. I took a step and I went down the abbreviated set of steps and I fell directly on my back.
Speaker 3:I remember having this quintessential moment where I thought, wow, I'm going to die today. I can't breathe, I can't move. The only thing I can do is I can make my eyes flutter. That's the only thing I can do, and I became very at peace with that. I'm going to die, this is the day that I'm going to die. And I just was lying there with my eyes open and I found tremendous peace in the sound of the freezing rain next to me, that of the freezing rain. And then I heard the wind blowing. You could hear the cracking of the ice as the branches moved in the wind, and and I found this tremendous peace in going into death. And then suddenly, after I don't know how long Millie it had to be at least three minutes, maybe four I started to feel really lightheaded, like I was just drifting off, and suddenly I could breathe. And then, as the minutes went by, suddenly I felt fire going into my toes and then I could move my toes and my fingers and I came back to life. And I just remember lying there like just calm down, calm down, find peace, find peace. Lying there like I just calmed down, calm down, find peace, my peace.
Speaker 3:And somehow I don't know how, because I was transiently paralyzed I kind of crawled, hobbled to my car and it was all surreal and I found a way to get in. And I went home and I just crashed on the couch. My mom mom said honey, are you okay? Yeah, I'm okay, mom, I'm going to go to sleep. You're going to go to sleep. Yeah, I need to rest, mom. Okay, honey, I hope you feel better. She said I will.
Speaker 3:And that was the jumping off point of me figuring out how I went from the number one ranked lifter in college with my body weight to barely being able to walk. I got some ability back, but I couldn't. I couldn't effectively walk, I couldn't do anything effectively anymore. I was a mess. I was a real mess. I could barely, barely move. And I decided in that moment I said you know, I remember when I was 15 years old, when my mom took me to her chiropractor because she had terrible back problems and something said do this. And it was the first time since the accident that I could feel strength coming back to me, that I could get up out of a chair myself, that I could walk without. Am I going to fall down the stairs? Am I going to fall down the stairs? And I'm a man that likes to set goals. I like to resurrect myself when I crash. Very important term. I like to resurrect myself when I crash Very important term.
Speaker 3:Sometimes in life we've got to resurrect ourselves and I said to myself I don't know if I'm ever really going to be able to deadlift or squat again. Maybe. But I'm going to break that 600 pound barrier in the bench press. And as the years went by not many, by the way, millie, not many 207 pounds I did a drug free. 600 pound bench press Wow, and that's drug free. I know many people that have done it with lots of drugs. I did it drug free. And then I had another. I won't go into the other health issue that I had, but Flint Michigan was a really really, really stressful place. Every time I turned around, somebody was either getting killed, trying to kill, and so I did the best I could to stay alive, day by day. And if you're familiar with Flint Michigan highest murder rate, assault rate, et cetera it had four major areas that had the highest death rates in the country.
Speaker 2:Like you said, you were a Phoenix who came out of that area to soar and be successful. So, dr Bulmarsh, if there was just one thing you would like for our listeners to always remember about you and Health Matters, what would that one thing be?
Speaker 3:You've given us so many inspirational stories.
Speaker 2:Can you say it again? I said you've given us so many inspirational stories and things to think about. What would be that?
Speaker 3:one. I absolutely believe this. If you're going to come to my office to get help from me, I'm going to make sure that, before you ever leave my office, you're going to begin to understand that we all have a purpose here, All of us have a profound purpose. Now, some may be bigger than us Not everyone's going to be the president of the United States of America, right, but we all have an important role Everyone, and I will suggest to you this.
Speaker 3:It is far more important than one might ever realize. I was a scared little boy that cried every time I turned around. I can't mention names because of HIPAA, but I've had some of the most famous people in the world in my office. I've had people that you watch on NFL Sunday Olympians, you name it. I have people that come to me and say, nelson, I want my world record back, please. I know you can get it for me. Please accept me as a patient and do your magic. I've seen what you can do. I've talked to plenty of people in the world athletic scene that say you're a magic man. Bring me your magic. Bring me your magic.
Speaker 3:Bring me your magic I'm recreating myself.
Speaker 2:I'm going to be the next one, and there's beauty of it.
Speaker 3:We all have our own individual magic in our own little ways, and part of what chiropractic does it releases the magic. I watched people's lives, little kids who were so dyslexic they didn't know how they were going to stay in school. I was so dyslexic, millie, I thought I was retarded. And then I had an IQ test and the person that tested my IQ said yeah, no, no, no. There's no mental retardation here. No, no, no, no, no, no.
Speaker 2:You're actually brilliant.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I'm not trying to be weird, but he said you have one of the highest IQs I've ever seen. I said please, don't tease, please, please. I've led my life thinking I was retarded because I didn't hear well, I didn't see well, couldn't read the chalkboard, couldn't hear the questions the teachers asked me. So often they'd say, nelson, would you please stand up and da, da, da, da. And I wouldn't hear them. So I looked like an idiot. So, moms and dads, if your kids don't seem to be right they can't, they don't seem to be hearing you, they seem to be dyslexic Take them to somebody please. Because I literally thought for a good portion of my life I was retarded and so when I tell you I had a confidence problem, I had a confidence problem.
Speaker 3:So what you can do at health matters is you can, you can know this. I love the people I see, because I know what it's like to be reasonably intelligent and to feel retarded, not slow. Retarded like why can't I hear the teacher? I see her lips moving. I can't hear her, why can't I? Why can't I? Why can't I see what's written on the chalkboard? And then what do you do with that person, millie? You go to the back of the class so you can be invisible Right and you can't hear even more and you can't see even more. And then you feel even more stupid.
Speaker 2:It's a vicious cycle, for sure. So if someone wants to change their lives through connecting with you, how would they find you?
Speaker 3:Call lives through connecting with you. How would they find you? Call me at 770-740-8228. And here's what I can tell you. I don't know whether I can or can't help you with what you're looking for, but I will tell you this my nickname when I was a fighter and an athlete was the pit bull. And I was called the pit bull because, not just because I love pit bulls, but because once I locked on to a problem like the Rubik's cube, it was done. It wasn't leaving my hands until I solved it. And so I bring that tenacity to my to my career.
Speaker 3:And I remember when I was in school, I thought I want to be the valedictorian. Then I I said no. Now the people up for the valedictorian position are wonderful people, they're brilliant people, but they're really people who should be teachers or researchers. They don't put the time into developing the skills with their hands that you need as a chiropractor. And so I had one simple, one simple mantra. You know what it was, millie. What's that? Pick me, pick me. If anyone can get you better, it's me. I don't say that to be arrogant. I don't say that I'm a pit bull. I'm a pit bull with a good attitude, like Dad no dog in the walk down the street is going to take you out. When I'm next to you, I will do everything I can to love and support you and to get you better. So if anybody can get you better through natural means, pick me no-transcript.
Speaker 1:Go to gnpcobbcountycom. That's gnpcobbcountycom, or call 470-470-4506.