Good Neighbor Podcast: Pittsburgh
Bringing together local businesses and neighbors of Pittsburgh. Good Neighbor Podcast hosted by Leila Carter helps residents discover and connect with your local business owners in and around Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
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Good Neighbor Podcast: Pittsburgh
E100: A Candid Discussion with Dr.Ian Bulow: How A Gentle Neck Adjustment Can Change A Life
What makes Dr.Ian Bulow with Revive Upper Cervical Chiropractic a good neighbor?
When doctors say “everything looks normal” yet you still feel dizzy, foggy, or in pain, it’s hard not to lose hope. We sat down with Dr. Ian Bulow of Revive Upper Cervical Chiropractic to explore a precise, gentle approach to the upper neck that aims to change that story- no twisting, no cracking, and measurable results that matter in daily life.
Dr. Bulow breaks down the three pillars that set upper cervical care apart: objective testing to track real change, three-dimensional CT imaging to map alignment down to the millimeter, and a Blair-certified adjustment that avoids rotation while targeting the atlas and axis with accuracy. We dive into why this method helps people with vertigo, chronic dizziness, migraines, and post-concussion symptoms, and we talk about complex cases like trigeminal neuralgia where the pain is intense and traditional options feel limited. Rather than chase symptoms, the focus is restoring the brain–body connection through meticulous alignment of the upper neck.
We also clear up myths fueled by viral “neck crack” videos. Chiropractic is a broad field with many certifications, and high-risk patients- those with prior neck surgery, instability, or vascular concerns- still have options when methods are selected wisely. Dr. Bulow shares why he teaches the Blair procedure nationally, how his team prioritizes a world-class patient experience, and what “revive” truly means for people who want their lives back. Along the way, we touch on local community, small business roots, and that vital message of possibility: you can improve, and careful care can help you get there.
Curious whether upper cervical care is a fit? Search reviveUCC to learn more or call 724-772-7060 about their new patient special. If this conversation helped you think differently about dizziness, migraines, or chronic pain, follow the show, share it with a friend, and leave a review to help more neighbors find real options.
To learn more about Revive Upper Cervical Chiropractic go to:
https://www.reviveucc.com/
Revive Upper Cervical Chiropractic
(724) 772-7060
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Lila Carter.
SPEAKER_02:Welcome to the Good Neighbor Podcast. Are you in need of the chiropractic clinic? One might be closer than you think. Today I have the pleasure of introducing your good neighbor, Dr. Ian Buulo, with Revive Upper Cervical Chiropractic. Dr. Buulo, how's it going today?
SPEAKER_00:It's going well. Thanks for having me. It's a pleasure to be on.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, thanks for being here. We're excited to learn all about you and your business. So please tell us more about your company.
SPEAKER_00:So Revive Upper Cervical has been in the community for almost 20 years, and we help people with a lot of chronic conditions. Probably the most popular would be things like vertigo, dizziness and imbalances, post-concussion syndrome, things like that. But right behind there, you'd have things like chronic migraine headaches, whiplash injuries, and neurodegenerative diseases. Neurodegenerative, it's a broad term, but it's anyone who's been to a neurologist or an ENT, and after they do all the MRIs and do all the tests, they kind of put their hands up and go, we don't know what's wrong with you. It's usually because what they're dealing with is a spinal issue in the upper neck. But the neurologists and ENTs are trained to look at the skull and the brain. So if not if the MRI is clear, or you know, the sinuses are clear and the ears are clear, they don't really know why someone is having you know fullness or ringing the ears or dizziness or vertigo or anxiety or pressure in the head. And they just kind of go, Well, here's a prescription for pain, or here's a prescription for anxiety, or here's a prescription to go see a shrink. And um, those are the types of people that come into our office and do really well. So we've been doing that for almost 20 years, and it's been um pretty rewarding. Um, the whole reason we call the clinic Revive is because we get a kick out of helping people get their lives back, and it's pretty fun, it's pretty cool work.
SPEAKER_02:I love that. Yeah, 20 years. So, how did you get into this business initially?
SPEAKER_00:Well, I was helped by a chiropractor. You know, chiropractors are unique and different, you know, they're like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get or when you're gonna need one. Um it's uh so I needed one as a child and it helped me, and I didn't really give it much thought um until I had some friends that were chiropractors in Wexford, their dad was a chiropractor, I mean, and um, they just had a really cool outlook on life. Chiropractic is a very natural thing. So if someone's in a family that doesn't like having a gigantic pharmaceutical cabinet in their bathroom, um, then they probably would like chiropractors because we try and help people get off of medications and get back to living a happy and a full life. So I kind of saw that as a child. I I thought only my family was weird like that. So when I met some friends whose dad was a chiropractor and realized, oh, there's other people who aren't addicted to medications, no judgment there. But like after a while, if it's an endless journey of more and more pharmaceuticals, it can be um hard. I mean, that's a hard road to be on. So I'm not judging it, I'm just saying that's not what I wanted, you know. And um, so that attracted me in the beginning. And then when I was in chiropractic college, I had uh an incidence where I met a patient who was at one time suicidal from having a pain syndrome in the face, something called trigeminal neuralgia. That falls under that umbrella of neurodegenerative conditions I was mentioning earlier. So, this is someone who had been to the neurologist, he had all of his teeth pulled because trigeminal neuralgia is like having um a root canal done without any novocaine. It's a very intense facial pain, and it's nicknamed the suicide disease because a lot of people with this condition um choose suicide as an answer to their chronic pain. And he came to our school and presented, and it blew my socks off. I mean, I he was the nicest man. He had his life saved, literally saved, um, from a procedure known as upper cervical chiropractic. And um, I think I understand you had on your podcast one time Dr. Dade Razir is who's another upper cervical practitioner in Pittsburgh. There's not many of us, um, but that attracted me to this specialty called upper cervical. And um, and so that's kind of what got me into this work. I hold a lot of extra degrees in the upper neck. I have a postgraduate diplomate in the upper neck. I'm certified in what's called the Blair upper cervical procedure, and I go around the country teaching it now. And so that's sort of the nutshell, but a little bit drawn out in terms of what brought me into this type of work that I do today.
SPEAKER_02:So, what differentiates an upper cervical approach from a traditional one when it comes to chiropractic?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, it's a good question. So it really depends on objectives and kind of why you do what you do and the patients that you see, but practically what it would look like as a patient. There are three primary differences as a patient. What you'll see when you go into an upper cervical clinic, or what you'll experience, number one, is some pretty in-depth clinical testing that goes beyond our hands. And there's nothing wrong with using your hands, but upper cervical tends to be very objective. So we want to measure things. We're very like engineering that way. So whether it's thermal imaging, postural assessments, range of motion testing, um, but most importantly, through what in at the Revive Clinic, I can't speak for all the upper cervical clinics in the state of Pennsylvania, but at Revive upper cervical, we actually do three-dimensional CT imaging, which is like bar none world-class imaging. You can't get you can't do better than three-dimensional CT imaging when you look at alignment of bone. So that's better than MRI, it's better than X-ray, it's better than anything. So that's the um second difference. So the first difference is objective testing to measure someone's spine before and after the adjustment. So it's not always based on what the doctor feels or what the patient feels, it's based on actual measurements before and after. The second difference would be the three-dimensional CT imaging that allows us to diagnose the misalignment with 100% precision down to the millimeter. And then the third difference would be the actual procedure itself. So the the Blair board certified procedure does not involve any bending, twisting, cracking, or popping of the spine at all. Patients lie on their side, there's a little impulse behind the ear, but there's no rotation of the neck, no cracking or popping, nothing like that. So it's very controlled, very measured, and um, you know, it kind of speaks to our promise as a clinic, which is to deliver measurable results in reasonable time while delivering on a world-class patient experience, meaning we really want to take care of our patients like family, but we want to make sure they're getting the best care possible.
SPEAKER_02:Wow, that's amazing. Yeah, I think whenever you traditionally think of chiropractic care, you do imagine, you know, the bending, the snapping, the popping.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:It might be a little bit intimidating for some folks to approach chiropractic care because of that. So I love that you offer an alternative. Now, what are some myths or maybe misconceptions in your industry that you'd like to talk about today?
SPEAKER_00:Well, it kind of feeds off of what you just said. There's a there's a myth or a misconception of the risk levels involved, you know. I think in some cases, rightfully so. I'm not a big fan of the TikTok videos where people's heads are being wrapped in a towel and they're being like almost like you're popping off a Barbie doll's head. You know, I don't I'm not a big advocate of that. I don't I don't like it. I'm sure there's some benefit to it, but I'll be honest, I don't love it. Um and so the myth would be that all chiropractors are that way, though. You know, we just think that's the way it is, and it's like that's that's not true at all. It's sort of like medicine. In modern in modern medicine, you have lots of different types of doctors, you have lots of different certifications and degrees. So in chiropractic, it's very much the same way. There are different procedures and certifications in chiropractic. And one of the things that hurts patients the most is just never looking into it and taking at face value what they are told by their medical team sometimes, which is don't ever see a chiropractor. You know what I mean? And that actually, to be honest with you, is a little bit of malpractice. It would be like if I said to someone, don't ever take that medication. It's a very, it's a very irresponsible thing for me to say because I am not a medical physician. It's not responsible for me to tell someone what medications to take or not take, because that's not my field. So unfortunately, medical doctors feel some of them, not all, but some medical doctors, out of their concern for a patient, which is good, like someone who's had neck surgery or someone who's had a stroke, or someone who's had something called Arnold Chiari malformation or ligament laxity in their neck, for all good intentions, the medical doctor might think that all chiropractors are like the the ring dinger on TikTok where they yank the head. So, rightfully so, they'll say, Don't ever see a chiropractor, because they are afraid for their patient that their heads will be yanked. And if they've had the surgeries, if they've had the strokes, if they've had ligament laxity issues, then it's true. They should not have that done. But that's not just a chiropractic thing, that's a physical therapy thing, that's an osteopath thing when you really rotate the neck a lot. So, what we have to do is raise the awareness that just like in medicine, there are multiple options. So if you're a high-risk patient, if you've had surgery, if you've had a stroke, if you have cervical instability or ligament laxity, it's not that you can't see any kind type of chiropractic. It's just you need to educate yourself on what type is best for you. And for upper cervical, it's a great option for people that are more high risk or are post-surgery, or just people that have natural anxiety. Some people just don't like having their neck grabbed. And that's okay too. I'm not saying that the traditional manipulations are bad, but I'm saying for some people, if they have a lot of anxiety around it, that's another um, this is another um solid option for them as well.
SPEAKER_02:So, as we're thinking about marketing as getting to the heart of every business, who are your target customers and how are you currently attracting them to your company?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, so there's really we kind of have about, I think it's four primary types of patients we see. I mean, just like drinking water is good for everybody, quality chiropractic care is important for anyone who has a spine and who's been through accidents and injuries throughout their life, right? But the reality is the people who do the best, the soonest, the fastest, that gets amazing results and really get their lives back are people with chronic balance disorders, vertigo, um, dizziness, things like that. People with headaches, especially migraine sufferers, um, people with chronic neck and back pain, those would be the people that have been to the chiropractor before, but it just doesn't last, you know, or people that go to the physical therapist and it's just not quite getting it. We really shine in those situations. So the chronic recurring neck and back pain issues, sciatica, numbness and tingling in the hands and feet. And then lastly, would be the neurodegenerative diseases. Um, that's that's the the trigemal neuralgia, facial pain, seizure disorders, MS and Parkinson's, like a lot of these conditions where the medical community kind of goes, we don't know what to do with you, you know what I mean? And um, the way we market to them right now is we currently offer a really wonderful new patient um opportunity where people basically for the price of a copay can come in, have the full three-dimensional experience, see what their spine looks like, and get their first adjustment. So virtually at zero expense. And so we encourage people to look us up online at Revive UCC. That's our website, our social media presence, everything's reviveUCC, or just um call the clinic at 724-772-7060, and uh, we'd be happy to tell them about our new patient special and bring them in for that uh process.
SPEAKER_02:Excellent. Yeah, so whenever you're thinking about the kind of person that you're serving, I'm sure it's also a lot of maybe service workers. I know when I used to work as an aesthetician, I was always kind of hunched over people, healing them. And then also now I work in media, so I'm on my computer all day. So I'm sure the kind of people that you can best serve span all different types of industries, but they all might have one thing in common that might be listening to podcasts. So have you ever thought about maybe doing your own podcast?
SPEAKER_00:Indeed. Yeah, I think uh we talked about this a little sooner. We have um I actually have a couple that are there out there in the interwebs, but the uh the reality is that they're they're not actively added to at the moment. So people can people can look up. I I started one for myself called uh staying connected with Dr. Ian Bulow, which was kind of a cool play on words because life is about connection, you know, relationship with your creator, yourself, and with others. And um, and so that was a really cool initiative. Um, and then we have one in the community locally in Cranberry Township for small businesses, just for people getting connected, a lot like the uh Good Neighbors podcast here. Um people could look them up. Um, there are probably some old episodes, but they they need to be added to, that's for sure.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, outside of work, what do you do for fun?
SPEAKER_00:So um I really like the outdoors, I like my family, I like my faith. So we try and get outside as much as we can. We live up near Newcastle now, the practice is in Cranberry. But anyone who's grown up in the North Hills of Pittsburgh, we've got Moraine State Park and McConnell's Mills north of the city or north of uh Cranberry, which is just the best. And then um my wife and I like exploring little towns and uh, you know, like little eateries and coffee shops in the little, small, fun little towns that are growing around um the North Hills, you know what I mean? Zillion Opal and and other areas. We just absolutely love that. There's so many cool places that are starting, especially that's why we called the Facebook group around Cranberry, because Cranberry is a big metropolitan sur suburb of Pittsburgh, right? But when you go around Cranberry, you have all these little towns that are just starting to develop. And I'm sure the South Hills is similar, but um we you know how it is in Pittsburgh. Those of us in the north don't know anything about the South, and those of us in the South have never been to the North, right? So, but for those in the North Hills, uh, you know what I'm talking about. There's Cranberry, and then there's Mars and Evans City and Zealinopol and Harmony and Warrendale, and there's just really cute little towns around that we like exploring.
SPEAKER_02:Oh, very nice. Yeah, I love that. I am Pittsburgh born and raised, but I'm always finding like a little nook and cranny to go explore in a new town, or uh a new coffee shop, or a new bakery to go to. So there's always something exciting to find and uncover here in Pittsburgh.
SPEAKER_00:Absolutely. I agree.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, so Dr. Biulow, please tell our listeners one thing that they should remember about revive upper cervical chiropractic.
SPEAKER_00:Um, you have the ability to get well, I would say. I would say that the body is innately intelligent, you can improve. I'm not saying that I'm not saying that there are cure alls or magic bullets out there, but I think that the human potential is pretty incredible. And I think the sad part is that most of us, it's almost like having a dimmer switch in a room. If if due to different factors, our we're we're living life at like 80% or 60% of the full light that's possible. You know what I mean? So we call the clinic Revive, and our slogan is to help you get your life back. And so the take-home message is that you can improve. I'm not saying that it can be 100%, but I'm saying that like don't settle for the status quo and always investigate new options because there's always things out there that can optimize your quality of life. And if you need help doing that, that's what we're here for. Is we want to give people the resources necessary to improve their life, whether it's in our clinic or in another facility. We'll do anything anything and everything we can to help you improve your quality of life. That's really the bottom line.
SPEAKER_02:Well, thank you for the important work that you're doing in the community to help people realize their potential with their health here. And help our listeners learn more about your company. I know you mentioned your website and your social media prior. If you just wanted to remind everyone, that would be great.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, absolutely. So you should be able to find us, everyone should be able to find us online at revive UCC. So whether it's a social media account or whether it's our website, the the handle that you want to search up is the word revive, R E Viazen Victor, I Viazin Victor E, Revive, and then three letters UCC, which stands for upper cervical chiropractic. So revive UCC. If you look that up in the search bar in whatever platform you on, you're on, you should be able to find us. And then, of course, you can just call us directly at 724-772-7060.
SPEAKER_02:Excellent. Well, Dr. Buello, I very much appreciate your time today and having you as a guest on our show. We wish you and the chiropractic clinic the best moving forward.
SPEAKER_00:Thanks so much. I really appreciate the time and for everyone for listening in.
SPEAKER_01:Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor Podcast. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to gnppittsburgh.com. That's gnppittsburgh.com or call 412 561 9956.