Dr. John J. Wohar speaks with conviction about how chiropractic care has enhanced his life personally and professionally.
"I'm more into health-related issues because health in general has been my real passion," the owner and operator of Wohar Chiropractic Health Center in Monessen said. "It's the way we live. Chiropractic is a big part of our lifestyle. Our kids got adjusted within minutes of being born."
Wohar, a resident of California, Pa., decided to become a chiropractor after he suffered a stifling neck injury playing football as a senior for Mon Valley Catholic High School.
"I was playing fullback and linebacker at 150 pounds, so I was getting crushed," the former Donora resident recalled. "I was running the ball and I ran into a wall, where there was no hole. They bent me back and I could feel everything crack in my neck. They carried me off the field. I had instant numbness down my arm and pain. A few days later, I was having terrible migraines."
Wohar said his coach took him to former Belle Vernon chiropractor Dr. Charles Simkovich.
"I got adjusted a couple times that week and I never missed a game. After that, I started seriously considering chiropractic," Wohar said.
Wohar chose the chiropractic career path with some encouragement from his late mother, Josephine, who frequently took him and his siblings to Simkovich.
Wohar said his mother had problems with miscarriages that were resolved after she had continued chiropractic treatments.
"My mother had 10 kids after that. So my mother had the concept early on that chiropractic was not about neck pain or back pain so much as it was about keeping the body to work correctly," Wohar said. "My mother took us since we were little, if we were sick or something. By high school, I was going on my own. My mother was a big influence. She kept saying, 'Why don't you go be a chiropractor like Doc Simkovich?'"
In July 1982, Wohar opened Wohar Chiropractic at Eastgate 11 in Monessen.
It moved to Donner Avenue and stayed there for 14 years.
The business is currently located across the street from that second location, at 998 Donner Ave.
A 1976 Mon Valley Catholic graduate, Wohar in 1981 graduated from Palmer College of Chiropractic in Davenport, Iowa.
His mother was a math teacher at Ringgold High School.
His father, Joseph, 88, of Donora, was an elementary teacher and principal in Ringgold School District.
Wohar said a career in education crossed his mind growing up, along with several other ideas.
But the way he bounced back from his football injury because of chiropractic treatments made the decision easier.
"I wanted to be a music teacher. I wanted to be a carpenter. I wanted to be a little bit of everything," he said. "But, after that injury, I was impressed. My mother kept pushing me for chiropractic. I kept saying, 'That's too hard. I hate science.'
"I thought I would be more of a sports-type doctor. Then, when I got to chiropractic school, and they were talking about adjusting babies with fevers and helping kids with asthma, I thought, 'This is a lot more than I thought it was.'"
Wohar gave back by volunteering his services to local athletes.
"For a long time, I helped out with Mon Valley (Catholic's) football team when Joe Ravasio was coach," he said. "I did sidelines for them for a while. When he went to Ringgold, I did a little bit for him there."
At his office, Wohar has strived to promote overall well-being in his patients with a combination of chiropractic adjustments, nutritional planning and supplements and fitness programs.
He has had the privilege of working with family throughout the years.
His wife, Linda, is a nutritional consultant at Wohar Chiropractic, and five of his 10 children have worked at the office.
His brothers, Greg Wohar, of Daisytown, and Steve Wohar, of Monongahela, worked at his office in the early 1990s.
Steve Wohar currently runs a chiropractic business in Monongahela.
"When they came out of school, the two of them worked with me," John Wohar said of his brothers. "I was already in the practice for nine years. It was a fun time, but they were restless. They wanted to do their own thing."
Two of John and Linda Wohars' daughters, Angie and Maria, currently work at Wohar Chiropractic.
Angela Wohar, a massage therapist, has been part of a push to expand programs at the office in the last six months.
She is one of three massage therapists there.
"Now we have massage therapy available almost every day," Linda Wohar said.
The office also offers clients a chance to try out intensive aerobic fitness programs for free.
Wohar Chiropractic sells nutritional supplements and an aloe vera drink John Wohar developed called Natural Passion.
"I've studied everything and anything related to health, and that's what we incorporate here. It's an art," the business owner said. "Like they say, in the presence of light there is no darkness. In the presence of health, there is no disease. Disease is bankrupting our country today. Everything I read in journals says the whole shift is going to be towards wellness."
Wohar Chiropractic sells "foot levelers," shoe inserts that improve posture.
The most recent feature at the business is the Asyra system.
"It electrically tests all the systems of your body," Linda Wohar said. "Everything in your body runs on frequencies. It electronically maps all the areas of your body. It gives you a diagnostic evaluation of the organs and all the systems in your body and how they're working."
Linda Wohar teaches nutrition at Community College of Allegheny County.
She said it is vital for clients to understand that diet plays a major role in sustaining health and eliminating ailments.
"We were involved with nutrition before it was en vogue. Before whole foods, we were eating whole grains," she said of her family.
"Necessity was the mother of invention," her husband added. "When we met, she ate junk food and I lived on carbs and milk and dairy. Both of us were sick constantly. When I was 27 or 28, I had a gall bladder attack."
Things are much different now for the doctor.
"I haven't had a cold in 15 years. I've been headache free for almost 20 years," he said. "I used to get two or three flus a year when I was in college.
"When you get the nervous system and the body working properly, you're eliminating an interference, an impediment to health."
John Wohar said he and his family are strong believers that chiropractic should not be viewed as a cure, but a means for prevention and sustained health.
"I get adjusted every Wednesday like clockwork," he said. "We've been going steady for 30 years. I don't stop."
Linda Wohar said she and her husband sometimes are reminded from their children at work how they impact patients' lives.
"That's exactly what Angela shares. She says, 'You don't realize how you affect people's lives,'" she said. "We don't almost notice it anymore."
Work sometimes follows the doctor home.
"Last night, I had to do five adjustments before I could eat dinner," John Wohar said with a smile, referring to treatments he gives his children.
John Wohar recently aggravated his neck injury and turned to a fellow chiropractor and friend for help.
Dr. Robert Biddle, who runs Belle Vernon Chiropractic in North Belle Vernon, helped his colleague regain his strength.
In a thank you card to Biddle, John Wohar wrote, "You lose the appreciation for what we do, until you become the patient."
Wohar Chiropractic Health Center can be reached at (724) 684-4551.
