Pucci Wellness Center The New Flavors of Medical Practice

Dr. Doug Pucci is the owner of Pucci Wellness Center, in Oradell, New Jersey, established in 1987. The author of You Are Not Your Diagnosis, an essay about shedding labels and treating root causes, he offers thyroid and hormone balancing, comprehensive lab work, pathogen detection, including for immune system triggers such as mercury and food toxins, and nutrition.

He recalls, “My mom was a very holistic figure; I grew up in that kind of a household. I was into sports, nutrition and physically feeling well. I was always a young person that really cared about people, so I was kind of drawn into this thing. My intention when I went to college was to play baseball, but I had a couple of injuries that kind of turned the tide.”

He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Biochemistry from Lemoyne College, in Syracuse, and then graduated from New York Chiropractic College. “I was going to do chiropractic, but it all went out the window because the insurance was only paying for back pain. Then you deal with all the false ideas that chiropractors aren’t real doctors and if you had a real problem, go see a real doctor; maybe a chiropractor would help with your back. I’ve practiced 30 years now.”

Pucci’s awakening to a higher calling was forthcoming. “A lot of patients came in with thyroid issues, gastric problems, depression, anxiety and different things. I was like, ‘But isn’t there a connection between your back pain, your thyroid and your depression? My hands were tied. So my education from that point forward was to move into the world of neurology. I needed to understand the role that the brain played in those back issues, so I became certified in functional neurology, and I still continue to learn,” he states.

Many patients are confused about the new, emerging medical fields. “You hear the term ‘holistic’ a lot, and sometimes when I’m explaining things to people and they ask, ‘What kind of a doctor are you?’ they’re not really following you and go, “Oh, you’re holistic!’ It just means you’re looking at the whole person. It’s a whole approach, it’s holistic,” Pucci recounts.

“When you’re using the term ‘functional’, it’s a new branch of science that’s been around for maybe 15 years at this point. A functional approach has really become a necessity; even the American Medical Association is telling us that traditional medicine is failing in chronic diseases. This includes blood pressure, cancer and everything in-between. Medicine excels in acute intervention; we can all agree on that. If you have a heart attack, get to the emergency room, it’s going to save your life,” he says.

“What I do is not anti-medicine; it’s a place for everybody. You have to understand the pros and the cons and limitations of certain things, and if we’re looking for answers from traditional medicine for chronic problems, they’re not there. There’s no drug to get you out of it,” explains Pucci. “Functional medicine really comes from the necessity that we have to start discovering what the root cause is, and we practice a holistic approach, using nutritional products and other natural products to address the underlying causes versus giving you a chemical intervention.”

Pucci advises that “integrative” means combining the models. He notes, “There are people who come to me that are under a endocrinologist’s care or a gastroenterologist’s care or psychiatrist’s care—we’re not going to take them off the psychiatric medications, we’re not telling them to not see the psychiatrist, to not work with the psychiatrist—we’re working on a different level. We’re working to discover what the underlying mechanisms are that are causing the neurochemical imbalance in their brain,” he says.

“By getting them to make healthy choices and to maybe fill in the nutritional needs where their weaknesses are or discover what toxins are being served to their neurotransmitters, we can get to a point where hopefully, their medications can be reduced and maybe even get off of them. Most of the people that I see do not want to be on medications any longer. I don’t think that’s a surprise to anybody, right?”

Douglas J. Pucci, DC, practices in Bergen County at 617 Oradell Ave., in Oradell. For appointments and more information, call 201-261-5430 or visit GetWell-Now.com.