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Charlotte Amalie
Friday, March 29, 2024
HomeNewsArchivesSKILL, TECHNIQUE ADD TO CHIROPRACTOR'S STATURE

SKILL, TECHNIQUE ADD TO CHIROPRACTOR'S STATURE

If you look around Tillett Gardens on a stone pathway right past the stage, you'll find the office of Elizabeth Masiello, Chiropractor. You'll know it because of a sign printed on pink paper tacked to the newly painted white front door.
Masiello is petite, barely 5 feet tall, with brown eyes, freckles and shoulder-length curly auburn hair. She wears a cotton dress and sandals. At first glance, she would appear to be one of Tillett's many artists, rather than a chiropractor. But don't be misled by her casual manner. "It's skill and technique, not size," she states with a smile.
The first thing you see upon entering the relatively small quarters is a large flower print by local artist Jonna White, which takes up most of the wall above her small reception area. The office has soft green walls, "which we just finished painting," and two partitioned treatment areas. "Don't mind all this," she gestures into an open room stacked with supplies. "I just opened the first of February, and I'm still getting settled," she says. Several of her patients have volunteered their help with decorating advice, painting and building shelves. "And I take it," she laughs, "it's a lot of work."
She shows the first treatment room which is virtually empty, except for bright paintings on the walls and wicker baskets for patients to leave their watches or other encumbrances in. "I'm still waiting for my table from a company in the states. You should see it," she says, "It's an inter-segmental traction table — it will roll right up your spine and gently traction the segments open. It's truly wonderful."
Masiello has lived on St. Thomas long enough, about four years, to accept shipping delays. In the meantime, she is using a standard chiropractic adjusting table.
The office locale will be familiar to many as the office of the late Dana Moses. Masiello makes it clear that she has taken over Moses' office, but not her practice. "We went to the same school, Logan College of Chiropractic in St. Louis," she says, "but not at the same time." Masiello said she and Moses had a similar foundation, but practice different techniques. "Dana's patients loved her, she had a unique way of practicing," Masiello says. "She really is missed."
Masiello recieved her doctorate in chiropractic from Logan College. She also holds an Associate of Arts degree in medical technology and a Bachelor of Science degree in human anatomy.
Classical music plays in the background, as Masiello answers the inevitable question: What made you move here? "I got out of my car one winter, slipped on some black ice and hurt my back, and I decided that's it! I went inside and pulled out a map and figured where was the farthest place I could go that was still in America."
She lived in Maryland at the time, and the move didn't happen overnight. Hurricane Marilyn had just hit the territory, and things were in disarray for one thing. For another, there was a long wait to be certified by the V.I. Chiropractic Board of Examiners, and then the clearing up of her business in the states.
Masiello's interest in healing took an almost ten-year sabbatical after college when she explored the food and beverage profession with Marriott concessions at the Baltimore Washington airport, finally becoming manager, when she realized that wasn't where her heart was. She then returned to school.
The tiny doctor has practiced for nine years, most recently spending three years in the Red Hook office of Kevin Lenahan. "We don't cure anything," she says, "we treat the misalignment or aberration of joints." She succinctly explains her philosophy, "We get the body in the best possible position so it can heal itself. The power that created the body, heals the body."
Masiello says, "We are trained just like medical doctors, but instead of antibiotics or painkillers we take care of the body so it can heal. Some folks think if they go to a chiropractor, they have to keep going forever, and that's not true. We practice preventive medicine, teaching people proper techniques, postural changes that will help them. Some heal more quickly than others. Exercise is important."
She says she treats headaches and stomach aches as well as bones, curing them without pills. "The more people get well, the better I feel," she says. She has investigated the local "rubbers and crackers," who have been fixing aches and pains for years, and, she says, sometimes effectively. She also endorses bush tea, which is not to say everybody thinks the old treatments are better. "My patients are mostly West Indian," she says.
Masiello has office hours on St. Thomas Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. and later by appointment at 715-1361. Tuesday and Thursday she works out of Bern Putnam's office on St. John.
Masiello loves St. Thomas where she lives happily with her two dogs, mutt-retriever mixes named "Bacio" and "Gita," whose Italian names come from her Italian-Irish background.
The dogs have adjusted well to the Caribbean Sea from Chesapeake Bay. "They love it, too," she says. "The day I wake up and look out and don't feel how I love it, I'll move."

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