As A Chiropractor, Dr. G. Enjoys Unique Opportunity To Help People Who Are Hurting

When GR Orndoff was growing up, his mother would constantly tell him there were two professions she wanted him to avoid. 

The Outsider

By Justin Geurin
A new Water Vallian sits down with the people that make this town special. Geurin and his wife, Robin, and twin daughters moved to town last July

“She told me I couldn’t be in the military or a doctor,” Orndoff says. Today, for Dr. GR Orndoff, DC, a chiropractor operating under the Yalobusha General Hospital system, I guess one out of two isn’t too bad! The road to becoming a practicing chiropractor at a clinic in downtown Water Valley is long, and maybe even a little strange, but to hear him  tell it is quite a treat. 

Orndoff was born in Mobile, Alabama and when it came time for college, he really wanted to go to Auburn or possibly the University of Delaware to play football. Yet, in the fall of 1998, he somehow ended up at Ole Miss. After completing his undergraduate degree, he stuck around and earned a Master’s Degree in Exercise Science with an emphasis in physiology. He had been fairly certain he was going to either study aviation or to be an electrician, but a mentor in graduate school steered him towards pre-requisites for chiropractic school. He would end up at the Palmer School in west Florida and eventually working for a private practice based in Jackson, Mississippi. 

So how did he end up in Water Valley? 

Well, Orndoff’s mother had been a nurse for years, and worked under Dr. Paul Odom. In late 2010, while helping his mother open her new business, Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory, he had a conversation with Dr. Odom about his practice and the services he could offer to patients. “Then I guess my mom and Dr. Odom started talking and a short time later, I got a call from Terry Varner,” Orndoff says. 

The rest is history and in 2011 he moved to Water Valley to begin his practice. 

Chiropractic treatment has an interesting history as a profession, as it is sometimes a little different than traditional medicine. According to Orndoff, chiropractic treatment was a different approach to medicine. “They weren’t using drugs and medications, they wanted to allow the body to heal itself from the inside out,” he says. In the early days of the profession, some needed precautions were often overlooked, leading to some horror stories and many chiropractors being labeled as quacks. As time has progressed, though, the profession has continued to make improvements and serves a very real role in the medical community. 

“There is a place for surgery, there is a place for drugs,” he says, “but I don’t necessarily think that surgery should be the first option.” 

For Orndoff, serving as a chiropractor is a unique opportunity to help people who are hurting. “I don’t like to see people in pain,” he says. From his perspective, since all feelings, good and bad, come from the nervous system and the spine is essentially a suit of armor for the nervous system, just about everyone can benefit from a spinal adjustment. 

“Currently, my youngest patient is only about 12 hours old up to 96 years old, so we have something for everyone,” says Orndoff. 

It was also interesting to hear him describe the health benefits of his work, as often a quality spinal adjustment can not only relieve obvious back or joint pain, but possibly even other symptoms a person may have believed were unrelated. 

He described patients who have had stomach issues, which were corrected after receiving treatment from his office, as well as a child who was having trouble with bed-wetting, only to have the problem remedied by an adjustment of the L4 and L5 vertebrae. As Orndoff told me, “You don’t brush your teeth because it hurts,” implying the importance of a chiropractic regimen for maintaining good overall health. 

At his clinic, Dr. Orndoff treats anything from headaches, back and knee pain, sports injuries, and much more. He credits the move of his office to its new location on Main Street for increasing the exposure of the clinic and an influx of new patients. 

“We offer well-rounded, quality services right now and hopefully we can continue to grow,” he explains. He describes the large amount of paperwork and insurance issues as some of his greatest frustrations, although he does not believe some of the larger healthcare issues facing our country have trickled directly into his area of practice yet. This is also why he says he enjoys hospital-based practice as opposed to private practice because of the umbrella of support and resources it can provide. 

When he is not adjusting spines or correcting dislocated joints, Orndoff enjoys spending time on his boat and playing the guitar, which he does for the praise band at First Baptist Church. He loves living in Water Valley, even though it was quite a transition when he first moved to town. 

“I knew some people, but they really helped me settle in,” he says. He describes Water Valley as a quaint, close-knit, and supportive family. Orndoff expressed a great a deal of pride in the growth of the Water Valley community and is proud of the medical services being provided. “People were having to travel for medical attention,” he says, “but if we can provide quality service right here in town, it is a huge boost to our community.” 

He may not have planned to be a chiropractor in a small Mississippi town like Water Valley, but Orndoff seems quite pleased to have ended up here. Oh, and it turns out his mother is quite proud that he became a doctor after all! 

Now for the rapid-fire questions to close the interview with G.R. Orndoff

What was your first car? 

– 1989 Grand Marquis that belonged to my grandfather

You are stranded on a desert island, what three things do you want to have with you? 

– 1959 Les Paul Guitar and Marshall stack amplifier; the Bible; my phone because it has about 10 hours of music on it

Is a hotdog considered a sandwich? 

– Who is to say a sandwich isn’t a hotdog? (Author’s note…after reading this question in my past columns, GR may or may not have spent several hours one afternoon researching the question, and I am sure if you catch him around town he would be happy to share his findings with you!) 

If you could have one superpower, what would it be? 

– To be invisible

It’s karaoke night, what is your go-to song to sing? 

Chuck Berry, My Ding-A-Ling…it’s the only song I will sing karaoke 

Last meal, what do you want? Entrée, dessert, and beverage? 

– Fried chicken with mashed potatoes and macaroni and cheese; root beer; no dessert…I am not really a sweets guy