Jo Ellen Halteman, a chiropractic physician and founder of Halteman Thermal Imaging in Gilbertsville, discovered two life-long passions while attending Logan College of Chiropractic in Chesterfield, Missouri—her husband, Mark, and the importance of conservative, non-invasive healthcare that included nutrition. After graduation, Halteman, a native of Des Moines, Iowa, accompanied her husband to Pottstown, Pennsylvania. “Mark is a third generation chiropractor. When he told me that he wanted to join his father and grandfather’s well established chiropractic practice in Pottstown, I knew that’s where we were headed after graduation,” explains Halteman, who notes that in addition to her post graduate work in nutrition, she learned a lot from Dr. George Halteman. “He practiced cutting-edge nutrition, particularly in the area of food combining, long before studies were published to substantiate what he intuitively knew,” she says.

While in Chiropractic College Halteman recalls that her fascination with anatomy, physiology and biology led to several insights. “When I studied these subjects, I not only could see how intelligent the body was, but also how good nutrition keeps the body healthy and allows it to overcome disease. Additionally, few things are as enlightening as dissecting a body in an anatomy lab and seeing layers of fat in the stomach area and surrounding the heart. That’s when you realize that lifestyle and diet choices are definitely the foundation of good health,” clarifies Halteman, who enjoys being physically active. “My children are athletes so it’s only natural that our household practices good nutrition. In addition, I believe in being a good role model for my patients, who ask me for my opinion on their lifestyle and diet. I feel better giving them feedback on what I do for myself and my family,” she says.

Initially, Halteman practiced with her husband for 18 years. “Mark retired from active practice and got involved with real estate development, which was originally his hobby. I still have my chiropractic practice in addition to Halteman Thermal Imaging, which I opened as a result of a personal quest to find a routine screening tool for breast health that didn’t include radiation,” notes Halteman.

After celebrating her 40^th birthday, Halteman’s gynecologist began encouraging her to get a baseline for breast cancer screening. Uncomfortable with how mammography squished and subjected the breasts to low-energy x-raying she didn’t follow up. “After I turned 45, she became more persistent. As a result, I started looking for a safe alternative and found Digital Thermal Imaging, or DITI, which is also known as thermography. There was nothing offered here in this area, which meant that I had to travel quite a distance. The incredible insight I gained from the personal experience with thermography made me realize this was an amazing tool that all women looking for a safe, painless, radiation free, reliable, early detection tool must have in their arsenal against breast cancer. I decided at that time that I was going to go through the certification training and start my own facility to help the women in my area. As I looked ahead and prepared for this, I felt that it was important to train an additional Thermographer to join me in the facility to better serve our community. The perfect choice was Stephanie Brown who has been an integral part of Pottstown chiropractic for 10 years. Stephanie has a Bachelor of Science degree in biology, is an athlete, and also shares the passion of proper nutrition and living a healthy lifestyle,” explains Halteman.

Halteman believes that thermography’s capability for full body screening makes it a valuable proactive tool for men and women. “We live near a nuclear power plant, a waste management landfill site, and a chemical plant, which are three good reasons I like to regularly monitor what is going on in my own body,” explains Halteman.

Halteman Thermal Imaging, 1808 Swamp Pike Ste 200, Gilbertsville, 610-310-7031.