About Nate Enns: Why choose Osteopathy as a profession?
- Nate Enns
- Oct 31, 2018
- 3 min read
Updated: Apr 13, 2019
Growing up, I worked hard and played hard. This led to multiple sports injuries, including 9 concussions, multiple broken bones, a weakened immune system, and 30% lung damage. The straw that broke the camel’s back was when I broke my right femur (large thigh bone) while I was in the United States Marine Corps.
Breaking my femur led to 6 years of physio, registered massage and chiropractic treatments. Although all of them had some benefit to my recovery, I was never getting completely better. In fact, I was told by my medical doctor that I would probably never be able to walk well - let alone run or play any sports again.
In 2012, my wife introduced me to an Osteopathic Manual Practitioner named Rob Hufgart D.O.M.P., RMT. After 4 treatments, I was running again, playing sports and even able to do CrossFit again, without modifying workouts. (And in case you didn’t know, CrossFit is crazy; and all of us who do it are a little crazy. But that’s a side note.) To make it even better, my lung capacity was retested and I’m back to 100%. Rob Hufgart’s treatments made me realize that I had hope again. It was this hope that led me to start a company called Hope Through Fitness (HTF): a company focused on personal training, exercise therapy, and self-defense training. Although a good start, I felt it wasn't enough. It was however, a fresh start and a way of funding a new education!
This passion and personal life experience drove me to want to become an Osteopathic Manual Practitioner. Rob Hufgart advised me that I should start by earning a Registered Massage Therapist health license, so that I could stay motivated and apply modalities learned into my RMT practice. I therefore went to CCMH in Cambridge, Ontario and became a Registered Massage Therapist with an additional certificate in sports massage therapy. Rob Hufgart’s recommendation was to continue my professional training at the Canadian College of Osteopathy (CCO) in Toronto. This is one of the best Osteopathic schools in Canada, with amazing hands-on training. I chose to not only do that, but to also complete my BSc. in Osteopathy through the National University of Medical Sciences in 2017. At his advice, I am furthering my studies for a DSc. at the Canadian College of Osteopathy in Toronto (expected graduation June 2019).
After becoming a fully licenced Osteopathic Manual Practitioner in 2017, I continued to work under the HTF clinic name for a time, and then rebranded in 2018 under the name "Aligned Health". Although the HTF Clinic represented who I am, it was not representative of the now growing team of amazing therapists we have working with us. The name “Aligned Health” was born from a concept that therapists not only have to be aligned as a team, but also need to take the time to get to truly know our patients, for us to be able to fully align with their goals and needs. Sometimes that means that I am a part of your solution, and at other times it means I will be able to refer you to a colleague here at Aligned Health – or even outside of our team. In any case, I am determined to do what is best for you.
I started my career with a niche focus of treating athletes – to improve performance – and others who, like me, had lost hope in having any quality of life. More recently, my services have expanded, although my passion for athletes remains. I work with both the fulltime athletes, as well as those just starting on their personal health journey. Some of the key areas I focus on are:
- Athletic Performance Prehab/Rehab
- Swelling & Chronic Edema
- Chronic Pain Syndromes
- Autoimmune Conditions, MS, Fibromyalgia & Parkinson’s
- The Fluidic Body (ask me about my thesis work)
It is my ambition and passion that through applying the science of Osteopathy, sports therapy and a few other certificates I have, that I will be able to help people have HOPE once again – by improving their health and improving their performance.
