Barbara Newlon, DO

I have a fairly rare birth defect in my lumbar spine which has been managed very well through chiropractic care. I’ve been active and an athlete all of my life, and my back has hardly been a problem since it was diagnosed and initially treated over thirty years ago.
I saw Dr. Newlon three times, presumably for a shoulder issue. The first appointment went well and I left feeling good, and my shoulder felt much better. Two days after my second appointment, however, i began experiencing muscle spasms in my right glute. I went for the third appointment and told Dr. Newlon about the pain; she said something about the body «unraveling» as the layers of trauma (I’m paraphrasing here) are revealed.
After the third visit, the pain in my glute became so severe that I couldn’t walk. I am a tennis player, and tennis was out of the question. Ironically, my shoulder hasn’t felt as good as it felt then in years. I went to my chiropractor and with a few adjustments, my back is now stabilizing. The theory as to what went wrong is that Dr. Newlon either pushed the unstable vertebrae forward or (my theory), the treatment was so vigorous that it irritated the vertebrae in the lumbar spine. Regardless, I cancelled my subsequent appointments.
During my last chiropractor visit, the doctor asked me if my clavicle hurt. I said it did, and he did an adjustment on it that ended up making the clavicle worse. Frustration hardly describes what I was/​am feeling, and I called Dr. Newlon to see if she’d work on my shoulder for me since the previous shoulder treatments were so successful.
So here’s the rub (pardon the play on words): Dr. Newlon refused to work on my shoulder, claiming that she worked on the whole body, that everything is interconnected, and that she couldn’t work on just one body part regardless of the fact that I have a very sensitive, touchy, and troublesome lumbar spine. I told her she could work on any part of my body she wanted, but that I didn’t want my lumbar spine touched. I think she took offense to this because she mentioned something about lack of trust which was hardly the case. My back is touchy, I’m active, and the line between inflammation and not with my back is thin. I feel like she made my feelings about her when they are not. They are about me.
As I mentioned, when we initially met, I was very clear as to why I was there. If she had told me that I was in for multiple treatments to unravel all the past accidents and trauma my body had experienced, I’d have left. I was there for my shoulder, nothing more, and I find her refusal to continue to treat me unprofessional. Professional people don’t abandon their patients. So I’ve spent nearly $ 700 in her office (which I don’t have, really) and I’m left with. .. an achy shoulder, a sore back, three weeks out of my life and off the tennis court.
I think Dr. Newlon is a talented, caring professional, but I strongly feel she has her own agenda. At least I feel that this was the case with me. I also feel she is very inflexible, and that she pursues her own intentions and interests, regardless of the intentions or wishes of her patients. I also feel mislead. I was told at the beginning I’d probably need about three treatments. We know how that turned out.

I am returning to Dr. Newlon after over ten years, probably 15 actually. Over the years I have tried a number of different types of bodywork and ended up going to massage therapy school, and even though my time as her patient was before this I remember enough to know the highly specific way she was able to do the manipulations.
As some of the other reviews have noted, Dr. Newlon is not as talkative and this may be interpreted as bad bedside manner. To me this hardly qualifies as any grounds to take even one star off, especially if you are going in for bodywork rather than as a health care consumer that wants to be treated nicely from a customer service perspective. As far as communication, I can understand wanting to be informed, however the service provided is not meant to be educational but rather treatment for your condition. To put it in context some of this is a psychological need whereas my recollection of Dr. Newlon is she does largely stick to the facts, but at the same time was quite cordial and even joyful.
I will come back to update this review after my appointment, but I am writing this now even after such a long time because although there are many highly skilled bodyworkers in this area, a practitioner at Dr. Newlons level is top notch and frankly anyone with a good level of body awareness would be able to tell. She has an outstanding reputation in the community so although osteopathic care does definitely cost more (especially if you’re paying out of pocket as I am) there are simply very few practitioners you can *count on* for good results rather than having to resort to a «try and see» approach even if there is relative certainty from previous experience. Just from a common sense perspective, 30 years of experience, highly trained and working with infants should say a lot about how that informs the bodywork.
By the way, the office manager spoke to Dr. Newlon about squeezing me in in next week in spite of the busy schedule.

I suffered a head injury at work and was diagnosed with a mild concussion at the urgent care clinic. The urgent care doctor saw me for about 2 minutes and walked away, then the nurse told me that symptoms usually reside after about a day. I left feeling like they were blowing me off, but I’d never had a concussion before so I took their word for it. After missing quite a few days of work and a full week of persistent symptoms (headaches, dizziness, nausea, fatigue, back pain, neck pain, not being able to lean over, which I need to do for work, and not sleeping well), I needed to find a real solution.
One of my clients recommended Dr. Newlon after hearing about my concussion. Dr. Newlon is amazing and JP was very nice and helpful on the phone. The prices are comparable and in some cases lower than other osteopathic doctors I called.
Dr. Newlon came in on her day off to see me and spent over an hour treating me. She took the time to explain the process to me in a way that was easy to comprehend without being patronizing. Though she does understandably become quiet when she is concentrating, she was very pleasant to chat with. By the end of the session I felt immeasurably better. In fact, I felt so much better that my boss immediately noticed the change when I came back to work. I am going to schedule more appointments for this injury and plan to continue treatment as needed, since my work is physically demanding.

I have been seeing Dr. Newlon since Dec ’10 somewhat regularly. Dr. Newlon has put me on a path to recovery from my back and hip pain in a way that none of my other doctors ever have She has a very gentle touch but dramatic results. I really don’t know how she does it or how to explain it to other people. The treatment I receive are nothing like a chiropractor twisting your body unnaturally into painful positions, what she does is incredibly subtle and extremely effective. She is a very kind person, a great listener, amazing healer, and practitioner of holistic care.

Dr. Newlon has seen my toddler, newborn, and me.
She was instrumental in working out the kinks in my pelvis, that were causing me to buckle every other time I got up near the end of my pregnancy. Pain and buckling — bad for mom and baby. Incidentally, my tissues loosened up/​got into proper position after this sacral work, and I was no longer running to the bathroom multiple times a night — common in pregnancies. What a relief! She also found two ribs too close together, and one gentle «hug» later, it was fixed! (Oh, was that what was causing my chest pain when I get exhausted?)
For subsequent visits, I did have to juxtapose with another osteopath in order to maintain the pain relief I needed during and post-​pregnancy (as my body kept expanding/​pulling and then shrinking/​healing.) Dr. Newlon was fairly booked through the holidays so could not see me more often. However, she did come into the office on her day off to see me for my very first appointment, for which I was very grateful (and relieved my husband of his worries.)
I have found Dr. Newlon’s specialties to be for pregnancies, newborns, young kids, and head bones/​tissues. It’s amazing when a health practitioner can say, «The problem was partially a twisted diaphragm/​stomach, and I’ve fixed it.» — or similar.
Dr. Barbara, as she calls herself to the kids, explains her treatment (what she found and treated) in technical terms and summarized versions, suggesting follow-​up visits as necessary. She’s firmly committed to getting kids a good start on life and offers half off for one-​year olds and younger. In osteopath circles, she’s apparently famous for her work with kids.
I know it’s hard to figure out sometimes if something’s working for your kid — especially treatments that are for the long-​term. We’ve noticed better sleep and nursing, coincidentally also sometimes with homeopathic remedies. Who says you can’t do anything about colic?

As you can see from my previous review I gave her one star. Then she goes on here and shares private information about my son/​her patient. Pretty sure there are laws that protect patients, oh yeah, there are, they are called HIPPA laws.

My family has been seeing Dr. Barbara Newlon for quite a while and we appreciate her care very much. She has helped us through quite a few situations with osteopathic care and natural remedies, whereas other providers that we had seen wanted to immediately prescribe drugs.
New patients have an hour long appointment, and I’ve never had a doctor spend so much with me and actually listen to what I am saying and not just hand me a prescription or send me off with no answers. She’s very attentive, personable, thorough, and never makes you feel hurried. Dr. Newlon has a way of explaining things that is easy to understand.
Dr. Newlon is a true, traditional osteopath, she treats and heals the real underlying causes of your symptoms. Her approach is hands-​on and different, so be prepared to be touched because this is the way she tunes in on all of the systems of your body. This is the way she diagnoses what is wrong and what your body needs to function at its best. Her medicine is physical manipulation to align the body’s own systems, and this approach gets the body to heal itself.
She has also helped our daughter with her health issues. Dr. Newlon is amazing with babies and children of all ages. She is extremely knowledgeable and really gets to know and understand her patients.
She has a comfortable, relaxing, convenient location.
Summary:
–Great bedside manner
–Clean & Relaxing facility
–Friendly staff
–Relatively short wait
–Thorough visit

In my opinion, Dr. Newlon is an exceptional physician who provides professional, caring support for her patients. Not only is she a highly trained physician, but also a highly-​skilled «healer» who works very intuitively.
She uses gentle manipulation and pressure to release or correct structural issues. Additionally, she integrates homeopathy as an adjunct healing modality, which can be an exceptionally helpful tool.
Over the past 11 years, I have referred many friends to her, some of whom appreciated what she has to offer; for others, it wasn’t exactly the best fit. If you are the kind of person who needs to feel/​hear your back crack when receiving an adjustment, then she’s probably not the best physician for you.
I found Dr. Newlon 11 years ago when my son was six months old. His facial structure was becoming asymmetrical — one side more pronounced than the other.
Our pediatrician, at the time, recommended a cranial X-​ray in order to determine whether the cranial bones had fused early (at that age, the infant must be strapped to a board; and, the most likely outcome would have been surgery). My husband and I researched other approaches and were directed to manipulative osteopathy through a chiropractor with whom we had worked.
We contacted the Osteopathic Center for Children & Families in San Diego and received two Marin referrals — Dr. Rimon Issac & Dr. Newlon. Because we live in West Marin, we scheduled appointments with both doctors on the same day (separated by a couple of hours).
Dr. Issac, who we saw first, seemed as though he was trying very hard to manipulate our son’s skull (the doctor’s hands were visibly shaking). Our son screamed throughout the entire session.
In contrast, the session with Dr. Newlon was a peaceful, gentle experience. Over the course of 5 – 6 sessions spread over a few months, she was able to gently release that cranial bones that were compressed from a very long labor. He is now almost 12 years old and has a completely normal facial structure.
After such a positive outcome, my husband began working with her to alleviate and correct issues arising from being 6’7″, followed soon after by myself (to help with hip displacement arising from my pregnancy). When our daughter was born in 2005, we took her to see Dr. Newlon within 3 weeks of her birth.
One thing to know: when Dr. Newlon works on you or your child, she is very focused on the person receiving the treatment. I could see where, if a parent hasn’t personally established a relationship with her as a patient with insight into what occurs during a treatment, s/​he could feel put off by not fully understanding what is happening when she is working on the child. When asked, Dr. Newlon is happy to explain her work with the body.
We consider our doctor’s visits with Dr. Newlon to be an investment in our health and well-​being. It helps that our health plan covers a portion of the visit.
If you are in need of structural support, I encourage you to explore whether Dr. Newlon could meet your osteopathic needs. She is one of the best.

I am very disappointed in Unilocal for whatever process they are using. Why are NINE five star reviews hidden and only the two 1 stars remain?! Please click on the filtered reviews for a more accurate understanding of Dr. Newlon and her style.