Universal City Medical Wellness Group

When I moved to LA from Michigan I needed to find a doctor who took both a holistic and medical approach to monitor medicine I am on as well as to see me as needed if I were to get sick or need other medical care. I cannot say enough how much I have enjoyed Dr. Rekar and his entire staff over the course of the 10 months I have been seeing him. I am on medication that requires me to go to his office once a month to get my blood pressure checked and I have never had a bad or even mediocre experience with any of the staff or doctors there. Dr. Rekar not only is amazing at listening and diagnosing patients, he is also NOT a «medicine pusher» which I respect. He wants all of his patients to be healthy and if they chose not to take medicine or want a holistic approach he is more than happy to obliged and work with your preferences. I would recommend him to anyone who needs a doctor and I would definitely say he is one of the best doctors out there!

I was in a car accident years ago, struck by a drunk driver in a commercial box truck. The pain and troubles I’ve gone through since then have been extensive. For the first few years directly after the accident I saw at least a dozen different chiropractors, some were fine, some were useless. Then I came to UCMWG and met Dr. Barass. He practices a technique called Applied Kinesiology which I had never experienced before. It’s a lot different than your normal chiropracting, where the doctor just goes down a checklist of things to crack and sends you on your way. He takes the time to test the muscle reactions to specific pressure points and finds precisely what is out of place and makes selective adjustments based on your actual needs. Last week I managed to get 2 ribs out of place (still can’t figure out how I managed that), I haven’t felt that kind of pain since the truck hit me. For two days I couldn’t sit, stand, lay down or move without sharp, crippling pain. I called and explained my issue and even though the schedule was fully booked for the next day, they squeezed me in. As always, Dr. Barass took his time and was very thorough addressing my issues. By the time we were finished, the sharp pain was gone and I was left with a more dull pain that I was told would be gone in the morning. You know what? IT WAS. 100% back to normal and good to go.
Generally, I go in for an adjustment about once every 6 months & that’s all I need. I’ve never felt pressured to increase my frequency beyond what I felt my body needed as with other chiropractic offices I’ve been to. They will recommend certain vitamins or supplements that they do have available for sale, and they have always told me «we have this here, but you can definitely find it at a GNC or online» — no sales pitch or pressure, it’s a matter of convenience. And nothing that’s ever been suggested hasn’t helped me feel better.
The office staff themselves are very nice, attentive and considerate. If you’re lucky, you’ll be in on a Sonny day, who doesn’t love a well behaved adorable little dog gently greeting them? (Yeah, I’m looking at you, other reviewer). All in all, this is a great office and they actually care about my well being.
Obviously I’m bothered by some of these other reviews I’ve read. I’ve been coming to this office for 8 years and don’t know what they’re talking about. Any person I have ever referred to Dr. Barass has come back and thanked me over and over. Dr. Rekar has built a nice practice full of competent, friendly and caring people.

SCAM ARTISTS!!! DO NOT GO HERE!
I made the mistake of going here based on the Unilocal ratings, but let me just tell you that all the 5 star reviews have got to be fake.
I visited this place today and if I had to pick one word to describe the office, doctors, and staff, it would be SHADY.
When I walked into the dark, stale office and saw a small dog running around, I knew something wasn’t right. It took five minutes before I was even greeted or given paperwork. Turns out the patient before me figured out how sketchy this place was and just left without being seen. I should have taken this as a sign to leave too, but I stayed and went through with the appointment anyways.
I quickly figured out that Dr. Rekar didn’t know what he was doing. I have a rotator cuff injury and he advised me to do lat pulldowns on a Bowflex in front and behind the neck. I questioned him on this because doing lat pulldowns behind the neck has been shown to cause injuries. His response to me was to «do whatever your preference is». Really!!! I’m PAYING you for your so called expertise! It was so dark in there, he needed a flashlight to adjust the bows.
After a few more exercises that didn’t make sense, he left me in a weird room (with a beaded curtain and dim lights) to lie on a bed roller to help loosen up my rotator muscle. As I was on the roller, I was offered a blanket and foot massage. WTF?! At this point I was so fed up with the ridiculousness of the entire experience that I decided I had to escape as quickly as I could. On my way out, I was accosted and offered chiropractic services, body massage, and some sort of «enzymes» that would magically decrease the inflammation in my muscle and heal me… What a load of BS!
Like another person wrote on their review, the doctors at this place use a cookie cutter approach toward each patient and don’t actually diagnose anything or treat it properly. They treat you like a customer and try to sell you on everything they can whether or not it even makes any sense.
I’m sure Dr. Rekar figured out that I caught on to his tactics because he signed me out of my appointment without even looking at me. To top it all off, I was charged a $ 50 copay even though my insurance card says that my copay is $ 0. I will be calling my insurance company tomorrow morning.

I have been going to UCMWG for many years. The staff is the best ever. They are knowledgeable, friendly, caring, and do all in their power to make me feel great. I’ve recommended Dr. Rekar, Dr. Barrass, and the rest of the staff to my friends; and my friends have all thanked me. Dr. Rekar is thorough and holistically-​oriented. Dr. Barrass tunes in to what is going on so accurately and expertly that I am continually amazed at his ability. I am so fortunate to be a patient of UCMWG. Not only do I receive outstanding care, but also the atmosphere is so positive and welcoming. Thank you UCMWG from the bottom of my heart!

I was introduced to this place by a friend after a neck injury in a car accident. I still have issues. Ow and then and Dr Rekar is ALWAYS able to get me in and get me out of pain quickly and effectively. They take their time explain what the issue is and how to correct the issue. I love it here! I would recommend this plaice to anyone with an injury or wellness issue.

Hogwash, pseudoscience, no real medicine or treatment.
I first came here after getting tendinitis from exercising too aggressively. The first time I came in, I was given a «cold laser» to run over my injured area, and Dr. Rekar began talking to me about what kind of orthotics I might need. It was a sales pitch from the beginning. THEN, he had me start seeing Dr. Barrass, whose methods are such airy-​fairy nonsense I can barely even begin to describe them… but I will. First, let me back up.
Dr. Rekar — One of the most frustrating doctors I have ever worked with. He absolutely loves to talk and is just a terrible listener. I have never felt more dismissed by a doctor. I once asked him to look at a rash I had. He took out a book and decided in 15 seconds that it was some bullshit bug infestation that I needed to purchase $ 80 cream for. Not trusting his judgment, I did my own research. Nickel allergy from my belt. Wore a different belt, problem was gone in a week. So much for careful diagnosis.
Also, he will ALWAYS send you to a chiropractor (Dr. emBARRASSment, in my case). Heck, you can come in with a bloody nose and he’ll get you to see the chiropractor and buy some supplements on your way out. When I went in with my tendinitis, he told me to do everything EXCEPT the tried and true RICE (Rest, ice/​ibuprofen, compression, elevation). I had to find this out on my own. I saw him and the chiropractor for over a month while struggling with tendinitis that wasn’t improving. I finally said, «screw it» and started taking ibuprofen and making more of an effort to rest my ankles. Problem was gone in a week, while these two «doctors» fumbled around with «treatments» for over a month. They use a cookie-​cutter approach for everyone and take no time to carefully diagnose the issue.
Dr. Barrass — He took X-​rays, and started testing my muscles to see which ones were «turned on» and which were «turned off.» I’ve later learned that this is called applied kinesiology, which, as it turns out, is a load of crap. But I could have told you that, because it did NOTHING for me after more than six sessions.
He went through this joke of a routine where he would test the strength in a muscle by pushing a limb in a specific direction and asking me to resist it. If I couldn’t resist it, he would claim a muscle was «turned off,» and then ask if I had a previous injury anywhere on my body. The first time, I told him I had my wisdom teeth removed, so he had me put my hands on the sides of my jaw while he did some funky crap with my neck. He then tested the same muscle again and magically I was able to resist! Wow! Except you’d think that «turning on» an ENTIRE muscle that was turned off would result in me feeling a lot different. Nope. Not a single noticeable effect. Smoke and mirrors, and a waste of time.
Never going to this clown show again.

Dr. David R. Has been very great! He has helped me in both my medical conditions and with physical therapy for my arm. He’s very well knowledgeable about everything and he takes the time to help make sure your treatment is great! I highly recommend Dr David r. For all personal health and nutrition.

I spent 20 visits and around 30 hours of my life. A couple of visits were beneficial but the rest were just placebo. So you would ask me — why did you spend $ 2000 and so much time if there was no improvement. They literally convince me that i was improving. Being a layperson with limited knowledge of physical therapy.
I injured my shoulder and arms and had internal injuries which needed treatment.
The made me do work for my lower back and exercises which were not related at all to the injury.
I honestly really regret the 4 months and money which was earned by this scumbags.
The also made me pay $ 15 copays when the copay was $ 7.
When i found a real physical therapist my arm completely recovered in 4 sessions.
They also told me to avoid working out and keep on coming there so they could bill more.
Please please please search around or shoot me a note and i can point you to folks who can actually fix the injury.
I am extremely lucky that i found a real and honest physical therapist and i am back in the gym again. If there was any way for me to recover my money and give it my new doctor i would do so.
Working with Dr Rekar and Dr Barrash there was no hope of me being on track and being active again.
btw i am really surprised they have 5 star reviews. They must be doing review stuffing as a lot of badly rated businesses do. meh. when i have some more time ill find out the ‘paid for’ reviews and let you know. basically you can see the ‘paid for’ reviews because the reviewer will be reviewing places all over the map instead of one geographic area where we normally would live.

I have been coming to see Dr. Rekar for the last two years, and I have nothing but wonderful things to say about his office and staff. They are above and beyond accommodating, and it is not uncommon to get a personal phone call from Dr. Rekar himself, to see how you’re feeling. The office staff is sweet, prompt and professional, and the doctors themselves are all very good at what they do, as well as kind-​hearted and bright. Give them a try, I’ll bet you switch to them :)

At first I thought my experience coming to Dr. David R. was not that great. But after I received a follow up phone call after he referred me the ER, I appreciated his concern and even gave me advice for how I should deal with how terrible the hospital treated me.
The office is not your typical doctors office that’s for sure — I don’t know if that’s a good thing or bad thing. I also kind of felt like I was a customer and not necessarily a patient. When he was discussing the other services they offered at the office, I felt like he was a salesperson and not a doctor. I really didn’t like that.

To the comments made by the office below:
1) The gentleman at the front desk was well aware that this visit was complimentary. We discussed that several times over; when I first came in and as I was leaving. There was no misunderstanding in this communication. I do not know how these things work, but I would assume that someone else’s authority besides a desk clerk would be needed to file a claim with insurance. Also, my insurance was NOT billed $ 26, but $ 306 (for a $ 65 treatment). Adding to that, my previous visit, which I paid for with $ 65 in cash (since I was informed that this treatment was not covered by my insurance) was billed to my insurance at an additional $ 124.
2) Be this as it may — the office did say they would correct the mistake, but they failed to do so for over 40 days. This is when I decided to file a grievance and avoid having to bother with this office any longer. The office should have gone out of their way to correct this mistake immediately, and contact me with updates. This is not a matter that should be taken lightly. (Their failure to do this is what motivated me to write this review in the first place. Despite everything that happened up to this point, I had planned to just forget about the whole experience and skip the negative review).
3) From the information found on the website, I possibly incorrectly assumed that Dr. Barrass had no «radiological education» (might be worth updating). If I am wrong, all the better. But this dose not change the fact that the «findings» from the X-​Ray were essentially fabricated — to elaborate on this: I was told that my lower back disc was worn. This was demonstrated by two arbitrary lines drawn on the image. Since X-​Rays cannot capture spinal discs, the X-​Ray image quality was very, very low, and my spinal disc is, in fact, not worn, I conclude that the information provided by the doctor is incorrect. Also, as mentioned, the doctors at this office had entirely different interpretations of the X-​Ray image.
But yeah, why don’t you go and read some filtered reviews, sounds like a plan.

All I have to say is, halleluiah for this amazing group of healers!
I am a professional dancer in LA and have tried many different types of healing for my aching, beat-​up body… and the team at UCMG have me taken care of. They are gracious, helpful, available for a last-​minute injury, incredibly knowledgeable, and WELCOMING! I have never once felt pressured to make multiple visits (like the classic crack em’, smack em’ chiro’s… Ick!!!), but from what I have learned about my body from Dr. Barrass, Dr. Mattison and Dr. Rekar, I’m aware of my body and when it’s needing to to be re-​aligned (headaches, pinching, numbness… yes! I sound 80, but I’m not!).
For example, though I’ve had an array of injuries from my career, a recent one was literally a pain in my rear-​end and I will be forever grateful for Dr. Mattison for his care. I had landed incredibly hard on my tail bone a couple weeks ago while I was dancing and had injured it so badly that I could hardly walk without pain. I walked in to the office nearly crying, and after an adjustment and a recommendation for an anti-​inflammatory vitamin, I could walk with no pain. I have since taken the vitamin everyday and had a couple adjustments and am back to my crazy dancing ways with seriously no pain. I told my mom of the whole episode and she said she had had a similar injury years ago, and with regular doctor care (over the counter anti-​inflammatorys and no adjustments) it took her at least a year before she could sit for any amount of time without soreness. Insane. Again, so grateful to this office.
So thank you Universal City Medical Group and all of it’s caring staff for being my constant and supporting me through my crazy career. BTW! As I was searching for the office and clicking around (they’ve taken care of me for over 5 years, it’s time I shout there greatness from the rooftops!), I noticed that there were a bunch of «filtered reviews» at the bottom of their Unilocal page… once I clicked on it, so many wonderful, 5 star comments came up!!! If you need more convincing to seek help from these guys, click on those too!!! Happy Healing!!!

If there was an option to give this place more stars I would give them a 10!!! Dr. Barrass is the BEST doctor I have ever met. His bed side manners are sincere and genuine and his wealth of knowledge is abundant. I came across this place after a recent car accident and could not have imagined that my entire life would be changed forever.
I suffered from chronic migraines for over four years, fatigue, knee pain, back pain and more. I felt so overwhelmed by my handicaps that he told me to provide him with a list of everything that was «wrong» with me and he would help me. Day by day Dr. Barrass would focus on one ailment at a time and my recovery was evident after my first session.
It has been 9 months and this is the best my body has ever felt. I am now fulfilling my dream of running a marathon, with Dr. Barrass’s help of course and I owe it all to him. He is so supportive and kind and is the only doctor I can say that I trust 100%. I am beyond lucky to have him as my doctor.
Dr. Barrass has also helped me with supplements and minerals. He is a chiropractor by trade but I would say he is a miracle worker. I have seen so many doctors throughout the years and tried everything possible beside surgery and no one has helped like him.
To top it all off the staff is exceptionally kind. Mike and Jim are always welcoming and accommodating. I am beyond grateful for this place and all the the hard work of Dr. Barrass.
Thank you.

It’s a little embarrassing to say I have to see a physical therapist at my age (30s) but Dr Barass and Dr Matison are excellent at what they do. I had a knee injury (and later a pulled leg muscle) and they helped me recover. Occasionally my knee acts up and I go see either of them (2 different approaches but both work).
Their staff is always helpful and polite, they know me by name. Great office all around. Don’t be fooled by the eclectic décor ;)

My previous occupation was a Medial Consultant. so I have a lot of experience with doctor offices and patient care. I’ve been a patient at Universal Wellness Group since moving to California in 2011. Dr. Rekar and his staff are professional and they genuinely care about improving their patients health. I could not be happier with the care they provide. The Doctors take their time with each patient and never make you feel rushed but at the same time you never have to wait more than 5 min. before a doctor enters the exam room.
Dr. Barras is the best Chiropractor I’ve ever been to. After each adjustment I leave feeling rejuvenated and balanced. I hate writing a review because he’s the best kept secret in Los Angeles for people who have back problems and I don’t want people taking up all the appointments. However, he deserves the recognition. I highly recommend Universal Medical Group.

These guys have changed my life for the better! Dr. Mike and Dr. Barass are amazing and I am so grateful for them. They really care about their patients, they make me feel at ease, and I’ve felt so much better in the time since I started seeing them.

This place is great. Got an appointment right away, was offered tea when I got there, was seen immediately. I felt that Dr. Mike was intelligent, paying attention to ME, and gave my knee an examination, including x-​ray, like he was getting paid… but he did it for free. I will definitely support this place in the future for any chiropractic/​massage/​physical therapy, etc.
Thanks Dr. Mike!

This place is AMAZING! Everyone, from the front staff to the doctors, is absolutely wonderful.
I see Dr. Mike and he is the best doctor I have ever seen in my life. He cares about all aspects of my health and invites me to ask him anything.
This place is extremely special. If you need chiropractic care, don’t hesitate, go to Universal City Medical Wellness Group! You will not be disappointed.

there are so many quacks out there. it’s hard to put your trust in a single doctor nowadays – with stories of hidden fees and unnecessary procedures. so it’s no wonder i am very cautious and bordering on cynical.
case in point. quite recently my boyfriend went to a chiropractor next to LAX, he charged him over 150 dollars, and he didn’t even do a full adjustment. he did though, take the liberty of setting his ‘next appointment up’, since it’s necessary to come in every three weeks.
THAT being said.
i went to Dr. Xuan DIep, D.C. a couple years ago when i could no longer endure the excruciating back pain i was suffering. i was very paranoid and thought i had a curved spine, or some defect i was not aware of.
after a few xrays, he exclaimed my spine was ‘gorgeous!” *blush* that what i needed to change was my horrible posture and do yoga. he then went on to crack my whole ENTIRE body. (i have never been able to CRACK before this mind you… i was very nervous). after my adjustment, and many cracks, i felt like a new women. Dr. Diep is so warm and passionate about his work, and always takes the necessary time to make his patients comfortable and answer all questions…
fast forward to today…
though my back is healed now, i have chronic neck pain. though i do a weekly massage, i surmised that my injury is probably skeletal and not muscular.
i no longer have insurance now. so i had to pay the full fee. which was only 65 dollars. (it’s a steal!) he even threw in a free xray, in which he discovered my neck had no arch. (hours of piano practice and teaching will do that to you i guess…) he gave me some invaluable advice on what exercises i should do before i go to sleep every night, and answered alllllll my questions. (which took almost an extra 15 minutes). we asked the doc when we should come back, and he said, «when you’re not feeling right again… but the usual is every 6 months». ummm…6 months vs. 3 weeks. you decide which is better.
Bottom Line: Dr. Diep is an honest, passionate and caring doctor. i would trust my spine with him. :) i wouldn’t go to anyone else. everyone needs to be adjusted now from time to time right?
side note: they’re on the second floor, parking is downstairs. there’s a massage place right next door, if you don’t want to make the trek to san gabriel.

I cannot say enough about this group. Dr. Mike is my doctor here but I have also seen Dr. Diep when Dr. Mike has not been available. There is so much compassion, care and attention paid here.
The medical doctor here is Dr. Rekar and he is also helped me on more than one occasion and is totally accessible.
I originally came to them for chiropractic issues but also used them for a car accident injury. They totally worked with me re my auto claim and were very helpful with the insurance and attorney dealings.
Mike and Jen are super friendly and helpful at the front desk. Maria and Jim run things behind the scenes and have always been helpful whenever I’ve had additional questions or needed anything.
I’ve been going there for over 6 years now and I highly recommend them to all of my friends.
They will give you a free «health pass» for the first visit including x-​rays. They will go over everything with you and explain your options. They will not leave you feeling confused or blown off. They also do «muscle testing» (kinesiology) and help you with nutritional supplements.
I cannot urge you enough to check them out. They are especially helpful for musician injuries and dancers and sports related problems.