My Chiropractic story is a little different than most Chiropractors. All throughout school I wanted to be an Optometrist and I was working away at my pre-requisites for the program at U of M. In my last year of my Science degree I attended a job fair that was happening on campus. Like most students I was just really there for the “free pens/notepads”. I came across a booth about a Chiropractic school (which I ended up going to) and the person running the booth really got me interested in Chiropractic. I didn’t know anything about Chiropractic at the time and had never seen a Chiropractor before. After that meeting I decided to do my own research about the profession. I had shadowed a few Optometrists but I felt it just didn’t feel 100% me. I love my Optometrist but I also crave different things on a daily basis instead of just working on one thing to keep myself motivated and challenged.
At the time (2007) I had a few things going on in my personal life which influenced my decision on my career path change. The most important thing was my mom’s health. When I had started undergrad my mom had a few health problems and she ended up getting a few surgeries. Her range of motion and movement slowly started to decrease as time went on. I remember thinking, there has to be something else that she can do that will help her get better and stay better for the long term, not for short term relief. At the time, she kept getting referred to Orthopedic Specialists and they recommended surgery for a lot of her issues. Knowing what I know now, her issues were mostly musculoskeletal but she wasn’t recommended to have a trial of Chiropractic care, Massage Therapy, Acupuncture and Physiotherapy BEFORE doing surgery. I used to question why there isn’t anything less invasive for her to try first and why not even give my mom an exercise routine that she could slowly start adding into her daily routine such as walking or light weight training. When I was half way through Chiropractic school, my mom ended up getting a spinal fusion surgery for her low back. It took her a while to recover and it has helped her but I can see how her posture and gait has changed since then.
Fast forward to today, with everything I know, I often wonder if my mom would have improved without surgical intervention had she tried Chiropractic first. Currently one of her new specialists (who I really love) and I have discussed options on how I can also take care of my mom at home to help speed up her recovery and get as much motion back so she can continue doing things she loves; gardening, knitting and spending time with her grandkids. Due to the plates and metal devices my mom has in her spine, I became interested in learning more about Graston Technique® so I can help with scar tissue and the musculature component of her spine. It does give me comfort that more people today start with a less invasive route with mechanical back pain before going in for surgery.
After thinking about all of this, I ended up shadowing one Chiropractor that works with U of M in their mentorship program and he let me ask anything I wanted and shared more about what the profession is about. It felt like this was my calling, it resonated 100% with me. I decided then to get in touch with the Chiropractic school and they suggested since this is a huge investment, I should check out more Chiropractors to see if this is really the right career for me. I shadowed a few more Chiropractors and it confirmed my decision. A few months later I moved down to Minneapolis to start my Chiropractic journey. I had my very first adjustment in my first week of classes and I started going weekly for the rest of my 3 years there. I started to notice changes that I had never thought about before; my shoulders felt relaxed, I was able to concentrate better because my neck wasn’t stiff, I rarely got headaches, my low back flare ups decreased significantly, I was sleeping better and most importantly I had more energy!
Having had positive changes in my own life with regular Chiropractic care, it gives me joy being able to provide the same benefits (if not more) to my patients. I love working with patients and seeing how their life changes with little steps they add on to their overall health and seeing how happy they are. My favorite part of being a Chiropractor is that I am able to work on different things on different people. For example, some patients only have low back concerns, some have neck pain, some have shoulder issues, some have hip concerns etc, it’s not the same thing all the time and that’s what keeps me energized.
If you have a Chiropractic story that changed your life, I invite you to share it with me! You can always send me an email and I would love to connect with you and hear about it.
