Meet Our Doctors in Parker CO

Back in the early nineties, I owned a Snap-On Tools franchise. The job was labor intensive, and as a result, I wound up herniating one of the discs in my low back. The level of discomfort was, basically... beyond words. I couldn't comfortably sit, stand, lift, drive, lie down, or bend over... every normal daily activity I took for granted before brought about sharp, shooting, burning pain down my left leg into my foot. It was the worst pain I'd ever felt in my life!

I tried pain pills, muscle relaxers, anti-inflammatories, and epidural steroid injections. The injections were kind of like magic! By the time I got up off the table, I couldn't feel the pain in my low back and leg anymore. However, the longest one lasted 72 hours and the shortest one lasted 24 hours. At $700 per injection, that just wasn't sustainable. I remember the day that the doctor told me that I needed back surgery. I thought, "Are you kidding me? I'm 30 years old! I'm not going to get back surgery!" But he looked me straight in the eye and said, "I'm sorry: That's the next best step for your condition." But... even though I was in excruciating pain and really scared, I was more afraid of back surgery so... I just couldn't do It.

So, a friend of mine suggested that I try out his chiropractor and I remember looking at him and saying, "Aren't those guys quacks?" (I really did). He confidently assured me that, "No, they do disc stuff." (in air quotes) And after a little conversation, I decided to try a chiropractor. The lady I chose explained to me what she was going to do and how it would work and so I started a treatment plan. It took a while. In retrospect, I'm a little surprised that I stuck it out — but boy am I glad that I did! She eventually got me back to normal without drugs or surgery. Ultimately, I wound up working as the office administrator in a chiropractor's office! Over the next few years, I saw so many people rid themselves of headaches, low back pain, sciatica, and other crazy things like constipation and even infertility, that I was moved to go back to school to become a chiropractor myself.

For those of you who think you're "too old" to pursue your dream... think again! I went back to school at 44 years of age with only a high school diploma. I earned my BS in Human Biology and then went on to earn my Doctorate of Chiropractic. School was awesome! I absolutely loved learning about the human body and the myriad of physiological processes that keep your body in balance; a term in medicine known as homeostasis. Each one of us is truly a walking, talking miracle and most of us take for granted how much our body does for us until it breaks! That's when we learn how precious our self-healing and self-regulating system is! I knew, even before I went back to school, that I was moving home to Colorado after I graduated to open my own practice. And so, I did that in early 2016, I chose Parker, CO as my new home where I now practice. I can honestly say, the only thing better than school, is applying the education and helping people get better. I am profoundly convinced that I was born to do this, and I am living my dream of helping sick and hurting people regain their health. The hair on my arms still stands up every time a patient who was at the end of their rope says, "It's a miracle!" and I get to respond, "Nope. It's a Monday!"

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Has it been a smooth road?

Lots of folks underestimate the education of a chiropractor; becoming a chiropractor was not an easy undertaking. It requires a minimum of 4,200 hours of classroom, laboratory, and clinical experience for the degree. I saw plenty of well-intended, hard-working students that just couldn't keep up with the rigorous schedule. But for me, it didn't seem like a chore. When you love something as much as I love chiropractic, I considered it my honor to get to study the details. I had to live like a church mouse for 6 years and it cost about $250,000 but it was worth every minute and every penny! Today I'm living my dream because of it... it was sooo worth it!

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So let's switch gears a bit and go into the Naturally Chiropractic story. Tell us more about the business.

My practice is located at 10233 S Parker Rd #100 in Parker CO. I specialize in correcting spinal misalignments that interfere with the nervous system and your good health. Chiropractors are most commonly known for dealing with spinal pain, headaches/migraines, low back pain, sciatica, burning sensations, pins 65 needles, numbness, or weakness/incoordination. But because your nervous system controls literally every cell, tissue, and organ in your body, a chiropractor can help with other things that are less intuitive. I‘ve helped people with bowel and bladder dysfunction, asthma, heart conditions, infertility issues, difficulty sleeping, low energy, and digestion problems and I've even had two patients that were diagnosed with Meniere's Disease that resolved. In my humble opinion. Chiropractic is the best-kept secret in health care! The "secret" is that I don't really heal anyone of anything! You were designed to be healthy. As I mentioned earlier, you are a self-HEALING and self—regulating organism. All I do is locate areas in the spine that are interfering with your nervous system‘s ability to regulate and heal your body. Once those are stabilized... your body heals itself! It really is miraculous to watch!

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How are you different from any other chiropractor?

Understanding that every individual's body is unique, our practice distinguishes itself from the typical chiropractor through our highly personalized approach to care. I adjust using many different techniques, each tailored to the patient's specific needs. I use the extremely gentle, specific prone or activator technique, for people who have never been to a chiropractor before or people who have anxiety about going to a chiropractor. I am NOT a "one—size—fits—all" doc. We believe in starting with a comprehensive understanding of your health. That's why we typically start your journey with us by taking X-rays. I can't tell you how many times I've found something on X-rays that needed follow-up care with a different physician or something that simply made adjusting the patient unsafe. It's rare, but it does happen. I'm more of a believer in humility than I am pride, but if there's anything for me to be proud of, it's that I pay close attention to my patient's health and keep my eyes open. I've found things in my patients that others have missed, tumors, abdominal aneurysms, early presentation of strokes, pulmonary embolisms, appendicitis, the list goes on and on and those are the things that can kill a person if it's not properly addressed immediately!

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How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?

Chiropractic has been around for over 5,000 years but it has really come to the forefront of Western medicine in the last 120 years. The acceptance of Chiropractic has been steadily growing. What was once considered "alternative medicine," is beginning to change into primary care. As insurance becomes more and more unaffordable, patients are beginning to see the light in preventative care. They are also acknowledging that allowing their body to heal, instead of medicating it, is not only safer but also more cost-effective.

When we survey the landscape and see places like CNBC, Johns Hopkins, and NPR are reporting that medical errors are the third leading cause of death in the United States, people start to look for other solutions. I realize that there is a debate in the medical community on how the number of iatrogenic (medically caused) deaths is calculated, but if it's anywhere near the annual 250,000 suspected, that's a lot of people! That's the equivalent of TWO fully loaded Boeing 787 Dreamliners hitting the ground and killing everyone on board, every day for of the YEAR! You can bet if THAT were happening, we wouldn't just be sitting around pretending like nothing was wrong.

Chiropractic has been accused of having its own safety issues as well. Generally speaking, if we are going to get blamed for anything, it‘s strokes, cervical artery dissections, or herniated discs. However, according to my malpractice carrier, these things aren't CAUSED by chiropractors, they get overlooked by them and then subsequently they take the blame once the problem is identified. My malpractice insurance is about $2,500/year. If you compare that to your typical family practice doctors ($8,000 — $50,000/year) or a typical OBGYN ($85,000 - $200,000/year) you start to see where claims are being paid; even psychiatric malpractice insurance is about 3x the rate paid by your average Chiropractor. Having said that, Chiropractic is one of the safest and most effective treatments for musculoskeletal complaints.

S0, how will it change in the years to come? I expect more people to engage with a chiropractor as they understand the safety and efficacy of chiropractic care. It's "prehab " baby! The preservation of health is far easier than curing the disease!