How I became a chiropractor: My Daredevil Bike Story
Interesting story of how I became a chiropractor and how I discovered chiropractic.
When I was younger, in my adolescence, I was just kind of a wild child, probably an adrenaline junky would be the best way to describe it. One of the things I did a lot of was BMX biking, and early on, just when you’re doing BMX biking, you’re just falling a lot. And that caught up to me in my early twenties. I had graduated college and didn’t really know what I wanted to do with my life, and I was working as a server out in Tucson where I grew up. And what happened was, one day I woke up and I literally just could not stand up straight. I was like this, and couldn’t stand up straight, had tremendous amounts of low back pain. Didn’t really know what to do about it.
I had a friend I was working with who was going to massage school, and she suggested I go see her chiropractor. I really actually was not interested at all. And one day we were driving home. I think she was just sick of the aches and pains that I was in. And she just took me to this chiropractor. Right away, it was an experience like I had never had. The guy assessed me. He had his hands on me. I wasn’t used to doctors working with me in a physical way. When I was a kid, I mean, really the only health issues I had growing up was I had really bad allergy issues growing up. So my experience with doctors was them poking and prodding and sticking needles in me and giving me medications. And actually around the time I was 16, I literally decided like, I just didn’t want to take any drugs or medication. I’d rather just suffer with my allergies as they were.
Back to my friend taking me to the chiropractor. We got in there. It was just a very different experience.
And the guy started working with me, started adjusting me, which is what chiropractors do, they work with you in this physical way that they’re manipulating your body. I started getting really good results with my low back right away. And right away, I was just interested in, what is this chiropractic thing? Why is it giving me such good results? I had a pretty strong science background. My parents, both Ph.D.’s in science. So, just started getting really into the science side of what was going on with that.
Interesting enough, when my chiropractor assessed me, one of the things he said, assessing me was, “Hey, Steve. I really expect as we start treating you that these allergies that you’ve had with most of your life are going to get improved.” And I really just kind of brushed it off as, “There’s just no way anything’s going to help with my allergies. But, hey, if you can help my low back, that’s great. I’m really happy with that.”
Started getting adjusted. My low back got better in about a week. He had educated me on the need to continue to come in to really solidify what he was doing. About a month into my care, what I realized… I was out golfing with some buddies of mine, and my one buddy was just suffering from allergies. And I realized like, “Whoa, where are my allergies?” Usually, I’d be out there suffering from him with allergies. I wasn’t having that experience at all. My allergies actually, once I started getting adjusted, cleared up about 90 to 95%. That was the day I was like, “This is what I want to do for the rest of my life.” Love helping people, and so that’s how I discovered chiropractic.
I had to go back to school for a year to get my prereqs and then off to chiropractic school in California for four years.
