Looking back there was a providential process that led me into the Chiropractic profession. Initially, I was exposed to chiropractic at the age of seventeen as a senior in high school. My family had never gone to a chiropractor, and I did not really have an opinion about the profession. At the time of my senior year, I was training for cross country season as well as doing CrossFit, and I ended up with a slowly worsening low back injury. Looking back, I was running quite a bit on uneven terrain, and with CrossFit I was lifting a lot of heavy weight with less than adequate core strength—which could have been the contributing factors to my pain; nonetheless, I was beginning to hurt, badly. Every time I tried to run, I was hurting with the impact of my foot striking the ground, every day sitting in class the pain became more and more nagging, and I even reached a point that deep breathing was uncomfortable.
I had tried ice, ice baths, heat, electrical stimulation, and ibuprofen at the counsel of my school athletic trainer, but with zero progress, so I went to my local primary care provider. He performed no musculoskeletal exam and quickly prescribed me muscle relaxers…which did absolutely nothing. The traditional medical model had failed me.
So…I went to a chiropractor, and he actually examined me and thoroughly explained to me why I was feeling what I was feeling. One of the wise sayings I still remember him telling me was that “no amount of drug or chemical could ever fix your mechanical problem.” After a few adjustments and some therapeutic exercise interventions I had no more low back pain and I was back to CrossFit with a stronger core than ever before.
Going into undergraduate I was a clinical kinesiology major, and I had my eyes set on physical therapy school. Chiropractic was not necessarily off my radar; I just did not know anything about the profession. After much research, I ended up making the switch to become a Doctor of Chiropractic—here are some of the main reasons:
Firstly, based on the results I had with it helping me out of the worst musculoskeletal issue I have ever had. Secondly, I learned that there is a level of autonomy that a Doctor of Chiropractic has, and that was appealing, as well as the benefit of being more of a portal of entry provider. Thirdly and lastly, I knew that with chiropractic I would still be able to do all the physical rehabilitation that I loved and wanted to do, but more so, to cultivate exceptional palpatory skills unmatched by any other profession. I genuinely believe Chiropractors are the greatest in the world regarding manual care skills. And I honestly believe chiropractors are at the front line to be the go-to portal of entry providers for our communities regarding neuromusculoskeletal complaints and preventative care.
Dr. Broom