​What started as shoulder, lower back, and knee pain quickly evolved into two NCAA All-American shot-put awards and a new career path. 

 

My journey began in undergraduate college - as a track and field athlete. My passion for throwing the shot put and discuss led to shoulder, back, and knee problems. When I lifted weights, my lower back always tightened. When I ran, my right knee ached. When I sat in class, I would need to sit in the back so I could stand up and move around.

 

It was apparent I had muscle imbalances throughout my entire body.

 

Being stubborn, for the first year, I just pushed through the pain, thinking it would get better. When I realized my pain wasn't improving, I decided to ask for help.​

 

I started with the athletic trainer performing exercises, foam rolling, ice baths, paraffin wax, etc. That didn’t help much, so I saw the top physical therapist in town.

 

I did several corrective stretches, exercises, muscle work, and even the tools to scrape my muscles. That didn’t work either.

 

Everything was temporary and only lasted a few days before my muscles would tighten right back up again.

 

Everyone I worked with told me my pain was because I was overusing the muscles.

 

Repetitive injury.

 

Do you want to know the universal solution they recommended? “Stop doing that.”

 

Stop lifting heavy; stop throwing one-sided; stop sitting in class all day.

 

Although I agreed with what they said, intuitively, I wanted to know WHY my muscles were so tight in the first place and why they weren't healing the way they should have. After all, other athletes trained just as hard as I did and did NOT have my issues. There had to be an answer, as it seemed like they were missing a piece of the puzzle.

 

Shortly after, my track coach recommended that I check out his chiropractor. So I gave that a shot. And I’ll admit, chiropractic helped more than anything else I did. I noticed better range of motion and less pain for weeks instead of days. I was happy. I even competed and performed better.

 

After all, in my junior and senior years, I placed 6th and 2nd in the shot put at the national competition, earning two All-American awards.

 

I chose to go to chiropractic school because of this experience. I wanted to help other athletes find pain relief, sustain fewer injuries, and perform better - like me. I wanted to be a sports chiropractor.

 

During my first year in chiropractic school, I took 11 different elective seminars. At the start of my second year, EVERYTHING changed!

 

I attended an upper cervical chiropractic seminar taught by Dr. Bob Brooks. He was the first to tell me that my pain and imbalances were all stemming from just one part of my body - the top of my neck.

 

“The rest of my spine was compensating for my upper neck.”

 

“My head and neck position control the position of the rest of the spine.”

 

And until I fix my “Atlas,” I will continue to struggle with the same problem.

 

This was a new idea to me. Nobody ever told me my problems stemmed from my neck.

 

So, I gave this unique style of chiropractic, upper cervical chiropractic, a try. Dr. Brooks looked at my X-rays and told me I had a complex neck injury, which made sense with 8 years of football and wrestling growing up.

 

My head was translating to the right of my neck, my atlas bone was tilted up on the left, and my lower back was leaning and wedged to the left from compensation. It finally made sense why I had shoulder, back, and knee pain.

 

​I was then adjusted in this particular NUCCA way, which honestly, I thought was a scam because I felt nothing.

 

Mind you, I was used to getting adjusted with my neck cracked, so the NUCCA adjustment felt like nothing was happening in the moment.

 

But then I saw my improvement on a post-x-ray and had more confidence that something did happen.

 

And something did happen. The following day, all my pain was gone—everywhere. I also noticed my breathing and digestion were better—I absolutely felt different.

 

The following week, I did a leg workout—squats and sprints—and I had no back or knee pain for the first time in years. Typically, the pain would have come back by now.

 

How could I notice such an improvement in my entire body after just one neck adjustment without even feeling the doctor's hands?

 

I didn’t understand it, which intrigued me even more. But the more I thought about it, the more it made sense.

 

I didn't need to feel the adjustment necessarily because, if you consider it, a 12-pound head resting on a 2-ounce bone requires little force to correct - as long as the angle of force is accurate.

 

So, I committed to becoming the best atlas adjuster from that point on.

 

And here I am, thankful I met Dr. Brooks because he changed the trajectory of my life and so many others' lives that I have adjusted.

 

Although he is no longer with us, I will forever be grateful for the time he spent to coach me. ​