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Why I Do What I Do

Dr Kristen Steely Anderson chiropractorMany people have asked me this question. It is the heart and soul of what I do every single day. I had my first Chiropractic experience when I was just 13 years old. I was an active teenager, very driven in academics and in athletics. Although, that time in my life was also a very challenging time because of a health concern- a condition I called "numbness" in my legs. At the mere age of 13, I was already six feet tall, and at the time, pretty clumsy and awkward. But my inability to properly feel things in my legs and having no sense of their position relative to the rest of my body, made life challenging, very frustrating and pretty scary. I expressed my symptoms to my parents, and they were very concerned. Our concern about my inability to feel my legs drove me to countless specialists including neurologists who conducted every test they could think of to diagnose the problem. A spinal tap came back negative, which ruled out MS, all other test were negative exept for a nerve conduction study. This test revealed that my nerves in both of my legs from the waist down were not working right and firing abnormally.(Obviously) The Neurologist who read the test had no idea what to make of the results.

All I knew was that my numbness was significant and not going away. Knowing what I know now about how the nervous system works, this is not a problem that should be dismissed or taken lightly, because when you start to lose normal sensation you are also losing muscle strength, and these problems don't just go away, they tend to get worse with time! All of the doctors did not have any suggestions for me because they could not come up with any sort of diagnosis. (After $10,000 of costly diagnostic procedures!)

That was it? I thought to myself. I am supposed to live with this? That was unacceptable. For the next few weeks my family told my story to as many people as possible in search of some helpful direction. After sharing my story at the office my dad's coworker Judy, heard and simply said, oh wow sounds like a nerve problem, send her to a chiropractor- you know they specialize in the nerves. All my family knew about chiropractic at the time was that you go when your back hurts, but, my back didn't hurt! It was my legs that didn't work right. So, the next day my dad took me to his chiropractor, Dr. Stephen Zajac, in Buffalo, NY. Dr. Zajac talked to me about my leg symptoms and conducted a chiropractic examination and told me my pelvis was rotated, and that could cause my legs to be numb. He told me to lay face down on a table with loud drops and began to "adjust" my pelvis.

I felt very different after this first "adjustment". Somehow I felt "reconnected". Over the next 3 visits the miracle of chiropractic was performed on my body. In the following week, the strength in my legs returned and the numbness completely disappeared, and NEVER RETURNED - A chiropractic miracle!

It amazed me and my family that something so SIMPLE and CONSERVATIVE was not tried first for my neurological problem. Chiropractic should have been a first stop in this case (and in most), instead of last stop. All that money spent on diagnostic testing did nothing to solve the problem!

I went on to excel in athletics, utilizing chiropractic as an adjunct to help my body work at peak performance. In November 1991, I signed a FULL four year athletic scholarship to Niagara University to join their division 1 Women's basketball team. Four years later, in May 1996, I moved to Atlanta GA to begin Life University of Chiropractic and pursue one of the the most rewarding careers anyone could ever have! I believe I could have never accomplished this without chiropractic care, I believe that Chiropractic SAVED MY LIFE. I also know that I have been called to help others reach a higher level of health naturally with chiropractic. I thank God for Judy, my dad's coworker and friend who spread the message about chiropractic. I thank God for this profession! It has become my mission in life to help other achieve better health naturally through the gift of chiropractic.

Dr. Kristen Steely
Anderson Wellness Center
(864) 226-7676