Chiropractor Nicholas Grande D.C.

I straightened up, in pain, and all of a sudden out of nowhere, I started crying. I felt defeated, unable to bull my way through this problem the way I had overcome other obstacles in my life.

This pain, this weakness, this three years of collecting Workman’s Compensation benefits, my life was at a standstill in my best years while my wife's and friends’ careers flew happily by. I felt silly, dressed in a hospital gown in the middle of a bright, sunny California weekday. No doctor, therapist, or treatment had been able to get the exhaustion, pain, and weakness to stop for three years.

Why I Chose a Career in Chiropractic

Within a year of the incident in the hospital stairwell and another year of physical therapy, a chance discovery finally led to a clear diagnosis, Soon afterward I underwent spinal surgery and following the surgery, I was in physical therapy for several more months. The surgery immediately lifted the deep exhaustion due to spinal cord pressure from the floating disk that I’d had for four years. The physical therapy reduced most of the stiffness in my back. I still had constant back and leg pain, and I finally turned to Chiropractic and visited Dr. Raymond Hall, who in one visit reduced my constant leg pain by about 80%. A powerful chiropractic experience for me.

My Experience with Chiropractic Care

In the weeks following the relief of pain in Dr. Hall’s office in Los Angeles, I hit on the idea of becoming a chiropractor to help myself by helping others. The idea never would have come to me if I had not had an earlier brush with chiropractic.

Four years before I moved to Los Angeles and had the experience in the stairwell, I started going to a chiropractor, Dr. Steven Schram, in New York City. The experience changed my life.

In addition to his doctor of chiropractic degree, Dr. Schram had been a computer systems analyst, a software writer, and also had a Ph.D. in Biochemistry. A great communicator, he loved told me about natural health, and I learned a lot from him. I originally went to Dr. Schram for a combination of upper back, neck and shoulder pain, and wound up staying because of what he taught me about health.

A light bulb went off in my head, early on in my treatment, on a rainy Friday evening at Dr. Schram’s office on East 23rd Street. He showed me a chart of the nervous system and explained that a spinal bone out of place can change the signals of nerves as they exit the spine. He said that not just my muscles, but my organs too were affected by the altered nerve signal. Adjusting the spine decreases nerve interference, he told me, resulting in greater health.

That little insight was surprisingly powerful to me and began to resonate throughout my life. From that moment on my health journey was underway. I read the trendy vegetarian manifesto, “Diet For a New America”, and started eating vegetarian, although for health reasons, today I eat a Paleo diet. I started running long distances again and took a renewed interest in exercise. I became very much aware that I had a choice to improve my health, and I placed a new value on my health. I was inspired by the realization that change was possible and that maybe I was not destined to suffer from the heart disease that ran in both sides of my family, and claimed my father at age 58. More than any of these things I became empowered by the experience of change, all because of the big chiropractic idea of adjusting the spine to reduce nerve interference that Dr. Schram passed on to me.

Chiropractic: Philosophy of Health

Chiropractic isn’t something you do, it is a way of looking at health. I think many people, inside and outside the profession equate the act of adjusting the spine with the practice of chiropractic. Adjusting the spine is the most powerful direct means of helping another person that I as a chiropractor am uniquely qualified to provide. The spinal adjustment improves the function of multiple body systems simultaneously, and its benefits can be life-changing. I believe though that chiropractic is more than the act of adjusting the spine, it is a philosophy of health.

The heart of chiropractic is the belief that the power that makes the body heals the body. My job as a chiropractor is to remove as many obstacles to the natural healing of the body as possible. The result of that may be decreased stress, increased function, increased range of motion, and optimization of the brain and organ systems, but more importantly, improved health on all levels of the person’s being. The healing effect of chiropractic is often unmistakable and sudden. The healing effect can go beyond just pain relief, and it can open a patient’s eyes to the possibility of not just improved health, but to the possibility of positive change in all aspects of life. That’s what Chiropractic did for me, and that’s what I strive to make available to our patients.

Away from Grande Family Chiropractic

My wife, daughter, and I live the life of a travel soccer family. My wife Karyn, served as manager for a few years and did a great job, very time-consuming but she was great at it. Our daughter has grown into a skilled and ever-improving player on a good team, and we’re grateful for the skill and dedication of her coaches and managers. Through soccer, I’ve had to learn to let her go, and try not to live my sports “would-coulda-shoulda-beens” through her. In addition to the team, I enjoy following world soccer, especially, the U.S. Men’s and Women’s National Soccer Teams.

Healthy Lifestyle

I am a chiropractic patient who gets his spine checked and adjusted on a scheduled basis. I also train in the gym and continue to incorporate new exercise concepts into my workouts. My latest addition has been learning Russian kettlebell exercises from trainer Tony Rosa at Crofton Cross Fit.

Ever since my chiropractic epiphany in Dr. Schram’s office in New York, I’ve continued to seek better health through natural nutrition. Since 2010 I have been studying and practicing functional endocrinology, a system of body chemistry analysis that uses lab tests, specific herbal supplements, and dietary changes to fine-tune the output of the body’s internal chemistry. The result has been a decrease in the effects of stress and increased energy.

Thanks for visiting our site! How can we help you with today’s safe and natural chiropractic care? I look forward to meeting you in person and learning how we may be of service to you. You can give our Crofton MD office a call, or click here to email me, and let’s arrange a time to explore your options, so we can help you take your first step toward better health.