meet the team

Chiropractor North Tazewell VA Christopher Brown

Chiropractor

Christopher Brown D.C.

Location: North Tazewell VA

I received my undergraduate degree in 1991 from Westfield State University and then graduated with honors from Palmer College of Chiropractic in 1998. Since graduation I have completed certification as a Chiropractic Sports Physician (CCSP), American College of Addictionology and Compulsive Disorders in Auriculotherapy ...

... Kennedy Decompression Technique, Back Project Corporation; Active Therapeutic Movement, Nutritional Response Testing (NRT), and Holder Research Institute; Torque Release Technique Advanced Proficiency. I have taken countless hours of continuing education classes all in an effort to continue to improve my knowledge, skill, and technique to better serve the people who entrust me to help them with their health and life. I am a member of the Virginia Chiropractic Association (board member 2001-03), the International Chiropractic Association, and the Foundation for Chiropractic Education and Research.

Originally from upstate New York, I found my way to SWVA after chasing my now wife Melissa, who at the time was living in Wytheville, VA. Of course shortly after I graduated and moved to Tazewell she moved to Raleigh, NC (but that’s a story for another time). My plan eventually worked out and we now have three great kids; Elizabeth, Audrey, and Sophie. We are a pretty active family and being with my girls is one of my greatest values and passions.

My professional journey has definitely changed as my understanding and appreciation for chiropractic and its role in health has evolved the past several years. Early in practice I was what I now call a “limited scope, pain-based chiropractor”. I initially practiced the way I was taught in school and it was also how most chiropractors I knew and learned from practiced. I focused on your primary complaint, or pain, and did my best to alleviate it using both chiropractic adjustments and various therapies. My practice has evolved since then from a “pain-based” practice to a “brain-based” practice. The critical difference is that I now understand the significant relationship between your nervous system and your ability to adapt to stress and be healthy. I now focus on identifying the cause of the symptom; whether it’s pain, low-energy, digestion, sleep, or any of the many signals or symptoms your body may be expressing.

However, I’ve also lived with severe and chronic pain and when I was suffering the only thing I cared about was for it to go away. I get it. It can be brutal. It was for me. The pain was horrible, but what was even worse was how it disrupted my life. It can rob you of so much. Work was a struggle, and for longer and more often than I’d like to admit, by the time I got through the work day I would be worthless. Nothing left for my family or myself. When Elizabeth and Audrey were young I think the most frequent memory they have of me was me laying on my back on the floor icing every night after work. I get it. I am convinced that most people come to me not because of pain, but because the pain or some other symptom is robbing them of life. It interferes with their participation, or at the least enjoyment of something and/or someone that is very important to them.

Your brain controls all body function….including healing. The most common place an interruption of communication between your brain and body occurs is where the nerves exit the spine. We now have sophisticated computerized technology to identify stress on the nervous system, and if it does exist, measures the severity and location of the nerve stress. We also utilize digital x-ray to fully access if any stress is on the spine that may be interfering with the spinal cord and/or the exiting nerves. Suffice it to say we have objective outcome measures to accurately access the entirety of the nervous system.

Pain is an important indicator that we need to pay attention to. That said, there is a vast difference between healthy and just not symptomatic (in pain). More and more people are seeking us out for spinal and nervous system “check-ups” without any obvious symptoms. The analogies are endless, but consider your dental health. Do you wait for your teeth to hurt before you brush and floss? I certainly hope not. Your nervous system controls, coordinates, and regulates every other organ and system in your body. Once interfered with, and mind you this almost always occurs initially without symptoms, your nervous system can no longer control, coordinate, and regulate all your body functions properly. You are no longer functioning at 100%, the body is now in a state of dis-ease (or lack of ease), and over time you are robbed of your optimal expression of health. Our mission is to help you and your family live a healthier life now and for the rest of your life by objectively identifying if your current state of health (or lack of) is related to possible spinal misalignments that are disrupting the normal function of your nervous system. If we find that your health (including your health concerns and goals) can be helped with our brand of chiropractic care we will tell you. Rest assured that if we determine you can be better served by another health care professional we will make that referral without delay.

Most recently we have incorporated more lifestyle modifications into our care protocols for our practice members interested in taking their health to the next level. More and more research is substantiating the connection between health and lifestyle. What we once accepted as conditions that were beyond our control because we had been told they were genetic, is now being replaced by more and more science proving they are caused mostly by our lifestyle. We continue to bring new information, ideas, and strategies to our practice family to help them reduce their physical, chemical, and emotional stress by improving how they eat, move and think. After all, our mission statement is “to help you and your family live a healthier life today and for the rest of your life”.

Chiropractor North Tazewell VA Emily Butcher

Chiropractor

Emily Butcher D.C.

Location: North Tazewell VA

I am a Tazewell County native that graduated from Tazewell High School in 2014. I was raised in Tazewell on a farm and fell in love with the beauty of the town as well as the people at a very young age. I went to Bluefield College, now Bluefield University, for a biology degree that I picked because I found biology interesting.

It wasn't until my junior year at Bluefield that I decided I needed to pick a profession that I could use for my degree so I started looking around for a job that I might want to do. There were several different professions that I thought that I would enjoy but when I looked into them, nothing felt quite right.

Finally, my family, who had told me for years that I should become a chiropractor one day, convinced me to shadow a few offices in the area. I started at Brown Chiropractic with Dr. Chris Brown and by the end of my day shadowing, I was overwhelmed but excited about everything that I had learned. I decided at that point to change my degree to a Pre-Med Biology degree and do an internship in chiropractic care. I worked with Dales' Chiropractic in Bluefield for my internship and fell in love with the job and more importantly the people of this area and how much chiropractic can truly help. As a result, I continued working at Dales' Chiropractic through graduation from Bluefield College in 2018 and went to Life University in Marietta, Georgia, that fall.

After four years of classes at Life University, three of which were learning how to live and learn in the world with the Covid-19 pandemic rules, I graduated Cum Laude in June of 2022. Post-graduation, I had an opportunity to go to Wellsville, KS, summer of 2022 and take classes at Options for Animals for an animal chiropractic certification. I graduated from Options for Animals in August 2022 and was certified by the International Veterinary Chiropractic Association the same month. I am thrilled to be back in Tazewell working with the Chiropractic First team as well as working in my own office, Aspire Wellness and Chiropractic. I trust God will continue to do great things for this community.

Chiropractor Abingdon VA Kaleigh Saxon

Chiropractor

Kaleigh Saxon D.C.

Location: Abingdon VA

I grew up in Oxford, Michigan, a small town just north of Detroit, where I competed in various sports and spent a great deal of time in and around the athletic trainer's office. I graduated from Oxford High School in 2015 and went on to continue my education at Adrian College.

I originally attended with the hopes of becoming an athletic trainer, then shifted my focus to Sports Medicine. One day, while sitting in a Biochemistry class, I realized that the program I was enrolled in was not about the patient, but was about the medicine, and that didn't sit well with me. After several sleepless nights and one trip home later, I accompanied my dad to his chiropractor and fell in love with the possibility of making a real difference in someone's life.

All of a sudden, it all made sense to me and it changed my career path forever. I graduated from Adrian College and began school at Life University, where I completed my coursework and received my Doctor of Chiropractic. After graduation, I practiced in Florida, before moving to Virginia. In my free time, I like to hike with my dogs and spend time with friends and family.

OUR LOCATIONS:

Abingdon VA

North Tazewell VA

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