Dr. Leber's Chiropractic Story Although I did not visit a chiropractor until after my freshman year of college, my story begins when I was 13 years old. I developed severe low back pain with sciatica while I was in eighth grade. It was debilitating. I had to quit the baseball team. I could no longer ride my bike. While seated, I had to keep my back arched to avoid shooting pain down my left leg. I could not play basketball with my friends after school. Needless to say, I was teased because my movements were so guarded and awkward. My father took me to several medical doctors over the next few months. There was never a physical exam performed. There were no tests ordered. I was just given drugs. One doctor even told me to "put Ben-Gay on it". Obviously the problem continued. The drugs only temporarily masked the severity of the symptoms. The underlying cause was never addressed. After months of terrible pain, the symptoms slowly became more tolerable. For the next five years I suffered with this low-grade constant weakness and pain in my lower back. The sciatic pain would come and go but I never felt that good. I thought it was just something I would have to live with. That is what the doctors told me. I was involved in a relatively minor car accident the summer after my freshman year at the University of Pittsburgh. A few days after the accident I began to develop headaches, neck pain, and other whiplash symptoms. My mother recommended that I go to a chiropractor and I remember saying, "I'm not going to those quacks". Like a lot of people, I knew nothing about chiropractic. That did not prevent me from displaying my ignorance on the issue. I finally relented and made an appointment with a chiropractor.   What happened next changed the course of my life. Even though I was in the office for symptoms in the head and neck, the chiropractor examined my entire spine. Without my even mentioning my history of low back pain, he identified severe abnormalities in the motion of my lumbar spine. I began treatment and before I knew it, there was no more pain anywhere. I was amazed to say the least. It turned out that I had three bony defects called "congenital anomalies" at L5.  These defects altered the proper motion and alignment of L5 and placed incredible stress on my lumbar spine and sciatic nerve. I was so impressed by my results that when I returned to Pitt for my sophomore year, I knew I wanted to be a chiropractor. Over time I learned that chiropractic deals with a lot more than just treating pain. Chiropractic's uniqueness comes from the way it addresses your nervous system and the role the spinal nerves play in the overall health of your body. I interned with three chiropractors my senior year before moving to Atlanta to attend four more years of chiropractic college. Since that time, I have helped hundreds of people regain their health and vitality without the use of drugs or surgery. Michele Henry Edith Ed Robert Mary Anne Nicole