Dr. Vance knows that it isn’t easy navigating a healthcare challenge for yourself or a loved one. Many people find themselves in situations they aren’t prepared for, facing decisions without all the information they need. If there’s been a lifetime of bad habits based on bad information and bad care that has created more faith in drugs than the innate wisdom of the body to heal – then living and aging in today’s society can be difficult and frightening.

His life story is about navigating that same system for his loved ones and himself. As a child, Dr. Vance watched his mother deal with a 75 degree scoliosis. This determined mother of 6 sought help from a system that offered drugs and surgery but no guarantees. Finding that to be an unacceptable way to live, this naturalistic-minded woman turned to chiropractic care. Today, at 75, she is the miracle. This drug free former fitness trainer, yoga and pilates instructor still works out and holds classes.

As a child watching his mother’s journey unfold Dr. Vance developed an early understanding of the potential of the body and declared at the age of 13 that he had decided to become a chiropractor.

Entering undergraduate school he took the prerequisite courses for chiropractic college, and pursued his love of wrestling. An Espoir All American within his first two years at college, he transferred to Eastern Illinois University where he was injured. Severe pain and numbness were immediate, and without knowing what the exact problem was, team doctors wanted to prescribe medication.

This was 1998/1999, the beginning of the opioid crisis. At the time, 21-year-old Vance was at the mercy of team doctors. Tests ultimately showed a herniated disk and a bulging disk, and he was told that pain killers, muscle relaxers, and surgery were his only options. This would not only end his wrestling career, but set him up for further and perhaps worse back issues throughout his life. In hindsight, Dr. Vance realizes he was blindly following the doctor’s advice – as many of his patient’s do today.

When a friend at university referred him to a chiropractor outside of the University medical system, he began down the same path his mother had followed – and found his miracle, the relief and support he was looking for. He felt better after the first week of chiropractic care. Twelve weeks later he had regained 80% of his strength and was pain free. It took another year to get 100% of his strength back, but that was nothing compared to a life of possible drug addiction and post-surgical adaptation. Since then Dr. Vance has run 4 half marathons and fully enjoys an active, healthy lifestyle with his wife and three children.

Dr. Vance gives a nod to American psychologist Abraham Maslow when he uses the analogy that doctors are hammers and everything looks like a nail to them. They can only do what they are trained to do. If you go to a surgeon their solution will be surgery, but that doesn’t mean that there aren’t preferable non-surgical options.

As a chiropractor, Dr. Vance doesn’t prescribe drugs or perform surgeries. His job is to identify the underlying cause of an issue and fix it in order to get the desired result, activating the body’s innate wisdom, its inborn intelligence, to actually heal the problem.

In chiropractic college, Dr. Vance realized that throughout his entire experience with the team physicians, no one ever told him that his herniated disk and bulging disk could heal. Today Dr. Vance focuses on communication and education with his patients so that they can make the best, most informed decisions, and get their desired results.

Years later as a practicing chiropractor, Dr. Vance found himself once again dealing with the traditional medical system. His grandfather in Illinois, then 90 years old, had a painful compression fracture in his lower back that landed him in the hospital for surgery. Before surgery, this otherwise healthy man was given pain medication, blood pressure medicine, and cholesterol medicine – all for the first time.

Dr. Vance got a call from his father with news that his grandfather had not awoken after coming out of surgery and had slipped into a coma. At his direction his father convinced the doctors to take his grandfather off of all medications and only give him fluids. No easy task as their attitude was, “He’s 90. What do you expect?” As Dr. Vance knew by then, expect a miracle.

Within 24 hours his grandfather woke up, removed his catheter, walked to the bathroom, and when the nurse walked into the room he asked for a Miller High Life beer. He continued to live the “High Life” for another 2 ½ years, engaging in his favorite pastimes of bowling, attending church, and enjoying fried chicken.

Families find themselves in this situation every day, most without getting to experience the miracle. Adverse reaction to pharmaceutical drugs is one of the leading causes of death in America. All of this because of our misguided beliefs about what the body is capable of, that drugs and surgery are always necessary, and about aging.

Dr. Vance doesn’t buy into any of these misguided beliefs, and he doesn’t want anyone else to either. During his career he has helped thousands of people to lead their healthiest possible lives. He is a compassionate healer and an accomplished speaker who is committed to helping your audience live their best life today, and everyday for 100 years and beyond.