Dr. Dean Bado, DC, Prescott Valley Chiropractic, began his career in 1993 after graduating from Parker Chiropractic College in Dallas, Texas. His self-described mission when he began chiropractic school was to “improve the quality and longevity of the lives around him.” Dr. Bado has extensive experience in multiple chiropractic techniques which are then used according to the needs and preferences of each client. He has been a partner with Dr. Julie Schifferli, DC, helping run a successful full-service chiropractic clinic in Prescott Valley serving the Prescott Valley and surrounding areas.

Expanding to serve a growing client base, a new office was opened at 377 N. Montezuma Street near downtown Prescott in early 2013. Dr. Bado is the lead physician at the new location and has enjoyed the challenge of start up a fresh install and running. He says that every day is filled with multiple tasks to ensure they have the new facility up and running as efficiently as possible.

We were fortunate to take a few minutes out of Dr. Bado’s busy day to discuss the virtues of chiropractic care beyond back pain.

Kevin: Dr. Bado, many people think that chiropractic care is to treat and prevent low back pain. I was wondering what your thoughts are on this perception.

Dr. Bado: Well, that is certainly what the chiropractic profession has positioned itself as doctors of back and neck pain, but chiropractic is so much more than that. We are much more than treating symptoms. The basis of chiropractic is to keep ourselves healthy by preserving the power that created our bodies, and that same power that created our bodies heals our bodies throughout our lives, right? That power of course is housed in our brain and that power flows through our bodies through our spinal cord and spinal nerve roots and our job as chiropractors is to keep that power flowing through you as it was intended.

Our spinal column protects our spinal cord and all of our spinal nerve roots that exit through our spinal column. Our spine is really like segmented armor and those segments can affect or pinch the nerve in the spinal cord, which interferes with the power that is housed in our brain from flowing through us as it should.

Kevin: There’s a signal cut off, so to speak.

Dr. Bado: Yes, exactly. This signal is interfered. We call it nerve interference and it can occur at any segment along the spinal cord where the spinal nerve roots exit through the spinal column. When two segments become misaligned, it pinches that nerve and interferes with the signals coming from the brain, and therefore whatever is at the end of that spinal nerve root, it doesn’t receive the signals as it should. It interferes and our job is to remove that nerve interference by adjusting the spinal segment so there’s no more interference at that spinal nerve root level and as you can imagine if that spinal nerve root that’s coming out of the spinal cord happens let’s say at the level of the heart and it’s being suffocated in the spine, do you think we’re going to be healthier or do you think we’re going to be sicker? We’re going to be sicker, right?

So our job is to remove that nerve interference because we believe that you don’t need anything from the outside to stay healthy, you just need to be free from interference on the inside so that the power that created us can flow through us unimpeded and be sustained. healthy as designed.

Kevin: Let’s get a little more specific about Dr. Bado. Let’s say we have a patient with a stiff neck and neck problems. What are some procedures you would present to a patient with a stiff neck?

Dr. Bado: Well, we always do a very complete story. We want to make sure that we can help that patient, so we do a very thorough history, a very thorough history, then of course we do a very thorough chiropractic exam and then x-rays. Personally, I am a big fan of X-rays. I like to see what’s going on before I go ahead and go in there and make adjustments of any kind. First, we need to make sure the patient is truly a candidate for chiropractic care, so we proceed with a thorough consultation, history, exam, and x-rays to make sure we can help that patient.

Kevin: Do posture, stress and inactivity really have an effect on something like neck pain?

Dr. Bado: Yes, absolutely. We always want to make sure our sitting postures are very good and especially our sleeping postures, mattresses and pillows are very, very important to maintain good posture and spinal alignment. Absolutely. When you have poor posture that’s when things like spinal misalignments happen. Poor posture leads to muscle problems, those muscles that are now made to move us now become supportive or weight bearing.

Our muscles were made to move and our skeleton was made to support our weight and when we have poor posture we have changes in the shape of our spine and now those muscles are weight bearing and that is typically when the pain occurs. That tension at the end of the day or when you wake up in the morning you’re stiff and sore. That’s because of bad sleeping positions or a bad pillow. Bad postures when sitting will undoubtedly also affect the lower back.

Kevin: So what happens if your body dynamics change?

Dr. Bado: Exactly. Through the properties of plastic deformation, if you were to put a perfectly straight 2×4 on two sawhorses and come back a couple of days later, that 2×4 would no longer be straight. No one acted on that 2×4, no one jumped on it and deformed it, well same thing and that’s called plastic deformation, same thing happens to our ligaments especially when we sleep or sit for long periods of time. Gravity takes over and stretches the ligaments which are what hold one bone to another and then those ligaments stretch and lose their shape and then our whole structure also loses its shape.

Kevin: Dr. Bado, what are some of the common misconceptions some people might have that hurt their chances of success?

Dr. Bado: Common misconceptions tend to be that you can just go to your chiropractor and “get it busted” and then everything is fine.

Kevin: Or adjusted?

Dr. Bado: Yeah, they call it busted and we call it tight. That’s not the way it is. Chiropractic is a type of ongoing treatment much like going to the dentist and keeping your teeth in good shape. We believe that to compensate for spinal deterioration and spinal degenerative disease and osteoarthritis, it needs to be adjusted very regularly because we’re all very active or expect to be active and even if we’re not, that’s even worse.

We need to keep that spine in good alignment and we need to keep it in alignment regularly. So the big misconception is that once you go to a chiropractor, you always have to go to a chiropractor and that’s just not true. What is, once you go to a chiropractor, you know what it’s like to feel good. You know what it’s like to feel healthy. Now you always choose to go to the chiropractor. That is probably the biggest mistake we have. You know, once you go, you always have to go.

Kevin: Dr. Bado, I really appreciate your time today. To conclude, what is the most important consideration for a prospective patient when he considers chiropractic care?

Dr. Bado: The closeness of the clinic to the patient’s home. We find that obviously if it’s easier and more convenient to get there, we find that the patient tends to be much more compliant and then success increases. Personally, as I said, I’m an x-ray fanatic. I would go to a practitioner who had an x-ray machine in his office and a practitioner you trust and feel comfortable with. Usually that comes as a referral from someone else. Go to a doctor someone has already used and can vouch for them and refer you there.

Kevin: Right. That is so true that the best advertising is definitely word of mouth. If someone is happy with their care and feels fine, healthy, and much better than when they first arrived, they will definitely tell someone.

Dr. Bado: Yes, absolutely. Word of mouth is the best way.

Kevin: Thank you, Dr. Bado, for taking time out of your busy day to spend a few minutes with us.

Dr. Bado: You’re welcome.

You can contact Dr. Bado, DC at his Prescott location, where he is currently accepting new patients. His office number is 928-778-9600. His business website is prescottvalleychiropractic.com.

By Kevin Nimmo