Founder and Director of Miller Family Health: Dr. Brad Miller
I’m a Chiropractic kid – Dad was my doctor.
I never knew there was another type of health care until I was a teenager. I have had no more than a few Advil over the years, no vaccinations but I’ve had a lot of Chiropractic care. I can understand if my patients aren’t yet ready for all the aspects of the Chiropractic lifestyle, but I can share the alternatives to drugs and surgeries…I live it. My family lives it.
I didn’t plan to be a Chiropractor. I was going to be a rebel to “show the health care world” that Chiropractic worked by doing research. But my Dad would not support any other choice than Chiropractic College. “One day you will need to take care of your family, get your Chiropractic degree first” he encouraged. He advised that there is no bigger stress than worrying about the health of loved ones – and I do take care of my kids the same way I take care of my patients. He was right.
Education
My formal education was at the Los Angeles College of Chiropractic in Whittier (now called SCUHS). I was licensed in 1985.
Then the real learning began – I spent the next five years interning with my father, a 1955 Palmer College (Davenport, Iowa) graduate. It was a rigorous mentoring but has stood me very well.
Dad taught that the body has a surprising capacity to heal. He suggested I should not pre-judge who can and cannot respond to the methods we use. When I was interning with him I often looked on as he offered to help someone and with my fresh textbook knowledge thought impossible – and I was fooled every time. “The Power that Made the Body Heals the Body” he would remind me, a quote from his mentor and teacher – B. J. Palmer.
He also taught me to be thorough using a holistic approach. Patients often come in with a complaint they think Chiropractic can help, but it can be the tip of a health “iceberg”. With a thorough evaluation the complete health status is revealed. The body usually heals all of the complaints at the same time – a bonus for the Chiropractic patient.
The Chiropractors role as I see it is to “remove the interference” to unlock the vertebral subluxations in the spine that affect the nerves going to sick tissue cells. This is the philosophy that was taught by the profession’s developers – B.J. Palmer and Clarence Gonstead. I practice this way today with careful adjustments.
In my office I have two original portraits of BJ Palmer that were willed to my Dad who passed them on to me. I take the Chiropractic legacy seriously and marvel at the healing miracles produced every day.
Constant Improvement – adding Nutrition and the Heart Sound Recorder
Just because we base our practice philosophy on the tenets of the founders does not mean we are stuck in the past. Our office is constant re-evaluating its service offerings.
Like many, my wife and I accumulated weight over the years. In my 25th year in practice, I recommitted to losing it. I tried some commercial programs which did not work well for us. We found weight loss to be much more complex.
We did lose weight (I am down 70lbs with more to go) but experienced plateaus we could not understand. For our long term success we have had to customize our nutrition, supplements and activity using a variety of tools.
Our frustration led us to become certified in Nutritional Counseling using diet, Standard Process whole food supplement and Mediherb herbal extracts.
In 2017 we purchased a Heart Sound Recorder that can identify weaknesses in the heart and nutritional deficiencies long before a disease process is recognized. We are hoping this new service will help save our patients from cardiovascular conditions.
Personally
I’m married since 1988 to Julie. I was able to help her with migraine headaches when we were dating. I have two post-college aged kids, Max and Eva.
I grew up in New Zealand so I love the outdoors any way I can enjoy it, especially sailing.
Arcadia Rotary Club is one of my focuses in the local community. I was President in 2011-12 and served District 5300 (60+ clubs) as District Governor’s Assistant for our area.
For my health I get checked (Chiropractically) every two weeks (or more often) depending on my life stressors. I’m used to no symptoms, ever! My wife and kids the same. In my community we have expert medical doctors at our disposal for the health checks and emergencies if they occur, but we pride ourselves in making healthy choices every day to try to avoid medical intervention of drugs and/or surgery.
If you really do believe the brain and nervous system is in control, you will be hesitant to interfere with nature at work. So I do not condone pain-killers that cover up the pain and become epidemic in our country. Patients need to know what the body is trying to tell them. We do recommend ice, supports, nutritional and homeopathic pain relief and referral when necessary.
I do not condone the epidemic of multiple drugs for life such as for blood pressure, cholesterol and antibiotics. Each have side-effects worse than the prescribed problem and there is known weakness of the FDA to manage the machine known as “big Pharma”, drug companies in the U.S.
As an alternative we prefer to keep our nerve system working optimally, making healthy food choices, supporting our physiology with whole food supplements, keeping active daily and maintaining a calm and positive mental attitude. This is not rocket science – these are the known steps to contribute to living long with vitality… not the slow health decline we see in our society.
Enough about me! How can we help you with our natural health solutions – Chiropractic, Nutrition, Weight Loss… and much more? Give us a call so we can help you take your first step towards better health.
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