D.C. student, M.S. in Sport Health Science student, President of the Student International Chiropractic Association

“Learning to Love Chiropractic Slowly”

Minnesota native James Watson grew up with a happy, active family life full of constant activities and sports. Nothing seemed to slow him down until a knee injury in seventh grade that led to a full open-knee surgery. Not one to be deterred, he was right back out to running around as soon as he had healed. Cross country was where he set his sights because, as he sarcastically laughed and noted, “What is easier on the knees than running?” Not surprisingly, Watson ended up being one of the slower members on the team. One meet in particular, his mom rushed him to the ER afterward because he had been constantly clutching his side as he ran and was in intense pain. It turned out to be scoliosis, a sideways curvature of the spine that occurs often during the growth spurt before puberty.

That diagnosis informed the decision for Watson to see a chiropractor for the first time. The initial experience of going to his first chiropractor was helpful but perhaps not as enlightening as to what the full potential of Chiropractic is.

“The one we had in town was kind of what we called the Flying Seven Chiropractor, where it doesn’t really matter what the patient’s presenting with, it doesn’t really matter who the patient is, it’s going to be the same seven setups every single time. So, it’s hip, hip, upper back, lower back, neck, neck, neck. All right, you’re done,” Watson said.

“I didn’t have a good understanding of what Chiropractic was. That’s all I thought it was, just thrusting on the body.”

Fast forward to senior year of high school, the grad chatter begins to reach a fever pitch. Like many young adults, Watson was unclear on a future career path that would suit him. His dad suggested Chiropractic as a viable career with solid earning potential, so Watson chose that as something of a placeholder to work toward unless something more compelling came along. He enrolled in an exercise science program at another university to complete his undergraduate work. As a creative person, he also explored other passions in professional writing and music minors.

Still, he was feeling less than fulfilled in his junior and senior year, compounded by the isolation that descended during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Yet, he continued in his path, afraid that Chiropractic might be “a boring job that I’m going to do until I die.”  Luckily, a chance encounter with a holistically minded chiropractor helped to reframe his attitude and open Watson’s eyes to the many amazing expressions of chiropractic care that exist.

He had met with a chiropractor who also happened to own a gym, wanting to see about renting out a studio for an event. Watson walks in, and the chiropractor gets immediately distracted, asking him if he had had knee surgery. The chiropractor could tell just by the way he was standing, even though Watson had thick jeans on. Not one to leave someone subluxated, the chiropractor invited him to get onto the chiropractic table and introduced him to muscle testing. The lightbulb went off, sparking a passion that there was more to this chiropractic thing then the stereotypical misconception of simply cracking backs.

Watson later enrolled at Life University (Life U) to begin his holistic chiropractic education in earnest. He is also pursuing a Master of Science in Sport Health Science, bridging his previous exercise science degree to see how to use his skills in the sports arena. From the beginning, he dived into university club days, learning all he could and visiting meetings to observe all kinds of techniques. Gonstead. Activator and Applied Kinesiology are three of particular interest to Watson. But even as a student who often took on heavy coursework, it was an adjustment to learn how to operate in a quarter system.

“That was also a big shock – how heavy into the science we go and just how much of a fire hydrant of information gets launched at us each quarter,” Watson said.

Watson has made a point to serve as an active leader in many different clubs. Most recently, he helped relaunch the Student International Chiropractic Association. The main goals of the club as of now are to attract more members through club days, help early quarter students acclimate to the D.C. program and figure out beneficial collaborations with other clubs on campus to host informative workshops and events. Growing internally at the University in classes and clubs is a beautiful thing, but Watson is especially excited to start seeing real-world application in his second semester of Clinics.

One patient encounter, in particular, blew him away when a patient tearfully hugged him in gratitude after he delivered an adjustment that helped relieve immense back pains that had been hurting her for several weeks.

“It’s one of those things of like, oh, I’m doing the right thing. That’s powerful,” Watson said.

The future is wide open and Watson is eager to keep moving forward. He even has been working with a production company on the possibility of a chiropractic television show, looking to see if a streaming service might pick up the idea. Regardless, his chiropractic journey is just beginning.