We recently connected with Melissa Crago and have shared our conversation below.

Melissa, appreciate you joining us today. We love heartwarming stories – do you have a heartwarming story from your career to share?

A newer client this year started. She is an older woman – This is what she had to say…

“I had resigned myself to experiencing pain and reduced range of motion in my right leg due to age. After the first visit with Melissa, my pain reduced significantly! After two weeks, I could get in and out of a car, sit down and get up off a chair without pain! Climbing stairs without props is getting easier! Who knew what a visit to a chiropractor could do?!! Exercises given by physical therapist were not helpful at all. The exercises on the Life Chiropractic website are! Highly recommend Melissa! ”

I love to help people get their life back.
And I also love the idea that the greatest miracle is the problem that never came to be because we just kept them well all along the way.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

My journey in chiropractic care started in college, I got a dual degree in biology and physiology from the University of Arizona in Tucson (my home town). I was working as a lab tech during school and when I wasn’t feeling well with a cold that had been lingering for a few weeks and I just couldn’t kick it, a co-worker who suffered from scoliosis said I should come with her to her chiropractor. At my first appointment, he took a moment to sit down with me and tell me the basics of chiropractic and health — he said that when the nervous system is free of interference and there is clear communication between the brain and the body, the body will heal itself and have optimal function. Chiropractors make that happen by adjusting the spine into proper alignment. He told me I would likely feel worse after I got adjusted (and I did) and then within a few days I was completely well.

It took about 5 years for the message to sink in, but after traveling around the world, working on a Master’s in Public Health in Washington DC, playing Rugby in Uganda and working many other odd jobs; a love of an afro-Brazilian martial art, Capoeira, led me to settle down in Oakland. As I approached my 30th birthday, I began to question what I was doing with my life and how I wanted to contribute to my community. The answer came in knowing I wanted to work with people and health, and in remembering that first conversation with my first chiropractor. I found, Life West Chiropractic College in Hayward, CA. After going on tour at the school, I knew chiropractic was right for me. I immediately applied at the end of the tour and embarked on the challenging and rewarding journey of becoming a chiropractor.

At the end of school I interned with the team at Alive Chiropractic while finishing school. Then a classmate and I, took over Alive chiropractic and renamed it The Source Chiropractic and worked together for a year. Then I opened a solo practice in 2015, I have been the owner and operator of Life Chiropractic on College Avenue ever since. And in 2022 I opened Vitality Sol -on Grand Ave by the Lake -to offer complimentary healing modalities Red Light Therapy, Acupuncture and Deep Tissue Massage.

It is an honor and pleasure to be a Chiropractor in Oakland CA – to give, to love, and to serve my patients and community — and to watch people’s lives transform as their spines come into alignment and optimal function is restored. We believe it is our mission here at Life Chiropractic to raise the bar of what is accepted as normal for health, happiness and hope in people’s lives!

I am a member of the International Chiropractic Association, the International Pediatric Chiropractic Association, and the International Professional Applied Kinesiology Association. I have certifications in Webster, Professional Applied Kinesiology , Revolution Cervical Knee Chest, Cranial Facial Release, Functional Range Conditioning, and Foundation Training. I have also studied and utilize Sacro-Occipital Technique, Bio-Geometric Integration, Reiki, functional neurology, and Nasal Specific. I have a background as a dancer, gymnast, acrobat, martial artist, and as a mom. I have an amazing son. These experiences give me a unique perspective to work with and to help guide people to their greatest health potential and health goals! I look forward to seeing you in the office and taking care of you.

Training and knowledge matter of course, but beyond that what do you think matters most in terms of succeeding in your field?

In chiropractic we have a philosophy called Lasting Purpose – to give for the sake of giving to serve for the sake of serving, to love for sake of loving and to do for the sake of doing – out of your own abundance with no expectation of return.

I love my clients – and I love what I do.- I would give anyone my phone number and go to there house if they couldn’t come to the office or let the come to my home if they had an emergency off hours.

I have also studied and learned a lot tangential to my field – I know a little bit about a lot of different kinds of healing – so I can be a great guide – give little bits of advice that are super helpful and really help people along their health journey.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

As a child I had severe allergies and asthma – my medicine cabinet was full of Claritin, Benadryl, Advil and inhalers both for every day maintenance use and for emergencies.

Chiropractic school gave me an awakening to a different paradigm of health that was possible for my clients but also for myself.

After I started getting adjusted regularly – I wasn’t in pain and stopped talking Advil and in the last 13 years I can say I have only taken it less a handful of times. I was also able to throw out all the inhalers, and allergy medicine and I have not taken any of it since.

I never thought a life without them was possible and now – not only am I free from taking medications regularly but I have so much more freedom in my body and life and health – and I get to share this with my clients!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.oaklandlifechiro.com
• Instagram: lifechiropracticoakland
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/lifechiropractic
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@LifeChiropracticOakland