Lakeland Chiropractor Dr. Tad Reckord

I knew nothing about Chiropractic care

Dr. Tad Reckord

I knew nothing about Chiropractic care as a young man in my middle twenties. A very close friend called me up and told me that he was going to see his Chiropractor, Dr. Sonny Wisneiwski on the other side of Pittsburgh. My friend said ” He did this amazing thing to my spine, and I felt absolutely great afterward!” He asked me to ride along. I did and here I am years later, practicing Chiropractic. I couldn’t imagine doing anything else.

My Chiropractic journey

As I began going to the Chiropractor in Pittsburgh, just as my friend had told me, I started to feel really good after my first few adjustments. I mean that I had no severe symptom complaints on my initial visit, I just started feeling better. Better motion, better sleep, better attention on the job, and better digestion, something that had never been great for me. I had just finished a year and a half in a steel mill blast furnace, a couple of years playing in a rock and roll band, and at that point was desk bound in a steel engineering company.

I started to ride along with my friend for a couple of visits, and enjoyed it so much, that I started to take myself. It wasn’t exactly right next door so I knew there must be something special there to get me to travel that far. The Chiropractor sent me home with some pamphlets, then a book or two and we talked about what he was doing when he was working on me. What really got my attention and made me sit up and take notice, was when a couple of long lingering personal heath problems with my body started to improve and then they vanished. I had been to traditional medics and been cut, frozen, drugged and wrapped, all with no success. It wasn’t until I experienced a couple of months of regular Chiropractic care that my body really started to heal from the inside for the better. When I asked the Chiropractor about what had been happening to me, he knew he had a curious soul on his hands and along with continuing to teach me, suggested that I visit this school in South Carolina that a couple of his other younger patients were going to see. I rode along, saw the place, met the people, and knew immediately that I had to be a part of it.

Chiropractic College

That began a 4-year adventure through Sherman College of Chiropractic in Spartanburg, South Carolina. What a life changing experience! Challenging teachers, classes, life in the south, and a sense of adventure unlike anything I’d ever felt before. People at the school were so helpful, honest, open, seeking and committed to be their very best. They were inspiring. The work was challenging. I already had a four-year undergraduate Bachelor of Arts Degree from Washington and Jefferson College in Pennsylvania, but this Chiropractic education was on a whole different level. Let alone that it was the first school I had ever been to that started their first class at 7am. Ouch! I met incredible teachers who would push the students, in a good way, to their limit. What an astounding amount of information and material I had to learn to process. It made undergraduate school seem like slow motion. Not Chiropractic College! Turn up the speed and the heat. First time I had ever been to the south and seen thermometers on electronic bank signs regularly go over 100 degrees day after day after day.

What Chiropractic can do

Here at Family Chiropractic Health Center in Lakeland we take care of people of all ages. We have seen them from newborns to great grandparents and actually served 5 generations of a family in the same day once. Wow!

Chiropractic care not only helps sick and symptomatic people get better but it is also for people striving to keep themselves as healthy and strong as they can possibly be. Chiropractic can not only help with temporary relief, but also help fix the problem. Following that, some people want to preserve the progress they have made, avoid losing their health altogether, and some people even use us to help them be all that they can be. Remember you’re the boss, whichever level of Chiropractic care you seek, we’re here to help and serve you.

Dr. Tad Reckord, personally

I met my wife Luann behind the fine jewelry counter at J.C. Penney’s. I was working part time in chainsaws, guns and Christmas toys while attending Sherman College of Chiropractic in Spartanburg, South Carolina. We were married shortly after my graduation in May of 1980. We had a honeymoon to the States of Florida and Georgia, but we were also scouring them for a place to plant roots and begin a Chiropractic practice. It was Lakeland, Florida that we kept yearning to see again and again. After a scary and bold decision, Family Chiropractic was opened in August of 1980.

Luann and I have raised two daughters, Julia and Ashley over our 26 years in Lakeland. We have been members of various service clubs and organizations, been appointed to the board of a local church, as well as supported many of the groups that the children belonged to over their journey through school. Now with the girls winding their way through the college experience, Luann and I are watching them become adults.

I don’t play drums anymore, but enjoy listening to and collecting old records and tapes. Luann and I take in the occasional concert or musical event, and give out recordings as often as possible so many more can enjoy the gift that good music can bring. Enjoying the beach is a treat for us here in Florida. Grilling out has become a regular pastime as well. Sewing, gardening, and movie watching are popular at home. One of the many reasons I enjoy Florida so much is that even I can get things to grow in the garden!

I have seen the benefits and health that can come from regular Chiropractic care. I have seen it in my patients and I want it for myself as well. I have number of different Chiropractors in the area that I visit regularly, once a week, or who stop into my office to be checked and adjusted. Just because I practice chiropractic on a daily basis doesn’t mean that I am immune from the stress and strife of daily life. Practicing chiropractic is a mental intensive as well as physically demanding profession. Working with people on my adjusting tables takes it’s own toll on the Doctor’s body. Not to mention the other trials of life. I’ve experienced a head on 55mph-auto collision as well as a slip and fall on a wet kitchen floor causing me to strike my head and sustain a concussion. Yes, I know what it’s like to have things happen to your body. So I get regular Chiropractic care too. The benefits are wonderful -wellness, strength, expression of life to the fullest, and the privilege of being able to continue to practice chiropractic.

More than just Chiropractic

But there are other things we have to do to optimize our health as well. Exercise, good nutrition, and chiropractic are all important. A number of years ago one of my retired Chiropractic teachers got hold of me face to face and said, “Tad, if you don’t start exercising, you’re not going to be able to deliver the goods to your patients a whole lot longer.” It really sinks in when you hear it from one of the professors that you respected most. It’s nice to have had a mentor like that, whose lessons continue to be so true, even today. That was almost 10 years ago and I’ve been exercising at the local gym ever since. Thanks Dr. Joe.

Enough about me. I consider myself an excellent listener and hope I get the opportunity to meet you in person and discuss your specific health challenge. Give our Lakeland chiropractic office a call or email me and let’s arrange a time to explore your options.