Alumna Angie Dixon was Advocate of Chiropractic Medicine,
Alternative Health Care Long Before Becoming Chiropractor

CONTACT: ANGIE DIXON, 226-0050

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 11/6/2003
(By Lisa Garrett)

ANDERSON --- Angie Dixon was an advocate of chiropractic medicine and alternative health care long before she received her degree from Sherman College of Straight Chiropractic in 1999.

She learned first hand about the benefits of chiropractic health care -- it was the physical ailments resulting from a car accident back in 1992, when she was a university transfer student at Tri-County Technical College, that introduced her to this non-invasive approach to therapy and piqued her interest enough to pursue it as a career.

Angie recalls the car accident, when she was rear-ended, and the excruciating pain that followed. "The car damage was minimal, but my physical results were headaches and backaches. I literally couldn't walk," she remembers. "I went to a chiropractor (her first visit ever) for the aches and pains. He worked on me for three months and shortly after the pain subsided. But I also noticed I didn't grab the box of Kleenex every morning to address my allergies. When I mentioned this change to my doctor, he just smiled," she said.

"I haven't had an allergy attack since 1992. A misalignment of the vertebrae in my neck was causing my system not to function," she explained.

Alleviating allergy symptoms, says Angie, is just one of the benefits associated with chiropractic care. Others include stress reduction and easing back and neck pain from computer work.

Her husband, Carl (a.k.a. Chuck), who is now her partner at Westside Family Chiropractic in Anderson, had a similar experience. He experienced chronic back pain and visited a chiropractor. "I was so amazed at how much better I felt. I literally crawled into Dr. Garrett's office and felt like I could skip back to my vehicle after the adjustment," he said.

"We haven't taken three aspirin in 12 – 15 years," said Chuck, who also took some university transfer classes at Tri-County prior to transferring to Erskine College. "And we haven't been to the doctor for illness since 1992," he said, attributing their good health to frequent spinal adjustments.

Married for 20 years, the Dixons decided in the early 1990's to abandon their respective careers -- he was a deputy and she was a secretary -- and to go back to school. "We had no house payment or car payment then, so it was perfect timing," said Angie. She attended college on a Pell grant, and both worked part-time jobs. They chose Tri-County because it is smaller and less expensive.

"Tri-County offered all of the university transfer classes I needed," said Angie. "I like smaller schools so I don't get lost in the crowd." They used the same examples in the advice they gave to their 18-year-old-son, Chase, when he was considering colleges this year. As a result, Chase took a class at Tri-County this summer and is a student for fall semester.

Angie, who had tried college back in the 1980's, said she returned to the classroom at age 30 with the right mindset. "I went back to school more focused, and I was there to learn. The age gap between instructors and me was narrow, so I could talk to them. The curriculum was challenging. There's a difference in going back older. My life experiences also helped in my studies.

"Twelve years makes a lot of difference as far as learning and discipline in your studies," said Angie, who graduated in 1994 with an associate in Science degree and the honor of being named Outstanding Humanities and Social Sciences student. "My associate degree is the first thing I started and completed. I'm as proud of my Tri-County degree as I am my Sherman degree," she added.

She transferred to Clemson University for more prerequisites before moving on to Sherman. There it was non-stop studying for her and Chuck for four years. They both graduated with honors in 1999 on Chuck's birthday and opened the business on Whitehall Road in Anderson.

Angie said the practice has grown steadily since opening. Word of mouth has been good for business, she says. "We treat patients of all ages, from infants to the elderly. We've seen many different conditions come through our office. Our goal is to do whatever it takes to help the patient to heal. We're constantly amazed at the benefits of chiropractic care, but there are times when we need to refer to the physicians in other specialties. We have a wonderful relationship with physicians in other fields which has proven to be an advantage for patient care," she said.

Angie says she likes to tell people that chiropractic care is not just for back pain. She says the conditions most commonly present in the office are headaches, neck pain, and numbness and tingling of the arms and hands. "It's a non-invasive approach to health care," she said. She added that "every organ, tissue and cell in your body needs exact information from your brain to function properly. It receives that information by means of your nervous system. If there is interference to your nervous system, your body can't function at its optimum. As chiropractors, we locate and correct the cause of interference so that the body can function most efficiently. It's as simple as that."
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