Welcome to Active Life Chiropractic Center! Our center was founded in November 2005 and since then has become midtown Sacramento’s “one-stop shop” for therapeutic services. At Active Life Chiropractic Center you will be greeted by our warm and friendly Chiropractic Assistants and caring compassionate doctors. This wellness center provides chiropractic care, spinal decompression, physiotherapies and exercise rehabilitation, therapeutic massage, nutritional counseling, and many more diverse services.

We encourage you to browse through our page and get to know our team! We take pride in who we are and what we have to offer. Our team attends continuing education classes and training throughout the year to bring you the latest developments in chiropractic to provide you the highest level of service. We have seen many miracles through chiropractic care and would love to bring that experience to you. Our team is here to serve you with compassion, confidence and our full attention.

Again, welcome!

Dr. Charmaine Magale, DC Founder, Active Life

Reviewing Some X-rays

I had originally thought that I would have some time in the clinic on Saturday, but that was incorrect.  In hindsight, that was probably a good thing because Friday was a very busy and long day.  We started in the clinic at 8:30am, and started seeing patients immediately.  By this day, I had already seen some of the patients two and three times because I asked them to return when I found a more severe problem that I thought I could help with.  Part of having people come back over two to three days, is that they have time to feel the benefit of what we did for them, and they appreciate it and bring gifts of thanks.  So I got a couple of gifts over the course of the day on Friday.  It is touching,  and even more so when you realize how little money these people have to begin with.  Almost across the board, the people that received our services were full of gratitude and lavished praise on us.  This was probably the most appreciated I have ever felt for the services that I provided to someone.

Playing Around After A Long Day

After lunch we went back to the clinic with the intention of being done at 5pm so we would have time to stop by the market and visit some of the city’s sites.  At 4pm, when they were planning on closing the doors, they found that we still had quite the sizable crowd.  After polling all of the doctors and finding that we were unanimous in our decision to continue until the last person was served, they decided to keep the clinic open.  We continued serving until 7:30pm, and did not leave until about 8pm because we continued adjusting each other and all of the amazing staff, translators, and helpers.  Not surprisingly, but somehow ironically, all of the chiropractors had achy, stiff spines.

Final Group Photo

A short trip to the hotel to freshen up, and then off to the house of one of the members of the Club Rotario Piedras Negras Poniente for the Thank You Fiesta!!!  The hospitality and appreciation from everyone was amazing, and the party was one of the best I have been to.  Lots of food, cerveza, tequila, good conversation, dancing, and a MARIACHI band!!!  The party lasted until 2am, and was so much fun…ending with lots of handshakes and words of appreciation.  Back to the hotel, in bed by 3am, and back up before 7am to get ready for the trip back across the border.  We were a tired bunch of people, but we were also filled with a sense of accomplishment.  I will definitely be coming back next year!!!

All of the pictures are posted here (http://www.flickr.com/photos/drchipstudleydc/sets/72157626103174741/)

Disabled School Adjustment

Thursday was one of the most impactful days of my trip, in the sense that it was the most emotionally challenging.  Because I have done volunteer work in the past, the clinic aspect of the trip was already something I had an understanding of.  When I have volunteered in Sacramento, most of the people I served were Spanish speaking, so that was similar as well.  The main difference there was the volume of people we served, the severity of some of the conditions that people came to us with, and the trust that the people of Piedras Negras put into our hands because for some, we are all they have.  You have not seen gratitude for a service you do, until you do it in a place that has poverty, with very little health care options available to them.

Thursday packed an emotional punch because after serving in the morning, the doctors that had never been there before were recommended to go see the other charities that we are there to support.  The visit to the special needs school was difficult because you see children with varying degrees of physical and mental handicaps.  At least I could see that they were taken care of by people that truly care about their wellbeing, although they do not have a lot of financial resources.  The part of the trip that really hit me emotionally was the visit to Casa Bethesda (http://www.casabethesda.org/) that is ran by Pastor Paulino Esquivel.  This is an orphanage that is for children and adults that have been abandoned by their family because they did not want to deal with the challenges of their severe physical and mental disabilities.  The pictures on the website do not do justice to how much help this place needs.  Paulino has given himself completely for the last 16 years for his passion of taking care of those that are unwanted and discarded, and I consider him an amazing person because I do not feel like I have the capacity to do what he does.  I have included pictures in a separate place (http://www.flickr.com/photos/drchipstudleydc/sets/72157626268632908/show/) for those of you that do not want to see the severely disabled.  If you do look at them, you will get to see the current condition of Casa Bethesda and know why I said it needs more help.

Corona Brewery

After lunch, we needed to lighten the mood, so we went to the largest and most high tech brewery (Corona) in Mexico.  They are able to brew and bottle over 4 MILLION bottles per day, and all of that beer is distributed to the US and Canada.  A majority of the operation is done by machines, robots, and laser guided vehicles.

Piedras Negras Rotary Club Presentation

The final event on Thursday was the local meeting of the Club Rotario Piedras Negras Poniente.  I had raised a large amount of money to donate in a short amount of time thanks to the amazing practice members and people I have in my life.  Thank you all for allowing me to do that.  I was able to get up and present $1461 to the club, with $500 of it being designated to go directly to Casa Bethesda. The wine making fundraiser was a hit with everyone who heard about it, so thanks to Vintner’s Cellar Custom Winery of Greater Sacramento (www.985cork.com) for that!

This entry is a little late, but I was too tired to type up an entry.  I will follow this one with another update shortly after, so keep your eye out for it. 

Be sure to take a look at the updated pictures as well (http://www.flickr.com/photos/drchipstudleydc/sets/72157626103174741/show/). 

It was the first day, and the first time I had ever been in this clinic.  Since this was the case, I had no expectations.  I had the good fortune to be able to see over 50 people and serve them.  The biggest difference I noticed was that the patients that come in for care are commonly much worse off physically than the typical American patient.  They have more severe, and more chronic issues that are just accepted as normal.  The healthcare system here is much worse than what we have in the United States, and that is partly due to financial issues, and partly to corruption issues (misuse of funds for personal use).

The local Piedras Negra Club De Rotario Poniente (Rotary Club) gets sponsors for this event, and they do an amazing job of taking care of the doctors while we are here.  They have provided us with a hotel, transportation, and more food than we can eat.  There is not much else to say, other than the experience thus far has been amazing.  Also, you will definitely want to watch for the next blog entry, because there is a lot to tell you about, and there will be a lot more pictures that will move you.  I will leave it at that.

Mexican Consulate building at the border

So the drive to the border was everything I thought it would be – long, straight road through the barren countryside of Texas.  Upon our arrival into the city of Piedras Negras, we were taken to the hotel to get settled.  Then it was on to the Red Cross facility to set up our clinic for tomorrow.  After our setup was complete, we were taken back to the hotel for dinner of fresh made tacos.  During our dinner, Drs. Terri and James told of how this all got started.  They originally came to this town to get help for a hip issue that their daughter was having, and had brought her to a specialist down here that was known for being able to help with her condition.  While talking with the doctor, they found they had a commonality of being members of their local Rotary Club.  The doctor told them that the people of Piedras Negras could really use the services of chiropractic.  Within two months of this meeting, Drs. Terri & James Coates came down for the 1st of annual trip (this is the 9th), and it has grown from there. 

This is so important to this community, that it has been on local TV and radio for the last week.  Tomorrow morning the mayor of the city will be coming out for the official opening of the event, and all the local media will be on hand.  The masses will come, and we will serve as many people as we can.  So much so, that two of the doctors that have previously been on this trip shared stories of having very sore, and swollen hands that required immersion into a bucket of ice for relief at the end of the week.  While I can’t say I’m looking forward to that…I can say I am looking forward to serving as best as I can. 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/drchipstudleydc/sets/72157626103174741/ (photo updates here)

Dr. Chip C. Studley, D.C. is departing on March 8th to participate in a chiropractic volunteer trip in Mexico with seven other doctors.  They will be providing chiropractic care to as many people as they can in the four days that they are there.  In past trips, the chiropractors have served 1200-1500 people in this short time.  In addition to the clinic, they provide support to an orphanage, and a care facility for disabled adults & children.  They are short staffed this year, so it should make for a very busy group of chiropractors.  Leading up to this trip, Dr. Studley had a fundraiser at Vintner’s Cellar Custom Winery, which raised over $200 (see picture of souvenir wine bottle from the event).  This, along with donations from friends, family, and our practice members allowed Dr. Studley to raise over $1400 to donate while down there.  Please keep checking back here for updates.

Today I make my departure for HOME! I leave Colorado Springs with great memories and life-long friendships. The past 2 weeks have been an amazing time of my life. I could truly say it has played a huge part in my personal and professional growth. Words can’t express the gratitude I have for the opportunity to serve such elite athletes, but more importantly humble, dedicated human beings. Thank you everyone at the USOTC for making my experience valuable. To all the athletes: see you 2012 in London!! All my love, Dr. Charmaine Magale, DC

Today I had lunch with a Paralympian. Our conversation began with her telling me that at the age of 13 she was first diagnosed with a rare condition called Arteriovenous Malformation. It progressed so fast that one day she woke up and told her mom she couldn’t feel her legs and felt like she was having a stroke. Within a few days, she was permanently in a wheelchair and was paralyzed from the waist down. After years and years of rehab in Mexico and Cuba and 12 years later, she has hopes to make it to the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London in the sport of swimming. Just before we ended our lunch together, she asked “so have you checked out the gym here yet?”. After thinking very hard at who I was answering the question to, I said “no, and I really don’t have an excuse”, she said “neither do I!”. This made me smile–now this is a girl with HEART

A day at the Velodrome is not your usual day. Today I spent some time with the Australian Cycling Team. Aside from their great accents, they are pretty speedy on their all carbon bikes that weigh about 6 kilos, according to world record holder and olympian Anna Meares. They start off with a warm-up doing about 35 laps of this Velodrome followed by max effort sprints to catch this motorcycle that travels at speeds of 50-60 mph. I’ve taken a liking to these Aussies and will definitely stay in contact with most of them. I’ve been invited to stay with Anna at her home in Australia…a trip I’m definitely going to make in the near future!

Plagued with an injury that kept him out of competing with Men’s USA Gymnastics in 2008 Beijing, China, Olympian Paul Hamm arrives at the OTC for training. Watch him here as he works the horse! Welcome back Paul and hope to see you 2012 in London!

Click Here To See Paul in Action