Kevin Zelaya, D.C.

Helping families build resilience from the beginning.

Pediatric & Family Chiropractor

My Chiropractic Story

I didn’t grow up planning to become a chiropractor.

My first exposure to chiropractic care came when I was a kid, through my mom. She dealt with ongoing headaches and vertigo, and over time, I watched her move through life with more ease and resilience. Chiropractic care didn’t erase every challenge, but it became part of how she supported her health and adaptability. That stayed with me.

When I later received chiropractic care myself, what stood out wasn’t pain relief. It was freedom.

Even as a kid, I carried a lot of tension in my body. I felt stiff and guarded, especially through my neck and spine, like my body was always bracing even when it didn’t need to be. After care, movement felt easier and more natural. That physical ease translated into confidence and comfort in everyday life, even if I didn’t have the language for it at the time.

I worked with an elderly man who arrived unable to walk without being carried in and later stood up and walked out on his own. I cared for a young child with cerebral palsy who, after gentle and trust-based care, sat up and fed himself independently for the first time. I also witnessed adults arrive guarded and skeptical, only to return more open, connected, and at ease in their bodies.

Some of this service work was later featured in an interview with The Times of India, highlighting chiropractic care provided to children and families abroad.

Those experiences reinforced something I still see every day: chiropractic care affects more than the physical body. It influences how people show up in their lives and within their families.

Becoming a father brought that understanding even closer to home.

After the birth of our daughter, I saw firsthand how birth stress and early tension can shape a child and ripple through an entire family. When we faced challenges we couldn’t resolve on our own, my wife and I pursued advanced pediatric and perinatal training. More than once, we found ourselves saying, “If only we had known then what we know now.”

That perspective changed how we care for families.

Today, parents often come in with intuition and concern, sometimes after being told to wait or that nothing is wrong. We take the time to listen, explain what we see, and help families understand how the nervous system plays a role in their child’s health and development.

When parents feel informed and supported, you can see the shift.

Tension softens. Breathing slows. Confidence replaces fear.

This is why we do what we do.

We don’t wait for families to break before we support them.

We help them build resilience from the beginning.

That’s what chiropractic care means to me.

And that’s what we offer at New Wave Chiropractic.

Looking back, that experience shaped how I understand chiropractic care today. It doesn’t force the body to change. It removes interference so the nervous system can do what it was designed to do: adapt, heal, grow, and thrive.

As a chiropractic student, my perspective expanded far beyond my own experience. I had the opportunity to serve in underserved communities abroad, including service trips in India and Brazil, where care was offered simply, intentionally, and with deep respect for the person in front of you.

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