In today’s society of fast food and video games, it’s never been easier to focus on convenience and forget about wellness. But as Corpus Christi chiropractor Dr. Annette Garza would say, why simply survive when you could actually live your life?

“In order for you to stop surviving and start living, you have to be in a wellness state of mind,” Garza said. “We should keep our bodies as healthy as we can. Wellness is an ultimate synergy that encompasses chiropractic, nutrition and fitness.”

This Rockport native is a strong advocate for wellness who maintains a healthy lifestyle and encourages her patients to do the same. “It’s your life,” she tells them. “Live it in health.” In her practice, she takes a very holistic approach to chiropractic.

“We believe the body has the ability to heal itself, but it needs the proper vitamins and nutrition to do that,” Garza said. “When you go back to eating the way we should be eating and completely take the processed foods out of your system, it’s amazing how well you feel.”

Garza added that although long runs and multiple sets of crunches can result in muscle ache and pain, “if you work out for a week, you feel energized and great – more alive. Being active promotes more oxygen through the muscles and allows everything to move and flow better.”

Naturally, a significant part of “the whole wellness approach” involves the third point in Garza’s wellness triangle: chiropractic. Ever since she purchased her private practice in 2006, Garza has been “saving lives one spine at a time” by adjusting patients ranging in age from 6 hours to 105 years.

“I treat people of a wide variety of ages,” Garza said. “As soon as a child is born, it needs to be adjusted in order for it to thrive correctly. I call it ‘turning your power on.’ I also treat pregnant ladies. I think everybody should be adjusted. Our bodies need regular maintenance, just like cars.”

However, since chiropractors “guide the body” by restoring communication between the brain and the rest of the body rather than actually curing disease, “we don’t take the place of medical doctors by any means,” Garza said. “I’m not trying to take away from medical doctors, but there’s a time and place for them, as well as us. If I see something in one of my patients that needs medical attention, I won’t hesitate to refer them to a medical doctor.”

Debbie Hernandez, a longtime patient and friend of Garza’s, is impressed by Garza’s attitude toward the medical community.

“Most chiropractors don’t really work with medical doctors, but [Garza isn’t] afraid to involve the medical community,” Hernandez said. “If something doesn’t look right, she’ll be the first to tell you.”

While “chiropractic is for everybody,” Garza particularly enjoys working with infants and children, which “has been one of the most challenging, yet the most rewarding of my clinical pursuits,” she said.

This love evidently shows, since Kay Kilgore, Garza’s office manager, calls Garza’s work with babies “amazing. That’s the only word to describe it.”

Despite Garza’s love for children, she gives the same standard of care to all of her patients regardless of their age because according to Kilgore, “she cares about everybody. I’m a senior citizen, and she keeps me going. She also helped my husband through chemo and radiation; the only side effect he had was that he lost his hair. She kept him comfortable. Anybody [who] would be treated by her would never be sorry.”

Hernandez agrees that “[Garza is] passionate about her profession, and she definitely cares a lot about the people she interacts with. That’s one thing that just shines true. And she knows what she’s doing; I was in a bad car accident, and she keeps me walking straight and out of pain. For that I am very thankful.”

The benefit goes both ways because for Garza, “life is great being a chiropractor. I see fast results in patients; they come in and within a week or two, I’m starting to see improvement and positive results. I’m happy to go to work and see my patients.”

For such a good fit, it’s interesting that Garza didn’t enter college expecting to become a chiropractor. After earning her undergraduate degree at St. Edwards University in Austin, she entered medical school with plans to become a medical doctor.

“I was in medical school for two years, and I realized that I still had about eight more years to go,” Garza said. “The bookwork was very intense, and I had no personal life, so I started talking to medical doctors.”

After talking to a few medical doctors and not liking what she heard, Garza left medical school, moved to Ft. Worth with her best friend and “enrolled in Parker College of Chiropractic in Dallas, Texas, knowing nothing about it,” she said. “My parents were disappointed in me for [leaving medical school], but even in the beginning I knew I had made the right decision.”

Garza’s parents played a significant role in her return to Rockport. She moved back to her hometown in 2004 – the same year she graduated from chiropractic school – when she lost both of her parents very suddenly.

“It was very traumatic,” Garza said. “I think most people would’ve taken the ordeal as an invitation to go hide, but I looked at it as, ‘Would they want me to be hiding and not practicing what I went to school to do?’”

So Garza worked as an associate for a couple of months in Aransas Pass prior to joining fellow chiropractor Dr. Don Vaughn in 2005 and purchasing the practice upon his retirement a year-and-a-half later.

Moving from the busy Dallas/Ft. Worth area to the sleepy little beach town of Rockport took some adjustment at first, “but now it’s great,” Garza said. “I love Rockport. There are people here who have known me since childhood and knew my parents, and it’s a great feeling being able to help old friends. And since I work in Corpus, going back home is kind of like a small retreat – almost like getting away.”

Garza enjoys her “mini vacation” by walking downtown and along the water with her dog, Dixie, every evening. She also donates significant portions of her spare time to the New Neighbors League Club, gives health talks at the Stripes Convenience Stores headquarters in Corpus Christi and serves as the president of Aransas County United Way.

In short, Garza has it made. She has a job she lov