In this rich episode of What Chiropractic Doesn’t Cure: Stories of Innate, host Jenna Quentin speaks with Dr. Mark Styers, an American chiropractor practicing in Germany. Dr. Styers shares the story of how a life-altering spinal injury in his youth led him into chiropractic and a lifetime of exploring healing, energy, and function. From working with surgeons to understanding frequencies, his insights challenge the boundaries of dogmas. He also shares powerful stories from practice — including one about an autistic boy whose transformation highlights the power of tuning a persona in and innate intelligence.

From Spinal Injury to Purpose: Just before he turned 12, Dr. Styers suffered a traumatic L5 vertebra injury that would become the turning point of his life. When he began chiropractic care, he described it as a “beautiful horror.” The adjustment itself was painful, confusing, and scary — no one explained what was happening — and he remembered crying all the way there. Yet it changed everything. That experience not only helped him to heal physically, but shaped how he would one day care for others. As he trained to become a chiropractor, he held onto one question: Can I remove the horror part? His goal became to deliver the power of the adjustment with presence, clarity, and compassion — helping people feel safe, even in their most vulnerable moments.

Questioning the Standard of Care: As a student and new graduate, Dr. Styers was never content with surface-level explanations. He delved deeper into what “standard of care” really means — both in practice and principle — and sought to understand the “rules of engagement” when it came to assessing people and choosing how to care for them.

Training Surgeons & Honoring Their Hands: With 25 years of experience as a chiropractor, Dr. Styers has also spent time training surgeons — not because they lack ability, but because they already have incredible hands. He emphasizes that many surgeons are burnt out from carrying the weight of life-and-death decisions, day in and day out. What he offers them is a different lens — one that focuses on restoring function without the pressure of high-risk procedures. He acknowledges the seriousness of what they do with a scalpel. But there are other ways to help the body reconnect, self-regulate, and heal through precise, intentional input.

Function on a 0–100 Scale: Dr. Styers describes function not as “sick or well,” but as a spectrum — with 0 being in a box (death) and 100 being fully optimized. Chiropractic, he believes, should be about moving people up that scale.

Creating Our Own Standard of Care: Dr. Styers encourages doctors to define their own standard of care — one that reflects their personal values and the outcomes they’re truly aiming for. He questions what we’re actually measuring: posture? pain? X-rays? blood flow? For him, it comes down to oxygen content and neurological activity — two core indicators of function and longevity.

He’s clear that the outcome isn’t entirely up to the practitioner. “The meaning comes from your outcome,” he says, “but that’s not up to me.” Healing happens through the nervous system’s response, not just the doctor's intention. Ultimately, he believes the technique matters far less than the human who’s applying it.

Using Frequencies During Adjustments: Dr. Styers doesn’t just talk about frequencies—he applies them. He uses music with specific frequencies as part of his adjusting process, aligning the body with the tones it needs to shift. But the frequency isn’t the main thing — chiropractic is. The adjustment is central, and the use of frequency is one of many ways to support the body’s tuning. This isn’t about belief — it’s about anatomy. The body responds to tone, to vibration, and even to the sensory environment. What we hear, see, and smell can all influence us. We can create an environment that helps the nervous system reconnect, reset, and rise to a higher state of function.

In their conversation, Jenna and Dr. Styers reflect on Helen Keller’s 1924 letter to the New York Symphony Orchestra, where she described feeling Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony through the vibrations of a radio. Deaf and blind, Keller experienced the music not with ears or eyes, but with her body — and wrote, “I felt the delicate harmonies trembling about me and surrendering all the enjoyment of my body to the unseen spirit of beauty.” Her words capture the same truth Dr. Styers brings into his practice: that tone is not just heard — it is felt, deeply and physically, by the body’s innate intelligence.

The Role of Pediatric Chiropractic & Unwavering Parents: In one of the most moving stories of the episode, Dr. Styers recalls working with an autistic immigrant boy. After detox support with glutathione and gentle adjustments, the boy began to emerge from his shell — months later, he was playing, interacting, and engaging with joy.

Dr. Styers speaks to the importance of early care and the parents who don’t give up— even when the journey is long. He emphasizes finding a healthcare provider who is a security guard who refuses to lose.

Connect with Dr. Mark Styers: Practice Website: Chiropraktik Hamburg - Café of Life https://www.chiropraktik-in-hamburg.de

Jenna Quentin and Adjust Your Media: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/adjustyourmedia Website: https://jennaquentin.com/

Adjust Your Marketing Blueprint membership; https://www.adjustyourmedia.com/

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For listeners interested in reading Helen Keller’s full letter, you can find it here: Helen Keller's Letter to the New York Symphony Orchestra https://www.afb.org/HelenKellerArchive?a=d&d=A-HK02-B223-F08-004