Photo courtesy of Heart Smile Photography.
Dr. Irma Palmer
Dr. Irma Palmer would not have chosen her career path as a chiropractor had it not been for a health condition she suffered during her teenage years. That situation pointed her to chiropractics, and she is celebrating 30 years at her practice later this year.
Playing competitive softball growing up, Palmer suffered with lower back pain and severe menstrual issues.
“I was told this was just part of being a woman, but this was severe pain and it was affecting everything,” she said.
Palmer, growing up in Miami, suffered a severe softball collision that led her parents to take her to her first chiropractor, who just happened to be the father of one of her friends. It was that experience that inspired her to become a chiropractor and help change the lives of others.
“I had hit rock bottom for a teenager between the pain and an embarrassing situation that happened with the menstrual issues,” she said. “The doctor had been working on my back pain, but that had changed something with the menstrual issue. I finally told him about that issue, and he treated me, and I never had those issues again.”
Palmer said her Cuban family was not keen on chiropractors, leaning only on medical doctors, so she wasn’t sure how they would feel about her plan to become a chiropractor. But her father always told her the most important thing was for her to be healthy and happy. He told her, “You’ve got to fall in love everyday with what you do and who you go home to, to have heaven on earth and have a great life.”
Moving to Alabama in early 1993, Palmer started her practice, Chiropractic Today, located at 420 Inverness Corners, in November of that year. The practice is also bilingual.
Health and wellness is much more than my profession as a chiropractor — it’s my chosen lifestyle.
Dr. Irma Palmer
“Health and wellness is much more than my profession as a chiropractor — it’s my chosen lifestyle. Striving to inspire my patients to face adversities associated with health is my passion,” she said. “I believe it’s that passion and the relationships I’ve made in my practice and in my community that has allowed us to be here for 30 years.”
Palmer is celebrating the 30 years on April 15 with a big party at the practice which will actually serve as a fundraiser for the Shelby Humane. A $5 donation provides a lunch ticket and entry into a raffle. Palmer said other businesses in the area will also be having specials that day with a sidewalk sale.
Palmer said she loves what she does and cannot believe it’s been 30 years.
“Living a healthy life and educating my community on the BIG 5 wellness lifestyle concepts; faith, neurological connection, eating food from the earth, exercise, and intentional thinking is important to me,” she said. “I believe everyone striving to improve in these five areas will restore their health and vitality, personal confidence and move toward an optimum quality of life. My goal is to ultimately make a difference within our community and beyond utilizing these principles.”
