BY GINNY PRIVITAR
WEST MILFORD — Dr. Nicole Torp has returned to her hometown, recently joining Tanis Chiropractic.
She received her undergraduate degree in biology at Richard Stockton College, and in 2015, her degree in chiropractic from Palmer College.
Torp said she came from a family of hard workers, so she can appreciate how difficult it is for people who get injured, are unable to do their normal work and need to get back to work. Her goal? "To get them back to what they want to do."
The same holds true for athletes.
"I like to keep people healthy," she said.
A drug-free approachBeing healthy also includes avoiding medications.
"Another reason why I like chiropractic is because I try to keep people off pain medications," Torp said, noting that people are often prescribed more painkillers than they need.
People will go to the doctor with lower back pain, she said, and instead of a suggestion that they go to a chiropractor, they'll be offered pain medication. Her affection for West Milford urgers her to offer an alternative.
"I love West Milford," she said, "I grew up here and it's very important to me to be involved in the community and I would like to contribute to making West Milford healthy and drug-free."
A focus on postureTorp is happy to be part of Tanis Chiropractic, which relocated to its current location at 1554 Union Valley Road about a year ago.
"I'm very happy to be working at Tanis because they're such a reputable practice and I'm happy to be a part of that," she said.
She enjoys working with children, too. She said kids are seen for a variety of reasons. "You see great results with kids."
Torp said she does a lot of postural exercise to allow people to keep their adjustment. Chiropractic today involves more muscular-skeletal work than years ago and can treat many conditions.
"We can treat, and if we can't, we know where to send you," Torp added.
An early tripWhile she was in school, Torp and classmates went to Fiji and treated people in rural schools and villages. They were people who do heavy manual labor daily, who don't have chiropractors and rarely get to see any doctors.
"We ended up doing a lot for these people. It was amazing," Torp said of the experience,
Sitting problemsHere in West Milford, the office sees a lot of postural issues associated with sitting.
"It's unfortunate," Torp said, "but that’s what we do every day, driving or working on the computer. It's important to get adjusted so we can maintain our health and posture."
Natural healingUltimately, though, chiropractic assists the body naturally.
"Chiropractic allows for the body to heal itself," Torp said, "We make corrections to fix what everyday life and injuries throw at us."
Torp's husband, Justin DiMaio, is also a chiropractor. They have a newborn son, Ryan, who is four months old.
When not focusing on her family or work, Torp likes to exercise and play soccer. She and her husband also have two rescue dogs, brothers Gus and Bruno, who are boxer/hound mixes.