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October 13, 2025 15 mins

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What if the fastest way to feel better isn’t another pill, but a smarter way to move, align, and listen? We sat down with Dr. Alex Hilario — award-winning chiropractor, former powerlifter, and Westchester, NY care leader — to unpack three practical keys that help real people beat chronic pain and reclaim energy: chiropractic care, nervous system optimization, and avoiding the traps of long-term medications and poor posture. His take is refreshingly grounded: start with the safest, least invasive options, and build only as needed.

We dig into why the nervous system is the body’s first responder — and why spinal motion matters for far more than a stiff back. Dr. Hilario explains how nerve irritation can masquerade as digestive issues, reproductive changes, or sleep trouble, and how restoring joint motion sends cleaner signals to the brain. 

3:38 Why the Nervous System Comes First

4:32 Pills, Pace, and Hidden Costs

4:41 Medications and Posture Pitfalls

6:08 Reading Body Signals Beyond Pain

7:09 Tech Neck, Adaptation, and Arthritis

7:34 Can Posture Be Reversed?

10:24 How Often to See a Chiropractor

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Transcript

Episode Transcript

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SPEAKER_00 (00:04):
Can three simple strategies unlock a healthier
you?
Dr.
Alex Hilario, a celebratedchiropractor from Westchester
County, New York, believes so.
With over 21 years ofexperience, he's helped hundreds
of thousands live pain-free.
This former power lifter whoheld 13 U.S.
Power Lifting Association staterecords.

(00:25):
In this episode, Dr.
Hilario shares three keys tobetter health chiropractic care,
nervous system optimization, andavoiding the pitfalls of
medications and pore posture.
Let's dive in.
Hi friends, welcome to the newnormal big life podcast.
We bring you natural news andstories about nature that we
hope will inspire you to getoutside and adventure.

(00:46):
Along with a step-by-step planthat will practice what you've
learned and create your own newnormal and live the biggest life
you can dream.
I'm your host, Antonette Lee,the wellness warrior.
Let's dive into today'stransformational topic with Dr.
Alex Hilario.
Dr.
Hilario, welcome to New NormalBig Life.

SPEAKER_02 (01:07):
Thank you.
Thank you for having me.

SPEAKER_00 (01:09):
Let's dive into the three keys to better health with
key number one, harnessing thepower of chiropractic care.
Your awards for top chiropracticservices in Westchester, New
York, which I used to live inWestchester for a while,
highlights the importance ofthis topic.
Why is chiropractic a foundationfor health?

SPEAKER_02 (01:30):
It's essential because we have our nervous
system, which controlseverything.
Every organ in your body iscontrolled by your nervous
system, and it's encased in yourskull and your spine.
So when there's issues going onin the spine, that's going to
affect your nervous system,which in turn is going to affect
different organs, differentaspects of your health.

SPEAKER_00 (01:50):
And you have kind of a unique experience that some
clinicians don't have, in thatyou overcame a huge health
challenge and had a kidneytransplant.
Is there anything you want toshare about your journey into
health and wellness?

SPEAKER_02 (02:09):
Well, I think everybody, you know, at some
point or another is going toface some challenges.
And I think it's important to doa little bit of homework, you
know, to kind of get secondopinions, to, to try different
forms of treatment and find outwhat works best for you.
And sometimes, you know, we weneed something as aggressive as
a surgery, you know, ortransplant.

(02:30):
You know, I'm not against any ofthose types of treatments, but
start with the the most benignforms of treatment, the stuff
that has the least long-termside effects or or consequences
to them.
So things like chiropractic,physical therapy, massage,
acupuncture, and kind of workyour way up into the point, you
know, that where you'veaddressed the issue.

SPEAKER_00 (02:51):
Before we cover the next topic in this episode, I
want to introduce you to theadventure sports lifestyle with
what I call a micro story aboutan adventure that I've had.
The adventure sports lifestyleand my deep connection to nature
is essential to my good health.
So here's the story.
The key reason to practice catchand release fishing is it

(03:12):
supports the local fishpopulation.
Releasing a monster-sized fishallows those healthy genes to
spread and populate the body ofwater with more healthy fish,
with the genes to grow intotrophy-sized fish.
I hope this inspires you topractice catch and release
fishing and to get outside in anadventure alone with friends or

(03:34):
the people you love most.
Now back to the show where we'retalking with Dr.
Alex Hilario.
Number your second key isoptimizing the nervous system
for wellness.
What pivotal role does thenervous system play in your
overall health?

SPEAKER_02 (03:48):
Yeah, so so it's so important that it's it's the
first organ to form, you know,and and again, it kind of
innervates every single organ,every single system.
You know, some people willexperience numbness or shooting
pain.
That's an indication that anerve is being compressed, but
it also controls, you know, thedifferent organs.
So you could be dealing withdigestive issues or reproductive

(04:09):
issues, and not know that it'sbecause there's irritation on
your nervous system.
So it's important to make surethat your spine is moving
properly, you have the theproper curvatures in your spine
and not you know, not dealingwith these type of issues, you
know.
As Americans, we love to kind ofgo, go, go, you know, it's
fast-paced, you know, we we'redealing with back pain or neck

(04:32):
pain.
We want to just take a pill andand keep it moving.
But over time, that can become abig problem.
So it's something we want tolook into, something we want to
address.

SPEAKER_00 (04:41):
And that leads us to number three, which is avoiding
medications and poor posturepitfalls.
Why are long-term medicationsand sub-optimal posture, like
slumping forward, for example,threats to your overall good
health?

SPEAKER_02 (04:56):
Yeah, so so medication is very important
sometimes, and we we definitelywant to follow our medical
doctor's recommendations, but alot of times we're we're going
to the pharmacy and we're justkind of picking up stuff there
on our own without any realguidance.
And it could be years whereyou're taking over-the-counter
stuff and then develop issueswith your GI, you know, your

(05:17):
gastrointestinal problems whereyou're developing ulcers.
There was a study that foundthat over 30 million people take
over-the-counter stuff.
And there's over 100,000hospitalizations and over 16,000
deaths related to this.
So, you know, it's not somethingyou want to just keep doing.
Obviously, you know, if you'rein pain, you need to take

(05:38):
something.
By all means, take it.
But, you know, try to figure outwhat the root of the cause is,
what the problem is, you know,what's causing it, and not just,
hey, I just, you know, becausewe don't have a tyanyl
deficiency, we don't have anadvil deficiency, you know.
So, so what's causing this?
You know, and and take some timeto do some digging.

SPEAKER_00 (05:58):
It's interesting that you talk about the root
cause of things.
One of the things that I try toremind people is that when you
take a medication and it masksyour symptoms, that means you're
not getting information thatyour body was trying to give
you.
Do you have anything you want toshare as it relates to the kinds

(06:19):
of information that we should belooking for inside our body to
know that it's telling us thatwe are unwell, we have some
dis-ease within us.

SPEAKER_02 (06:29):
Yeah, I totally agree.
You know, what happens is thatwe'll we'll have dysfunction
appear first.
So there's an imbalance in themuscles, there is, you know, a
shift in the spine and the inthe vertebrae, and the pain
comes later.
You know, the pain is your youralarm going off.
You know, there's a problem,there's a problem, there's a
problem.
But but then if you're takingsomething to address the
symptoms, you're not gonnacorrect that issue, right?

(06:52):
You're not gonna correct thecause of it.
So you're just kind ofaddressing the symptoms.
And you know, you're you're overtime it gets worse because your
body's gonna adapt to that.
You know, and that that bringsme back to the posture you asked
about the posture, but over timeyour body changes because your
body adapts to that.
So, you know, as again, asAmericans, we spend a lot of
time, well, I think everybodynowadays spends a lot of time on

(07:14):
their cell phones and laptopsand and you know, all types of
devices.
So we're always hunched over orbent over.
Uh, and your body does adapt tothat.
So over time you can developarthritis, you can develop
issues where it's very difficultto correct those curvatures.

SPEAKER_00 (07:29):
And so let's say you've been practicing poor
posture your whole life.
Is it possible to come back fromthat?
And what kinds of therapies,treatments, and how often would
a functional medicine doctor ora chiropractor work with a
patient to reverse some of therounding of the spine in bad

(07:52):
ways and curvatures andstiffness and even arthritis
symptoms that they'reexperiencing.

SPEAKER_02 (07:59):
Yeah, so so everybody's gonna be a little
bit different.
The first thing is to try toevaluate, you know, figure out
the severity of the issue.
You know, the older we are, themore we've we've had the issue,
the harder it is to correct.
But usually there is a course oftreatment where you're kind of
retraining your body, right?
So you're creating this newmemory, this new position of the
spine, this new position andmovement within the joints.

(08:22):
But we've seen people with withsevere arthritis get to the
point where they're pain-free.
We've seen people with, youknow, really abnormal curvatures
correct them over time.
So if anybody's dealing withthis type of issue, it's
definitely worth looking intoand worth adding to any type of
treatment that you may be doing.
You know, physical therapy isgreat, but it's mostly focused

(08:43):
on the muscles and strengtheningthe weaknesses there.
You know, adding chiropractic isalso going to help restore
motion to the spine.
So, you know, there's a lot ofgreat treatments out there, but
sometimes you may need to add,you know, one or two more.

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SPEAKER_00 (10:22):
Use my affiliate link in the show description.
How often should someone seetheir chiropractor?
And is does that depend on theirproblem, or do you have sort of
a rule of thumb on that?

SPEAKER_02 (10:34):
Yeah, that that varies, you know, from patient
to patient.
You could have, you know, achild who fell off of a swing
and and they may not need muchtreatment.
You may have somebody who'solder and has had, you know, or
is a blue-collar worker and hasbeen re-injuring their back for
years that may need moretreatment.
So the frequency can can vary,you know, it could be a couple

(10:54):
of times a week, but becauseagain, it's a retraining
process, kind of like going tothe gym.
You know, if you go once amonth, you're gonna get very
little results, if any.
If you're going frequently,you're going a few times a week,
your body will adapt to that, tothose stresses.
Your body will change over time.

SPEAKER_00 (11:11):
Well, that's been very insightful.
Is there anything else you wantto leave the listeners with?

SPEAKER_02 (11:17):
Definitely look into integrating chiropractic if
you've never done it.
It's about like 3% of thepopulation that use it.
So, you know, there's a lot ofpeople out there that are not
benefiting from chiropracticcare, restoring the motion to
the joints, getting the pressureoff of your nervous system.
If you're dealing with issueslike even digestive issues or
reproductive issues, and you youhaven't been able to find the

(11:38):
cause, you know, atchiropractic, you know, we don't
go around telling people that wecorrect these issues because,
you know, it's not somethingwhere you can directly link, but
sometimes it is your nervoussystem that's being affected.
And when there's pressure on thenerves, that's going to affect
the function of the organs.
So removing that pressure candefinitely give you the results
that you're looking for.

SPEAKER_00 (11:58):
Well, thank you for joining us today, Dr.
Hilario.
And if you want to connect withDr.
Hilario, there will be links tohis Instagram account and
website for more information inthe show description.

SPEAKER_02 (12:10):
Awesome.
Thanks for having me.

SPEAKER_00 (12:12):
Until next time, friends, I'm your host,
Antonette Lee, the wellnesswarrior here at the New Normal
Big Life Podcast.
I hope one day to see you on theriver, in the backcountry or in
the horse barn, living your bestlife.
Struggling with health problemsor seeking natural health
solutions, don't miss our latestpodcast episode, exclusive blog
posts, and free ebooks packedwith life-changing wellness

(12:34):
tips.
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