Meet Mohamed Shalabi of Health 1st Center in Palos Heights

Today we’d like to introduce you to Mohamed Shalabi.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Mohamed. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
My dream has always been to help and give back to the community that has given me the rare opportunity to fulfill the American dream, the Southwest suburbs of Chicago has given me the tools to be the man I am today. I know every inch and every street thanks to many of my experiences here in particular, as a pizza delivery boy.

I came to the United States after graduating high school when I was 18 years old to continue my education. Living in Bridgeview at the time, I delivered pizzas and worked at KFC to help put me through undergrad at Moraine Valley Community College. It’s there that I fell in love and married my soul mate Hana and life’s opportunities have been limitless ever since.

Chiropractic care was rare back then, in fact chiropractors were not even considered real doctors by most medical physicians and even frowned upon. However, the philosophy of chiropractic completely resonated with me and I decided there was no higher calling. Getting accepted to Life University in Atlanta Georgia, I was starting to see my dream and life’s plan coming together.

Although graduate school was not easy, having had to work full time as a bus boy at a high-end restaurant at night while attending class full time during the day, each day and every drop of sweat saw us closer to our dream. My wife was also working full time while working on her undergrad for medical school, and unexpectedly, between all our work and studying, we were blessed with our first child! With his precious presence added, we worked and studied even harder to realize our dream.

After graduating with my chiropractic degree June 2001, I moved back here to pursue my dream and open up my own clinic. I started in a very small clinic at 7271 S. Harlem Ave in Bridgeview. I love Chiropractic, it runs in my blood, not only do I practice Chiropractic, I live it and I wanted to share this “new” healthy way of living with the world.

I remember walking in the neighborhood of my very first clinic and knocking on every door to introduce myself while handing out my business cards. I also used to walk down Harlem Ave from 72nd street all the way to 95th street to meet every business in the area. I even stood outside shopping stores to hand out my business cards and talk about chiropractic to anyone who would listen. Health screenings were another important part of bringing chiropractic healing to my community, I offered free health screenings in many events around the area and also volunteered in a lot of the events. I felt I was finally starting to give back to the community I love.

My first patients there experienced my passion and commitment and along with the positive health results they were seeing, referred their families and friends to also experience chiropractic care. My practice grew and in 2004 I moved down the street to a bigger clinic at 8550 S. Harlem Ave. I continued to serve my community and the people of the southwest suburbs of Chicago always looking for new ways to heal as many people as I can.

My Beautiful wife also graduated with her medical degree and had converted to the chiropractic philosophy as well. She believes that even though some circumstances will always require medical intervention, it is the body that conducts and manages the process of healing and not just the doctor or externally applied forces.

She decided to stay home and raise our amazing five kids and will pursue her career as a medical doctor when they are a little order. We have five children: Shihabaldean 17, Jenaan 13, Saifaldean 12, Salahaldean 10, and Muizzaldean 9. Four amazing boys and 1 beautiful girl just like her mother.

In 2015, after considerable research and time, I was finally able to purchase a free-standing building at 12750 S. Harlem Ave in Palos Heights.  We completely gutted and redesigned our new stand-alone clinic with convenience, modern beauty, and flawless therapeutic operation in mind. Our new home-like building symbolizes what Health 1st center is all about, warm and welcoming earthy exterior that extends into an unexpected modern and therapeutically advanced interior.

I have been in practice for 16 years now and I still have the fire and love in my heart for chiropractic and my community. To this day, this is what my core belief is and what my therapy centers around: the philosophy that the source of life is Innate flowing from the brain through the nervous system and then distributed to the entire body; that true health is not achieved through the ingestion of chemicals or the cutting away of diseased tissues, but is something that comes from within, ultimately it is the body that is able to maintain and heal itself.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
The main struggle was to start my first practice which included introducing chiropractic to a society that was mostly unfamiliar with it, and in many cases against it. I also had to borrow money from a close friend that I was able to pay back after one year. But just like any other business starting up, there are always issues that come up and I have had to get through it.

Please tell us about Health 1st Center.
We are a family-owned and operated, full service chiropractic healthcare clinic in Palos Heights IL dedicated to the overall health of our patients and community. Our goal is to provide top quality care and simple, common-sense tips to prevent disease and live a fuller, healthier, pain-free life through the chiropractic lifestyle. We specialize in chiropractic care for the entire family.

From spinal correction to nutritional recommendations, we proudly boast a 93% improvement and satisfaction rate where our patients physically see a positive difference in their quality of life.

Our Health 1st Wellness program provides educational health and wellness talks to companies, churches, schools, community events, and your personal circle of friends. Through simple solutions we strive to assist our communities in achieving optimal health.

Based on the chiropractic philosophy, our unique approach focuses on the relationship between nutrition and the spine & central nervous system as the key to complete well-being. We use multiple specific & efficient spinal correction therapies to alleviate immediate aches, pains and illness while also relieving symptom-causing irregularities in the spine.

Dr. Shalabi lectures to local communities on various topics including health, inspiration, motivation, and personal power. Over his career he has given chiropractic adjustments to patients of all ages, ranging from 1 hour old to 100 years old. Dr. Shalabi is passionate and energetic about the chiropractic profession, and it shows in everything he does.

If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
Nothing different, everything was a learning experience.

Contact Info:

• Address: Health 1st Center
  12750 S Harlem Ave. Palos Heights, IL 60463
• Website: https://health1stcenter.com/
• Phone: 708-598-2000
• Email: info@health1stcenter.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drmshalabi/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Health1stCenter
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/Health1stCenter
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/health-1st-center-chiropractic-palos-heights
• Other: https://plus.google.com/u/0/b/116931703544967004877/+Health1stCenterPalosHeights

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