Dr. Ryan Nienaber was born in Victoria BC, Canada where he grew up and attended school. During elementary school, he competed in multiple track and field events with long distance running being his forte. Over the next couple of years he played rugby, which was the precursor to his first chiropractic experience.
Dr. Ryan continued seeing a chiropractor over the years for various ailments, as he stayed extremely active in sports and weight trained on a daily basis. It wasn’t until he was hit in a head on collision while riding a motorcycle that he truly experienced the power of chiropractic. He had been under the care of multiple specialists in the medical field for many months without any signs of relief. It was during this time that he became frustrated with traditional medicine (taking pain killers and muscle relaxers) and decided that he needed to pursue something else. Dr. Ryan began seeing his chiropractor and immediately saw results. The daily headaches were eliminated, the “fogginess” in his thought process was lifted, and he was able to return to his previous level of physical fitness. For Dr. Ryan, it was a life-changing event that made him excited to pursue chiropractic as a potential profession. It made so much more sense than merely masking a symptom, and he wanted to help people the way his chiropractor helped him.
In 1998, Dr. Ryan moved to Portland, Oregon to attend the four-year program at University of Western States. He played an active role in campus life as an elected officer of the student body. He was able to continue to weight train and kickbox during his time at school, and then started to pursue his passion of training in Muay Thai with Brazilian Jui Jitsu. This sports background has really solidified his understanding of sports related injuries and given him a valuable edge in treating such injuries in his practice today.
Outside of work and sports, Dr. Ryan enjoys spending time with his wife, Jennifer, two young boys, Noah and Paxton, and two Boxers, Nalla and Bauer.
