Dr. Melissa Perotti stands in front of the entrance to Advanced Health Chiropractic's office at 9570 S. McCarran Boulevard in Reno.
Throughout much of her youth, Dr. Melissa Perotti suffered with chronic headaches.
Finally one day, a friend suggested she go see a chiropractor, which did the trick. So impressed with how it solved her problem, she decided it was a career path she wanted to pursue herself.
“My headaches cleared up and I was sold,” Perotti said in an interview with NNBW.
She now owns Advanced Health Chiropractic (AHC) with a location at 9570 S. McCarran Blvd. in northwest Reno, and is opening a second at 9437 Double Diamond Parkway in south Reno.
Perotti, who was born in Alaska and grew up in Hawaii, went through eight years of post-secondary education. Her medical training included attending Life Chiropractic College West in Hayward, Calif., and a 1,000-hour massage therapy program at Hawaiian Island School of Body Therapies.
She added many people may be surprised to know her training requires her to learn much of the same knowledge as a general practitioner.
“I could deliver a baby if I needed to,” Perotti said with a laugh.
She met her now ex-husband, who was from Reno and eventually moved with him back to northern Nevada, where she went to work as an associate at a local chiropractor’s office for two years.
In 2006, Perotti stepped out on her own in business, but credited her former employer for giving her a template on how to run a business.
“I modeled my business after hers from the business side,” Perotti said. “I went in thinking failure is not an option, so I just went for it.”
She couldn’t think of a better place to start her business than at the northwest Reno location. The constant heavy traffic at the corner of West 4th Street and South McCarran Boulevard has turned into a marketing tool.
“The practice has grown every single year,” Perotti said. “The last three years it’s grown exponentially.”
Several of her clients live in South Reno, so it made sense to open the Double Diamond location.
“Many of them live in the Arrowcreek or in the Damonte Ranch areas often complained about traveling up here and dealing with the Spaghetti Bowl or going around McCarran Boulevard,” she said.
An open house is planned at the Double Diamond location on June 3 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., with perks offered such as complimentary exams or chair massages, plus food and beverages.
Perotti estimates AHC serves approximately 65 clients on a daily basis at the northwest Reno location. The office treats patients ranging from newborns to senior citizens and is open six days a week.
Perotti also has served as the official chiropractor of the Reno Aces since the baseball club’s first season in 2009 and added the same title with Reno 1868 FC, the new professional soccer franchise that began play this season.
She landed the Aces role after the wife of an Aces player randomly entered the office looking for a spinal adjustment. Pleased with the service, she referred AHC to her husband, a major leaguer who was on an injury rehab assignment with Reno.
“I was the first chiropractor to get his lower back to move,” Perotti said proudly. “He went through several chiropractors, including those licensed with (Major League Baseball), so they were surprised that I was the only one able to comfortably adjust his back effectively.
They were so impressed they referred my number to the team trainer and the rest is history.”
AHC offers a variety of services such as spine adjustments, chiropractic massage and electrical muscle stimulation. AHC also offers a variety of chiropractic techniques, customized to a client needs. She said not all patients respond to the same technique, so she provides them with various options.
Another service AHC offers is deep tissue massage, a technique that has become an effective method for treating athletes.
AHC also employs a technology called Impulse iQ, a device equipped with a sensor that identifies chiropractic adjustments in patients. Dr. Perotti said AHC is one of a select few practices in Nevada that are certified to use the device.
She added one other chiropractor, Jim Loconte, D.C., and is hiring another female chiropractor from Oregon that will start at AHC at the end of May. She also has three licensed massage therapists on staff.
AHC welcomes walk-ins and accepts most insurance plans.
For more information on AHC, visit www.renospine.com.
