The Joint Chiropractic - Simi Valley

Dr. Aaron Shakarian, D.C. began as an All-State Athlete and went on to play college football during his undergraduate program at Grand Valley State University in Michigan, which recently became the winningest program in college football history. He was inspired to pursue the profession of chiropractic after experiencing relief from multiple sports injuries and went on to graduate with honors from Life University in Marietta, GA with his Doctor of Chiropractic degree.

After graduation Dr. Shakarian opened private practices in his hometown of Livonia, MI and then Beverly Hills, CA where he was also an on-call doctor for TV and movie productions. When his first daughter was born, Dr. Shakarian decided to sell his Beverly Hills practice and relocate to family-friendly Chandler, AZ. His first year in AZ was spent working for The Joint Chiropractic’s corporate office and he believed in the brand so much that he purchased multiple franchises in the greater PHX market!

Over the years of Dr. Shakarian’s vast experience he has perfected multiple techniques to relieve those suffering with upper and lower back pain, neck pain, sciatica, severe migraines, vertigo, arthritis, sports injuries and several other ailments. He frequently treats patients of all ages who range from infants to senior citizens.

When Dr. Shakarian isn’t educating the community on the benefits of chiropractic care, he’s busy working out at the gym, golfing, and enjoying every sunny AZ day with his wife, Stacie and their two young daughters.

Dr. Antonya Forsyth became part of The Joint Chiropractic’s team of local healthcare providers in 2020 when she began serving local residents in Simi Valley, where she will continue doing the work that she finds so gratifying.

“I love being in the chiropractic field and seeing people get back to doing what they love without pain or fear,” she says. “The other thing I like about it is always learning new things because neuroscience and anatomy are so interesting to me.”

Dr. Forsyth grew up in Arcata, Calif., in Humboldt County, and worked previously in San Jose. In her spare time she enjoys Bikram yoga, and trail running and ultra running.

She earned bachelor’s degrees in dance and psychology from UC Santa Barbara, and a doctorate from Palmer College of Chiropractic West.

Her first-hand experience with chiropractic led her to become a doctor. “When I was a professional ballet dancer, being injured when I had to rehearse and perform wasn’t an option, so always getting such quick and effective results from chiropractic adjustments was an absolute necessity,” she says. “I realized later how valuable chiropractic was to my ballet career and I wanted to pay that forward.”

In Case You Didn’t Know

Dr. Forsyth says the one food she always keeps stocked in her kitchen is watermelon: “I’m obsessed with fruit, and there is nothing better than coming home after a sweaty long run to something cold and refreshing.”

If she could bring together any four people from history for her ideal dinner party, Dr. Forsyth would send invitations to ultramarathon runner Courtney Dauwalter, wellness and plant-based nutrition advocate and ultra-endurance athlete Rich Roll, American marathon record-holder Deena Kastor, and author and clinical nutritionist Dr. Michael Greger.

Running is an important part of her life, and Dr. Forsyth says the coolest thing she has done took place in the early days of the coronavirus pandemic. “I ran a ‘virtual’ 50-mile race during the first month of quarantine,” she explains. “It was just a repeated loop on a trail near my house instead of out in the mountains where the original course would have been, with no finish line or cheering, but it was cool because I had never run that far before. After training for so long, it was awesome to be able to grit it out despite the pandemic turning everything upside down.”