Gil Kentof didn’t know it at the time, but a car accident when he was 17 put him on a career path that ultimately led him to Ouray.

The wreck left him with neck pain — an injury that medication prescribed by his doctor didn’t solve. His parents suggested he see a family friend who was a chiropractor.

Decades later, that chiropractor remains a mentor to Kentof, who opened his own practice, Active Life Chiropractic, earlier this year at 801 Main St. in Ouray.

A native of Jacksonville, Florida, Kentof completed his undergraduate degree at Florida Junior College. As a young college student he thought about going into forestry because of his love of the outdoors. But some fellow students in a class convinced him to go into chiropractic work. He shifted and got a degree from Life Chiropractic College in Atlanta in 1989.

A year later, he opened his own practice in Franklin, Tennessee, and spent the next 33 years growing it into the Dr. Gil Center for Back, Neck and Chronic Pain Relief. He sold the practice last year and now lives here full-time.

Kentof began visiting Ouray in 2019, inspired by his parents’ stories of camping trips in the San Juans decades earlier. He considered relocating to Pagosa Springs or Durango but settled on Ouray and bought a home here in 2021.

“My first impression was overwhelming,” he said. “I said, ‘Oh my gosh, this is paradise.’” Kentof said he treats a wide range of conditions including sciatica, headaches, muscle spasms, tingling and numbness and shoulder and joint pain. He offers a variety of services, including manual and instrument adjustments, ultrasound therapy, electric muscle stimulation, dry needling and exercise rehab instruction.

Active Life Chiropractic is open by appointment only Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

“I’m not looking to turn it into a monster practice,” he said.

To learn more, call 615-969-8663 or visit drgforme.com.