A personal story from founder Dr. Anthony Close
I grew up in a tiny town in Indiana, home to just 200 people. I majored in molecular genetics and minored in quantitative chemistry at Purdue University. While I loved the science, I couldn’t see myself spending life in a lab. I became a doctor — completing a doctorate in physical medicine combining physical therapy and chiropractic care, followed by a fellowship in chronic pain management.
What struck me during those years was how disconnected many healthcare professionals were from current research on pain. Too many relied on outdated ideas. My curiosity led me to study innovation and artificial intelligence at Harvard and MIT. That curiosity drove me to create Labme.ai in 2017 — one of the first direct-to-consumer blood testing companies, releasing the world’s first diagnostic-quality CBC available to consumers. The company was acquired in 2023.
The Accidents That Shaped Me #
On Christmas Eve 2015, a car pulled out in front of me in Jakarta. I was thrown headfirst into a pole. My helmet shattered, and my C1 vertebra fractured in three places. The care I received in Jakarta was inadequate — I was left waiting for hours, given only paracetamol, and the fracture wasn’t even detected. Thankfully, I was evacuated to Singapore. Within a year, I was back to breaking personal lifting records, wakeboarding, and skydiving.
Then the second accident happened. Without a helmet, I collided with a taxi and flipped over my motorcycle. Injuries included an 8-inch laceration on my skull, fractures to C5/6, ribs, collarbone, ankle, and wrist. I somehow drove myself home before collapsing.
Pain Is Not What You Think #
Pain isn’t just about “misalignments” or “tight muscles.” It’s influenced by everything from your emotional state to subtle biochemical changes. I’ve spent over 17 years testing and refining these concepts with thousands of patients. Recovery, I believe, is 100% mindset.
In 2021, I faced “Saturday night palsy” — after sleeping in one position for 15 hours while ill in Bali, I woke up to find my left arm completely unusable. Doctors told me it would take 6-8 months. With persistence and deep understanding of pain and healing, I was back in the gym within a month and fully recovered in less than two.
Building DripDok #
Informed by my experiences and research, I founded DripDok — a personalized approach to longevity and recovery. It’s not a cure or a replacement for medical care. It’s a toolkit, a way to think differently about your body and its potential. Over nearly two decades, I’ve worked in some of the most challenging environments — from rural villages in Cambodia to the limestone cliffs of Thailand.
Our goal is simple: to continuously learn, research, and optimize. Recovery is not one-size-fits-all. It requires input, feedback, and communication. Without that, there is no progress.
A Final Thought #
The most important thing I’ve learned is that recovery is about understanding — understanding your pain, your body, and your mindset. You are in control. Providers are there to guide you, not to “fix” you. The tools I share are meant to empower, not replace. Recovery is a journey, and it’s one that can transform your life — not just physically, but mentally and emotionally.
“To understand injuries and pain problems and to recover from them more effectively, both patients and professionals need to stop trying to think of the body as a machine that breaks down and start thinking more in terms of squishy, messy physiology, especially neurology and biochemistry, and even messier psychology and lifestyle factors.”
