The Tweed Heads Chiropractor to see - Chiropractor Tweed Heads

Introducing Tweed Heads Chiropractor Dennis Richards

What would make a country kid travel to the other side of the world to study a profession which was almost unknown?

When I was 18, during the Christmas holidays between school and university, I worked as a labourer building flood mitigation walls on the banks of the Clarence River in South Grafton. During this work I had an accidental fall that caused several injuries, including spinal fractures, and led to a long period of disability and pain. I had many medical and physiotherapy consultations, including a very expensive one with “the top orthopaedic surgeon in Australia” in Macquarie Street in Sydney. None of these helped me.

Eventually my parents took me to Grafton chiropractor Dr Keith Bastian. I was puzzled as I had never heard of chiropractic and had no idea what a chiropractor did. I was really intrigued when Dr Bastian took a much more detailed history and did a much more thorough examination than anyone else had done, took x-rays, and gave me an understandable explanation of my problem. No one else had done this. Dr Bastian gave me some spinal adjustments over a period of time and I was downright amazed when I received relief after many months of disabling pain!

Dr Bastian kindly took on a mentor role in my life and introduced me to other chiropractors. I was greatly impressed by them, by what they did and by their caring attitude towards me and their other patients. In addition, as I was majoring in physiology (the study of the systems and function of the human body) in my science studies at university, the chiropractic approach towards health made a lot of sense to me. I was so impressed by the results I had received with chiropractic that as I finished my science degree I made a life-changing decision – to study at Palmer College of Chiropractic in Davenport, Iowa, near Chicago in the USA.

Palmer College is the world centre for chiropractic, as it was founded over 100 years ago at the place of the discovery of chiropractic in 1895. Australians have made the journey to study at Palmer since 1905 and I followed in their footsteps to complete the four-year course. The course at Palmer was very intense, with classes running six hours a day for five days a week, 44 weeks a year. But the beauty and logic of the chiropractic approach to health became clear to me and I knew I had made the right decision to attend. My science degree in Physiology enabled me to obtain a position as Instructor in the Physiology Laboratory. This permitted me to attend many College events not usually open to students and to perform additional study in a broad range of leading chiropractic techniques such as Gonstead, Thompson, and Sacro Occipital Techniques. I was a long way away from home but during the short vacations I was able to experience some of American life when invited by classmates to visit their home towns. I formed friendships with American and other students from around the world, many of which continue today. I eventually graduated with the Doctor of Chiropractic with Honours degree on March 18, 1978.

I then practised as the only chiropractor for over 500,000 people in the Italian city of Catania, at the base of the active volcano Mt Etna. This enabled me to quickly gain a good amount of experience in practice and also to experience the fascinating complex history and culture of Sicily, which, as it is strategically placed in the centre of the Mediterranean, has been ruled by the Ancient Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, Arabs, Normans, Germans, Austrians, and Spanish at different times. After two years in Italy I returned home to Australia.

My practice is dedicated to offering individuals and families high quality, safe, gentle and effective chiropractic care to help them have the best health possible so they can enjoy the best possible lives. Over the past 30 years I have had the pleasure of seeing this realised in thousands of people aged from minutes after birth to 101 years old. That gives my life real purpose.

My family is a very important part of my life. My wife has helped in our practice since the day we opened the doors and my two sons have received chiropractic care since they were 30 minutes old. As a result we are a very active and healthy family. To relax, I'm a book worm. I love to sit in the sun on my terrace at home in Currumbin and read about history, science and travel. I'm also studying philosophy at Griffith University. That exercises and challenges my brain and helps me understand myself and the world better.

I feel so strongly about what chiropractic can do for people that I have for many years been involved in leadership positions in the Chiropractors' Association of Australia and the World Federation of Chiropractic. This work also involves travel and meeting new people, which I enjoy greatly. I often get to present lectures at conferences while on these travels and I love the creative tension and effort which goes into putting together these speeches and then sharing them with audiences around the world. In recent years I've had the pleasure of visiting Portugal, Spain, Canada, USA, Mexico and South Africa on these trips.

I am able to maintain this active and busy life by having a very healthy lifestyle. Weekly chiropractic check ups and adjustments keep my nervous system working at its best, without interference in my body and mind. I eat very well with fresh healthy natural foods where possible. My exercise comes from attending the gym regularly for weight bearing exercise classes and my cardio work from riding my bike to work and ocean swimming at beautiful Currumbin Beach. Yoga and meditation help me to stay mentally and emotionally balanced. Some would say I don't succeed well there! I try hard to avoid or minimise the health risk factors although I do have a few vices, as we all do. But I won't tell you what mine are.

Enough about me, and thanks for visiting our site. I look forward to meeting you in person and learning how we can help you with safe and gentle chiropractic care. Give us a call so we can help you take your first steps towards better health.