Dr Tracey Kavanagh
DR TRACEY KAVANAGH BSc MChr Chiropractor
Originally from Sydney, Tracey graduated from Macquarie University and moved to Adelaide in 1996. She established Marion Chiropractic Centre in Sturt in late 1997 after deciding to make Adelaide home. Since then Tracey has developed a referral-based Gonstead practice working alongside other Gonstead Chiropractors since 2002. She served 9 years on the Board of the Gonstead Chiropractic Society, a professional group that educates practitioners and students in the Gonstead System of Chiropractic.
When Tracey was only 13 years old she started experiencing acute painful episodes on a regular basis. After consulting the doctor and a physiotherapist there seemed to be no explanation for why these episodes kept recurring. She would wear a neck collar and consult the physiotherapist 3 times per week when it was at its worst. Each time this occurred she could barely move her head. Moving, sleeping, sitting in the car, everything was painful. After a few years and many of these episodes Tracey’s parents took her to see a chiropractor. She was terrified and imagined they may break her seemingly very fragile neck. The chiropractor was very understanding and explained what was causing these episodes. He explained how he was planning to help her and then very carefully he adjusted her neck.
It was her miracle! On the first day she experienced much less pain and was able to move more comfortably. After the second adjustment she seemed to be fixed? This experience was so life changing that she decided she wanted to become a chiropractor so she could help people just like her. Of course she wasn’t “fixed” and these episodes continued to occur throughout her teens. Each time she would go to the chiropractor and he would adjust her a few times and she’d be pain free once again.
When Tracey was studying in her second year of chiropractic she had another episode when her chiropractor was on leave. She had learnt a little more about chiropractic by then and had met a chiropractor at a seminar who worked differently to her chiropractor so she decided to visit him. It was a very different experience. He seemed to ask many more questions and examined her spine from top to bottom. He explained that she would need some x-rays before he would adjust her. She wasn’t very happy as she was experiencing pain and couldn’t understand why he wouldn’t adjust her?
Given no choice she had her x-rays taken and returned the next day when he showed her where he thought the problem was coming from and how he planned to adjust her. He started with adjusting her pelvis (she’d never had her pelvis adjusted before) and her upper back and sent her home to put some ice on these areas. He explained that the reason these episodes kept recurring was because the cause of the problem wasn’t being addressed. While it took a little longer for her neck to feel better she noticed other changes in how she was walking and feeling in general.
He was a Gonstead Chiropractor and she can’t recall him ever adjusting her neck. He explained that while manipulating her neck had helped her symptoms and reduced her pain it wasn’t getting to the cause of the problem. Over time she continued to receive checks and specific adjustments and her episodes stopped. She had also experienced significant pain each time her period arrived and this too improved much to her delight. Tracey’s decision to become a chiropractor was one of the best decisions of her life. Checking thousands of people and delivering even more adjustments she has been able to provide so many people with relief from their pain, the main reason people first consult a chiropractor. This has also improved the function of so many spines and nervous systems enabling these patients to feel better and live better lives.
When patients present with complex symptomatology and long standing issues, they can be challenging. These patients are the most rewarding when they improve under chiropractic care. Being appreciated and receiving gratitude from patients is for Tracey, what makes working as a chiropractor so rewarding. Even patients with quite simple problems are thankful for their adjustments and improvement. It makes going to work each day a pleasure. While Tracey regularly cares for patients with headaches, lower back pain, neck pain, hip pain, migraines and referred pain by adjusting their spine, she also adjusts other parts of their body including ankles, feet, knees, shoulders, elbows, wrists and hands.
After more than 26 years in practice Tracey continues to learn and be challenged by patients regularly. While working towards an optimal functioning nervous system for every patient, Tracey also recognises the importance of nutrition and supplementation to enhance wellbeing as well as educating patients on the importance of exercise, sleep and a healthy lifestyle.