By Kendrea Rhodes

Dr. Donna Palmer truly has the health of children and families on her mind – which is rather like stating the obvious – what with four children of her own, sixteen years as a chiropractor and twenty-five years of having treatments herself. Donna’s seen miracles occur through chiropractic care from acute and chronic pain relief to assisting the feeding of newborn babies. From helping toddlers to walk, babies to crawl and relieving symptoms in people who’ve accepted pain as part of their lives. She said of chiropractors that, “we don’t heal the body, the body heals itself – we take the pressure off the nervous system through spinal adjustments to allow this to happen”.

Donna grew up on a farm in the Mallee and at fifteen years of age, she was the State Heptathlon Champion. She trained on a daily basis, but was plagued with hip and back issues. It was soon discovered, through x-ray, that she had an extra lumbar vertebrae, which affected her physical wellbeing and therefore sporting performances.

She had regular adjustments from the family chiropractor, which made a huge difference to her overall health.
This was a big deal to a girl who loved athletics, netball and tennis. In fact, it was such a big deal that it influenced her career choices. She was so inspired by her family chiropractor and how regular spinal adjustments had helped her, that she decided she would become a chiropractor herself! Donna commenced her chiropractic studies at the University of Adelaide and completed them at Macquarie University in NSW with a Masters in Chiropractic in 1996. She started up her practice from Birdwood in 1997 and she has also practiced in Murray Bridge and Stanbury on the Yorke Peninsula.

Now in her sixteenth year of practice, Donna and her team have opened “Palmer Family Chiropractic” at 35A Main St, Lobethal. Her team is comprised of; Chiropractic Assistants, Karen Nuske and Cheryl Neville; Naturopath, Carmen Bubner; and Remedial Massage/Bowen Therapist, Brett Knuckey. Donna said, “The vision of our practice is to provide wholistic, non-invasive care in a relaxed, positive healing environment. To offer support and encouragement to people as they strive toward reaching their full potential.”

Eight month old Cooper Schutz (pictured on page 1) has been receiving chiropractic care for four months and his mother, Naomi, said she’s seen some remarkable changes in her little boy from the very first adjustment. He was a really unsettled baby, struggling with colic and wind, but within a week of treatment his symptoms had dramatically improved. Naomi had never experienced chiropractic care before, but when she saw the change in Cooper’s wellbeing, she decided to give it a try for herself. She was surprised by the reduction of headaches and neck tension through the treatments, and now, both mother and son have regular appointments at Palmer Family Chiropractic.

Kerrie Davey, a regular patient of Palmer Family Chiropractic, watched her little girl, Ava, suffer through ear aches and night terrors. On a chiropractic visit for herself, Kerri mentioned this and Donna advised that Ava also come in to see her. Donna said that all babies should be checked for spinal misalignments, which can be a result of birth trauma (even with normal deliveries) or mal-positioning in utero.
Ava received her first chiropractic adjustment at two months of age and is now two years old. She rarely experiences ear infections or night terrors now and can’t wait to see ‘Dr Donna’ and be adjusted on the kids only whale table, called ‘Bubbles’.

As a Chiropractic Assistant at the clinic, Cheryl Neville has also witnessed positive changes in people, young and old, but it’s closer to home that she witnessed the first amazing result. Her daughter, Aleesha, was involved in a car accident at the age of two and she just stopped walking. Nobody knew why. After undertaking all the traditional medical tests, including ultrasound and X-ray, it was shrugged off as ‘one of those things’. Cheryl decided to try chiropractic and said that within a month of treatment, Aleesha was walking again! Now Aleesha is twelve and Cheryl still remembers the day that she walked.

Donna and her team would like to emphasise the benefits of chiropractic for people of all ages – it’s not just about neck or back ache, it can help a myriad of symptoms, particularly for the very young: colicky or irritable babies, babies and toddlers not reaching their key developmental milestones, children who are continually sick or those with coordination issues, those with learning difficulties or special needs, growing pains or any parent interested in helping their child to reach their maximum potential.

Clinic Hours in Lobethal are Tuesdays, Thursdays and the first Friday of the month. Clinic hours in Mannum are Mondays and Wednesdays. If you feel that you would benefit from chiropractic care and would like to make an appointment, please phone Lobethal on 8389 5118 or Mannum on 8569 1777.

Naomi Schutz (left) and 8 month old son, Cooper, with Dr. Donna Palmer.