Dee Why – Home to the Massey Family Chiropractic Centre for over 20 years.
A Short History of the Massey Family Chiropractic Centre
Yes, now that I come to put pen to paper, it is amazing to consider that our Chiropractic Centre has been here in Dee Why for over 40 years. And that I have owned the business, on Oaks Avenue, for almost 25 years.
Let me explain how I came to own the centre. After graduating from Macquarie University as a young chiropractor I was very fortunate to find a strong chiropractic mentor in Dr. Malcolm Hemmingham – the original owner of our Chiropractic Centre in Dee Why. In fact, my mother was a patient of Malcolm’s over 30 years ago – and to this day I treat Malcom’s sister who is now in her 80s!
On work experience with Malcolm I learnt the ropes of running a chiropractic business as well as some of the practical day-to-day considerations of offering chiropractic care to regular patients – and I certainly found I much preferred this to classroom theory. After a few years Malcolm was near retirement and I had come to feel a strong affinity in relation to both our Northern Beaches patients in general and the Dee Why area in particular – so I took over the business and decided that Dee Why would be my chiropractic home on the Northern Beaches.
Soon after I quickly extended the centre from 2 treatment rooms to 5. In the intervening years, as I look at the records, it is apparent that I have treated well over 15,000 Northern Beaches locals. Hard to envision that number as I do feel as if I know and recall each of my patients as individual people – yet there we are.
What I Most Enjoy about being a Chiropractor in Dee Why
One of the things I have always enjoyed about Dee Why is its depth of cultural diversity. Since starting at the centre, and to this day, I’ve taken great satisfaction in providing treatment for Dee Why Locals of a very broad socio-economic range and cultural heritage. In some ways I think this breadth of people-engagement has made me a better chiropractor than I otherwise might have been – engaging with people from all walks of life is, to my mind, invaluable. It keeps me continually thinking about the many varied points of view that people have. Sure, everyone’s spines, backs and necks have certainly evolved in the same way – but how we talk about this fact (and thus how we think about it, feel it, consider it, and perhaps how our bodies and minds participate in our own healing as a part of the treatment process) does vary to a great deal. Certainly the range of conversations I have each day makes my day-to-day work in Dee Why a great pleasure.
Dee Why – Our Beach-Side Suburb
Thinking about my tenure in Dee Why and the passing of time lead me to read over the Wikipedia Page for Dee Why. It is quite interesting that the name ‘Dee Why’ has some ambiguity surrounding how it was chosen. The earliest recorded reference using the name was from a surveyor named James Meehan – in 1815. There he refers to ‘DY Beach’ in his field book. What he meant by ‘DY’ is uncertain; but there are 3 theories. One is that ‘DY’ was just a short-hand note that he used to mark lots of places on his maps. Another is that there is a connection to the local Guringai Aboriginal language – as Meehan did use Aboriginal names to name many places he visited. And a pretty cool further theory is that the reference to ‘DY’ actually came from the dy/dx calculus derivative – referencing the way Dee Why Beaches’ curve appears on a map. Apparently the first recorded usage of the current ‘Dee Why’ started off in the 1840s.
If you are interested in reading more about our beautiful suburb of Dee Why I’d encourage you to check out the Dee Why Wikipedia Page. Perhaps you have some local insights, historical anecdotes or local references you might like to add to it – if so I’d encourage you to contribute your voice!
All the best, Steve
