Dr Ben Levi – Principal Chiropractor
I am a chiropractor based on the Gold Coast and the son of Dr Thomas Levy and the Grandson of the late Dr Rudi Levy who passed away in 2005 at the age of 100. My grandfather was the first medical doctor on the Gold Coast after escaping Hitler’s rule in the 1930s, via Italy under Mussolini and then England.He founded the Blue Nursing for aged people and the orchestral movement on the Gold Coast, being an accomplished cellist himself. He spoke 7 languages and kept a balanced and moderated lifestyle. He has been honoured with a park in his name on the north side of the Sundale (Gold Coast) bridge and a hospital wing.
My father is a GP and Government Medical Officer, so for me going to autopsies as a kid was like popping in for an ice-cream on your way home. He ran one of Australia’s busiest practices and was renowned for his diagnostic abilities. Today he lives in the Gold Coast hinterland, stays fit and healthy and the only diagnosing he does is on plants in his garden. We lived and practiced at 33 Scarborough St Southport since the 1930′s . My mother is a retired physiotherapist and lives in the south-west of France with her French husband she met in 1991. She visits regularly and I have a great place to stay in France when I get the opportunity. I have two older sisters, with whom I’m very close, both living on the Gold Coast.
So the medical paradigm is nothing new to me. I lived it, until I left school. I had my fair share of antibiotics growing up and there were many times I suffered from recurrent throat infections, often for long periods. Looking back, I believe this had consequences on my immune system, which already appeared to be weak. Eventually, they decided to take my tonsils and adenoids out, which helped with my mouth breathing, but not my immunity. In my mid-teens I started to take my health into my own hands and questioned my medical history. I played sport seriously representing Queensland at schoolboy level in rugby union, traveling to Perth for the Australian championships. It was here that my mindset took an abrupt change. Again I fell sick on that tour which stopped me playing and consequently missed out on selection for the Australian schoolboys team, so I began my mission for better health. To look at me I was healthy, but I knew on the inside things were different. To cut a long story short, I was introduced to chiropractic by my father, and noticed immediate changes to my health and performance. I had other friends in sport that also saw chiropractors and 2 years later at the age of 18, began my chiropractic studies, to finish at the age of 23, after 5 years full time gaining a Masters degree in Chiropractic.
I then completed 2 more years through a different University and finished with a Graduate Diploma in Nutrition Medicine. The only other job I had was teaching windsurfing on the Gold Coast for 7 years. This was a very special time for me starting at the age of 15, enjoying the beach life.
I have worked with some of the best chiropractors in the world, including in England and adjusted tri-athletes during and after races on the Northern beaches in Sydney. I’ve also worked in sports clinics looking after Olympic skiers and swimmers, pro golfers, Queensland Reds Super 15 players and many other top athletes from around the world.
Growing up with a strong medical paradigm made it difficult for me at times to break the mould but I did what I knew was right. I wanted to work with the body, not against it. My vision is to create a style of chiropractic that is safe, gentle and effective, educating and empowering whole families to take responsibility for their health and to question the current system.
