Meet Dr David Rowan (Chiropractor)
Spend a little time with Dr David Rowan and you’ll probably notice two things fairly quickly: the Scottish accent, and that he genuinely wants to understand what’s going on.
David has always been a problem solver. He enjoys a challenge, notices the little details and believes that understanding the person in front of him is just as important as understanding their symptoms.
It’s an approach shaped, in part, by an unlikely first career.
From Glasgow Police Officer to Chiropractor
Before becoming a chiropractor, David spent eight years as a police officer in Glasgow.
Those years taught him a lot about people. He learned to read a room, pay attention to the small clues and, perhaps most importantly, listen carefully before drawing conclusions.
They’re skills that followed him into healthcare.
David’s interest in chiropractic was also personal. After experiencing chiropractic care himself, he became increasingly curious about the profession, the human body and why different approaches to healthcare can work differently for different people.
That curiosity wasn’t entirely new. Growing up in Scotland, David had always been warned that cracking his knuckles would give him arthritis. Years later, rather than simply accepting it, he decided to find out whether there was actually any truth to it.
After moving to Australia in 2018 to marry his wife Laura, continuing his policing career wasn’t immediately possible while he waited for permanent residency. Instead, David took an unexpected change in direction and studied chiropractic at CQUniversity.
What started as a new path became a profession he genuinely loved.
It’s Not Really About the Bad Back
David doesn’t believe people seek care simply because they have a “bad back”.
They come because of what that bad back is stopping them from doing.
It’s the grandparent who wants to get down on the floor and play with the grandkids. The new mum who wants to comfortably hold and care for her baby. The golfer who wants to get back on the course. The gardener who misses being in the garden. Or the person who simply wants to get through a day at work without their back dictating what they can and can’t do.
That’s the distinction that matters to David.
Pain might be what brings someone through the door, but behind it there is usually something more personal—something they want to do, enjoy or participate in more comfortably.
“I’m interested in what your pain is stopping you from doing—because that’s usually the reason you’re sitting in front of me.”
That’s why David takes the time to understand the bigger picture. Every person arrives with a different history, different circumstances and different goals, and he doesn’t believe they should all be run through the same routine.
That also means creating an environment where people feel comfortable talking openly. David wants patients to feel able to ask questions, say when something doesn’t make sense and explain what they’re concerned about or hoping to achieve. Sometimes it’s a seemingly small detail that helps reveal the bigger picture.
His approach to care reflects that individuality. Chiropractic may form one part of the picture, alongside movement, exercise and other appropriate strategies, with the focus always returning to the person and what matters to them.
Because ultimately, David isn’t interested only in where it hurts.
He’s interested in what it’s stopping you from doing.
Family First
Away from chiropractic, David’s world revolves around his wife Laura and their children, Harley and William.
David moved from Scotland to Australia in 2018 to marry Laura, a decision that ultimately changed the direction of his life in more ways than either of them could have imagined.
Today, Laura runs a busy psychology practice in Maroochydore while together they’re raising Harley and William on the Sunshine Coast. David is enormously proud of what Laura has built and everything she manages as a mum, business owner and partner.
But when David talks about Laura, there’s one description that matters to him more than any of those titles:
She’s his number one cheerleader.
Ask David what he’d like his children to remember about him when they’re older and his answer is equally simple:
“That I was fun—and that I always had time for them.”
He’s also a self-confessed lover of good food. David particularly enjoys eating things he can’t—or doesn’t often—cook himself. He’ll happily spend money going out for good Asian food, but convincing him to order a steak at a restaurant is considerably harder.
“I can cook that myself.”
For someone whose career has taken him from policing the streets of Glasgow to practising chiropractic on the Sunshine Coast, life has turned out rather differently from how David once imagined it.
He wouldn’t have it any other way.