20th Anniversary ‘blessing’ for Volunteer Chiro
“I’ve seen a lot,” said Dr. Dan Watkins, owner of Volunteer Chiropractic with his wife, Keelie Watkins.
Still, I fell blessed,” he added. “I feel blessed that I’ve been able to do this for this long.
“We always look back and say ‘this is done by the grace of God.’ He put us in this position.”
Chiropractic care and acupuncture “seems to wow me at times, even though I’ve been doing it for 20 years,” he said.
Watkins remembered a patient whose wife had a baby.
“They were taking the baby for a hearing test,” he recalled. “It was a week old. She had failed the hearing test in the hospital. They called me and asked, ‘Can you do anything?’ I said, ‘I don’t know but let’s take a look.’
“I took a look at her and adjusted her, and she aced the hearing test,” Watkins added. “It wowed me. It’s pretty cool. I think that child is 6 or 7 now.
“Just seeing people get help, that’s the biggest thing. We want to make sure they’re helped, whether it be chiropractic or acupuncture that helps them or, if I can’t do it, we refer them somewhere to get them help.
Though aware he “can’t do everything,” Watkins said, “if I can guide (patients) in the right direction, that’s what I want to do.”
The practice, named after the Tennessee Volunteers sports teams, opened on March 5, 2005, initially in the shopping center beside Gold’s Gym near the Kingston Pike-Lovell Road intersection. Watkins moved the practice to its current location in 2008.
“The landlord offered us a deal,” he said. “The lease was up, and he wanted us to come here.”
Watkins provides chiropractic adjustments, massage and acupuncture. “Sometimes I’m a psychologist, too,” he said. “I just listen.”
After graduating from Life University with a chiropractic degree, Watkins worked in Nashville for a few years before returning to the West Knox area to open a practice near Farragut.
One of his most memorable experiences is starting the business with his wife.
“We’re partners in this,” Watkins said. “We moved here (from Nashville). We had Lucy, a 2-year-old, so we built an office and we built a room for her so we could have a true family thing. So, (we’re) just building the practice, just being in the community trying to help as many people as we can.
“That’s always been kind of our driving force, just to help where we can, who we can, when we can,” he added. “In our pleasant, no pressure environment, we offer affordable care so anyone who needs help can get it We welcome families and patients of all ages and health conditions.”
Volunteer Chiropractic’s hours are from 8 a.m. to noon and from 2 to 5 p.m. Monday; from 8 am. to noon and from 2 to 5 p.m., Wednesday; from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., Tuesday and Friday; from 1 to 6 p.m., Thursday; and closed Saturday and Sunday.
To book an appointment, call 865-966-5885 or visit online at volrehab.com.
