Dr Caleb Nair, 27, has dedicated himself in helping people in his community deal with pain by opening Less Pain More Living.
A Durban native, he grew up in the south of Durban in Amanzimtoti, Mobeni and the Bluff, and had originally planned on studying medicine.
However, he studied chiropractics at DUT and now uses his hands to heal people and their bodies.
According to Nair, his father pushed him into opening his practice in La Lucia in 2017.
“I started the practice like basically on a hunch. I got tricked into starting it. I told my dad about it and he said no, start it I’ll pay for your rent for the entire year. So I had that security. I’m still waiting for that money until today. I never received a single cent from him,” said Nair.
He revealed that his original plan after studying was to have an employer like everyone else and as he was job searching, the owner of the building of where his practice is urged him to consider the space for his practice.
Nair revealed that he started out with just a bed and his hands and despite not having the promised financial backing from his father, he ended up paying his rent with the money he had made from clients.
“Thank God we made the rent within our first week. We managed to pay the rent. No advertising. Nothing. None of that stuff. Just based on referrals all throughout the month. We just kept building and building and eventually we made it somehow,” the chiropractor shared.
Nair said that one of goals with Less Pain More Living is to educate people about what he does and help people understand why they experience pain the way they do.
For instance, he highlighted that most black women experience back pain not because of genetics but actually because of the way our bodies are shaped
“The concept of the practice initially was to make this type of treatment affordable but also to expose this culture or chiro itself to mainly people of colour. Because growing up, I didn’t know any of this stuff.
“I realised that it wasn’t something common amongst people of my culture, and as I was talking to my partner, who is a Zulu girl, I also realised that they actually don’t know much about this as well.
“Then I was like, I want to attack, this is the culture, that thing I want to work on,” said Nair.
He reiterated that since black and Indian culture is different to white culture, the way black and Indian people experience pain is different to the way white people experience it and historically, people of colour have been under-treated and just given painkillers for treatment.
The chiropractor said that the older generation, specifically grandparents, felt the brunt of receiving medical care not tailored to their specific needs and were often misdiagnosed with the likes of arthritis and told to take their vitamins and painkillers when they could be treated through chiro.
“But now knowing about this stuff, there’s stuff that can actually help without medication. I think here in Durban, we are so used to old traditions and old cultures, let’s introduce a new one where you don’t have tell your kid: ‘okay take a panado’.
“Why don’t you go visit the chiro who can actually tell you were the source of pain is coming from,” said Nair.
In working to change perspectives on chiropractics, his practice has since grown, and blew up on social media attracting people from all over the province for his treatment.
He has worked with celebrities and people from all walks of life, who have come into to practice and had their neck cracking and stretching sessions recorded for thousands to see on Instagram and TikTok.
Though social media has helped him tap into wider audience and helped his business tremendously, that was never his plan. He only started creating content after people requested his socials wanting to tag him after treatments.
“Again, I didn’t want that. Everything that’s happening now I didn’t want because the purpose of my practice needs to be medical. You know, you can’t put it on socials, you can’t do this, you can’t do that.
“We were working seven days a week for four months straight because everyday was fully booked, but the biggest joy was having someone from Chesterville, people driving from Eswatini and Empangeni, coming all the way here due to social media,” he shared.
He said that his prices and his sessions are the most affordable in the country, to challenge the perception that chiropractics is unaffordable, or only for athletes or the severely injured.