In a room where she performs chiropractic adjustments on toddlers (on the giraffe table at left) and infants (on the rainforest table at right), Dr. Deno holds a pillow meant to fit a pregnant woman’s belly. She adjusts people of all ages. (R. R. Branstrom | Daily Press)
ESCANABA — A local chiropractor known for having a family focus and experience in treating children and pregnant women is in the process of transitioning to a payment system based out-of-pocket as opposed to insurance, which the business owner believes will allow her to better treat her payments for wellness as a whole, rather than targeted issues approved by insurance providers.
Dr. Sara Deno, the professional behind Hearts & Hands Family Chiropractic, has been in the industry for 22 years. Formerly Dr. Sara Lynn, she’s known for a long time what career path she wanted to pursue.
Deno explained that her grandmother, a woman who eschewed medicine, used to visit a chiropractor faithfully, once a month. When Deno was a child, she accompanied her grandmother on one of those monthly visits.
“Her chiropractor showed me how her legs were uneven, and then her chiropractor adjusted her and showed me how her legs were even again,” Deno recalled. “And I just thought that was the coolest thing. I was hooked from that point.”
As she got older, the fascination didn’t wane. In 10th grade, when students had to write a paper on a career, Deno did hers on chiropractic and learned more about the field.
Adjusting tables and a massage table are seen in an examination room at Hearts & Hands Family Chiropractic, found at 429 S. 10th St. in Escanaba. (R. R. Branstrom | Daily Press)
As an upperclassman at Escanaba High School, Deno studied Health Occupations at the Intermediate School District (ISD). While still in school, ISD students were asked to find employment in a relevant field in the community, so in her senior year, Deno began working as a receptionist at a local chiropractor’s office.
For college, Deno attended Northern Michigan University in Marquette and secured her bachelor’s degree in biology with an emphasis in physiology and a minor in chemistry. She knew that she would be heading to chiropractic college afterwards, so NMU guided her into those programs, which was considered the pre-med track.
For people going into chiropractic today, though, it’s more common for the first degree to be in something along the lines of athletic training.
After obtaining her bachelor’s, Deno went on to attend Palmer College of Chiropractic in Davenport, Iowa.
The chiropractic profession was founded by a man named D.D. Palmer in 1895. He started the school Deno attended — which also educated the founders of other chiropractic schools. Palmer College of Chiropractic remains consistently ranked among the best schools for chiropractic in the world. For its 100th anniversary, the educational powerhouse established the Palmer Center for Chiropractic Research to advance knowledge through research; it is the most highly-funded chiropractic research center in the U.S. and utilizes extensive collaborations to further the practice.
Dr. Sara Deno, chiropractor and owner of Hearts & Hands Family Chiropractic in Escanaba, gently adjusts a three-year-old patient. (R. R. Branstrom | Daily Press)
Broadly speaking, chiropractic is a non-traditional, holistic treatment concerning the spine, joints and nervous system, in addition to overall health using hands-on pressure and some manipulation. “Doctors of Chiropractic are primary care doctors who specialize in spinal health and well-being, maximizing patient function through conservative care,” says Palmer College.
Some sources say that chiropractic encourages the body to “heal itself” by removing interference or correcting errors.
Deno, whose father was a mechanic, compared a human body getting a chiropractic adjustment to an automobile getting a tune-up.
“Getting adjusted is like an oil change. You don’t have to get the oil changed in your car, but if you do, your motor is going to last a lot longer. And it’s the same thing with your body,” Deno said. “You don’t have to get adjusted. You can live your whole life without ever going to a chiropractor. But if you get adjusted on a regular basis, you are going to live a longer, healthier, happier life; you’re going to be able to do things longer, and that is the miracle of chiropractic.”
Though the practice has received skepticism and some providers have been guilty of fraud, the observable benefits by proper chiropractors are shown time and again. From witnessing a patient’s legs return to equal length after an adjustment to simply feeling better after a visit, many people have observed “the miracle of chiropractic” and rely on regular visits to honest, local professionals.
An estimated 50 million Americans see a chiropractor each year, according to a Gallup study.
It was while at Palmer that Deno decided she wanted to learn more about helping kids with chiropractic. The revelation might have been partially encouraged by an accident in which her nephew was hit by a car.
“I was drawn to it in college,” said Deno of chiropractic treatments for children and infants. She enrolled in courses through the International Chiropractic Pediatric Association (ICPA).
“Every chiropractor can adjust the whole age range, but the ICPA provides training beyond what you learn in chiropractic school,” she explained.
Though sometimes patients do have subluxations (partial dislocations) that need to be realigned, Deno said that most of the treatments she performs are far gentler.
“I like to say that I am not treating or correcting any condition, except for a chiropractic subluxation,” she said.
Sometimes people come in with specific complaints — like an ache or strain in the back or neck — and some say they feel “off,” while others just like regular adjustments and say they feel better afterwards. When it comes to babies, sometimes parents might say the child is “fussy,” having trouble with bowel movements or not latching. Deno uses only extremely light touch on infants.
While in school, Deno and a friend had dreams of opening a woman-centered strip mall in Iowa that would include – alongside their practice – things like a hair salon, an OBGYN, a massage therapist, etc. But after her nephew’s accident, she made the decision to return home.
After graduating from Palmer and moving back to the U.P., Deno for a short while worked for a chiropractor’s office in Munising, but found that she didn’t like the way the business operated – it seemed like more of a money-making operation than about helping people, she said.
“So I decided I don’t want to work for somebody else. I want to work for myself, because I want to treat the person. I don’t want to do this for the money. I want to do this to help people,” Deno said passionately.
She first launched Hearts & Hands Family Chiropractic as a part-time, appointment-only business out of a sun porch of a home at 923 Washington Ave. in Escanaba. Her first logo was her nephew’s handprint with a heart around it.
While simultaneously working part-time at other jobs, including as a respite care worker at Whispering Pines, Deno met a woman from Hermansville who informed her that there used to be a chiropractor in the Powers-Spalding area that the community missed… and his building was available.
Deno got in touch with the landlord and ended up renting that space at W3805 Pine Ave. in Spalding, which opened in March of 2006.
“As soon as I got busy enough at that location, I quit the part-time jobs and I closed the home office,” Deno said.
After seven years, Hearts & Hands moved to a different location in Spalding owned by the same folks she’d rented from on Pine Avenue – the LeBoeuf family, who operated Cedar River Lumber Company. This place was on the highway, W3453 U.S. 2 and 41, and there Deno enjoyed steady business while being open three days a week and starting a family.
“I knew when I opened my office that I wanted to have kids and I wanted to raise my kids,” Deno explained, citing the reason for only opening three days a week. “I’m family first, unapologetically.”
The chiropractor; her husband, Jason; and their two children lived in Escanaba before moving to Gladstone, where they reside today.
In 2014, Deno opened a second office – right on Ludington Street in Esky. By that point, her two boys were in school, so she was able to work more hours, and alternated between Escanaba and Spalding.
The Hearts & Hands in Escanaba, which was then at 2010 Ludington, didn’t grow as quickly as the one in Spalding had – likely because of competition with other chiropractors in the area.
When the lease in Esky was up for renewal, the Denos had to consider a change.
“I told my husband, I said, ‘if we’re going to stay in Escanaba, we gotta buy,’” Deno said. “Because we (were) just throwing our money away renting.”
Their realtor, Ron Lantagne, found a place that suited the need. Though it wasn’t on Ludington as Deno had hoped, it had multiple spaces that could be rented out, including apartments above.
“He brought us to this building, and I just fell in love,” Deno said, speaking from the current and sole location of the practice at 429 S. 10th St. It had once been a food market, later the home of Johnson Distributing, then Pathways, among others.
That building at the corner of 10th Street and Fourth Avenue South passed to Deno ownership in 2015. Elements needed remodeling, but they took it slowly, beginning with enough to open the office on the ground floor, and then working on the other spaces.
Now, the building houses residential tenants in two apartments upstairs and other businesses downstairs.
Though Deno’s college idea to open a women-focused strip mall didn’t exactly come to fruition, she got pretty close with Ten-Four Plaza. A midwife will be entering the building soon. Deb’s Hair Studio moved into one of the suites for a while; after the stylist’s retirement, Sandy’s Family Salon took over.
U.P. Foster Closet operates out of another suite. By keeping the rent low, Deno views it as almost a monthly donation to the charity.
Deno kept operating the Spalding branch as well until March of 2023.
At Hearts & Hands Family Chiropractic in Escanaba, Deno has an exam room and adjusting rooms. Examinations are given to first-time patients or people who haven’t been seen in over a year.
Recently, Deno decided to stop taking insurance. Since insurance only covers certain afflictions, she felt boxed-in. Not all procedures are “medically necessary” in the eyes of insurance. And of course, different companies will cover different things, but it’s a rarity that “routine or maintenance manipulations” are covered, Deno said.
With the complication of dealing with insurance out of the picture, she’s happier and says that now she’s able to freely treat her patients for whatever they need, rather than being limited by coverage and/or performing only limited, specific, insurance-approved treatments for certain diagnoses.
New patients are welcomed at Hearts & Hands, Calling is the best first step; the chiropractor can be reached at 906-233-7487. Hours
Walk-in hours are from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday and from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Wednesday. Other times are available by appointment. Newcomers can expect a first-time appointment to last an hour.