Hi, I'm Dana - a chiropractor, teacher, and endurance athlete based in downtown Chicago and the suburb of La Grange. I've been an endurance athlete for over 20 years. During this time, I went from being a newbie to working my way up to qualifying for the Boston Marathon and Hawaii Ironman World Championships multiple times. My goal is to help you go from being sidelined to crossing the finish line by taking the time to understand your unique situation while working with you to create an environment where you can adapt and overcome any potential pain or injury you're experiencing. I bet we can agree that life is better when you can enjoy exercise and sport.

I wasn't always an endurance athlete. Growing up, I played ball sports, and my sole focus was to play Division I football. When it became clear that I would never realize this dream, I thought my career in organized sport was over. After years of tireless work and unwavering focus toward a singular goal, I found myself in an unfamiliar and uncomfortable predicament. Sport had become an integral part of my identity, and I had no idea what my life would look like without it. This new reality was scary. Now what? I knew I wasn't ready for the end of my participation in competitive sport altogether, but there was no apparent second act… so I thought.

Thankfully an old high school classmate, who had come to a similar impasse, told me about a sprint triathlon he had raced the previous summer. While I had no formal experience with any of the three disciplines required to participate in a triathlon, I knew how to swim, I rode my bike everywhere from the time I was 10 years old, and I had always been good at the mile run in gym class. A perfect recipe for success, right?! I had no idea how well I'd perform, but I knew I was committed to training as hard as possible. More than anything, I desperately needed something to fill the void that was starting to develop now that my team sports career was over.

In hindsight, that casual conversation helped set the stage for the focus of my professional life more than anything else. I've been captivated by human performance related to endurance sports ever since. Throughout this journey and my time as a fellow dedicated athlete, I've sustained most injuries I see in my office as a therapist. I've dealt with a stress fracture, Achilles tendinopathy, and IT band issues, to name a few. During my recovery process, I had to navigate the physical aspects of my injuries and the psychological hurdles of being unable to train and compete. Both sides of the coin can be equally frustrating and present their own set of challenges. I often reflect on these experiences when trying to better understand the unique ecosystems of the patients I work with and how the various facets of their lives are impacted when they are sidelined with an injury.

(Un)Fortunately, I'm all too familiar with the struggles you're facing. The combination of my athletic successes and personal hardships, coupled with my medical knowledge, put me in a unique situation to troubleshoot with passionate endurance athletes who need a keen and professional eye on their situation.

No matter where you are along the injury process, there's always HOPE, given your body's astonishing ability to adapt. The most important part of a successful recovery is establishing a relationship built on open lines of communication, good-faith effort, empathy, and getting you to trust in yourself. One thing I've learned from those who entrust their care to me is that YOU are the expert on your body.

The crux of most injuries lies deeper than what may appear to be a simple training error or mechanical imbalance on the surface. Each of our lives is uniquely complicated. Between work commitments and familial obligations, not to mention the physical demands of training, the opportunities for our "life load" to become too great and tip the scales are around every corner. I want to understand your situation and work with you to develop a practical and actionable plan to help you overcome any pain or injury you're battling. And if I can't help you, I promise to direct you to someone who can.

 "It's always darkest before the dawn."

-Thomas Fuller